Courage Out Loud: 25 Poems of Power (Poetry to Perform)

Gr 1-5--This collection of colorful read-aloud poetry brings a variety of poetry styles to life while encouraging students to explore their own emotions through the poetic voice. Poems range from funny to introspective, loud to silent, bright to dark. Each begins with a prompt, explaining the inspiration behind the work, inviting readers to try their hand at a similar piece, and often explaining the style used. This would provide excellent support for a poetry unit of study for a variety of age ranges, although it could be a deterrent to the casual reader. The illustrations reflect each selection with a similar range of emotions and use of color and movement. Humans appear diverse in gender, age, and race. The introduction discusses courage and invites readers to be brave, both as they read the selected works and as they delve into the process of writing poetry themselves. VERDICT This collection of 25 poems would make an excellent addition to schools and classroom poetry units, and will encourage and inspire students to try their hand at poetry themselves.--Ellen Conlin

"This collection by the children's laureate is full of empowering ideas - like the notion that all you have to do to write poems is break up lines. It dares children to find their voice."—The Sunday Times

"Poetry for children is dead. Really? Not when there are young poets like Joseph Coelho" —Books for Keeps "A fresh new voice in Children's poetry" - Roger McG