The Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog and Other How-To Poems

Toast a marshmallow, be a tree in winter, read braille -- Paul B. Janeczko and Richard Jones invite you to enjoy an assortment of poems that inform and inspire. Today I walked outside and spied

a hedgehog on the hill.

When she and I met eye to eye,

she raised up straight and still. Be they practical (how to mix a pancake or how to bird-watch) or fanciful (how to scare monsters or how to be a snowflake), the poems in this book boast a flair and joy that you won't find in any instruction manual. Poets from Kwame Alexander to Pat Mora to Allan Wolf share the way to play hard, to love nature, and to be grateful. Soft, evocative illustrations will encourage readers to look at the world with an eye to its countless possibilities. Contributors include: Kwame Alexander

Calef Brown

Rebecca Kai Dotlich

Margarita Engle

Ralph Fletcher

Douglas Florian

Helen Frost

Martin Gardner

Charles Ghigna

Nikki Grimes

Anna E. Jordan

Karla Kuskin

Irene Latham

J. Patrick Lewis

Marjorie Maddox

Elaine Magliaro

Pat Mora

Christina Rossetti

Monica Shannon

Marilyn Singer

Robert Louis Stevenson

Charles Waters

April Halprin Wayland

Steven Withrow

Allan Wolf