A collection of poems that explore childhood experiences—from the whimsical to the poignant—by Shannon Bramer, with magical art by Irene Luxbacher.

Shannon Bramer’s follow-up to her much-loved poetry book Climbing Shadows is a collection of poems that explore a range of childhood experiences. Many poems reveal what it feels like to be a child—to pretend and dream and play with abandon, as well as to hurt and regret and feel sorrowful. The poems are varied in form, and while some are simple and direct, others invite children to see the potential for play and discovery in words and language.

In the opening poem a child welcomes their newborn sibling, while the last poem is a surreal lullaby. In between we find poems about a child who listens to a toad, who feels left out, who loves the beach, who must practice piano, who accidentally breaks their mother’s favorite plate, who doesn’t want to eat their lunch, whose pet budgies have died, who visits their father on weekends, and more.

Readers young and old will see themselves in these beautifully illustrated poems—a collection full of laughter, tears and wonder.

Key Text Features

author’s note

Illustrations

poems

table of contents

writing inspiration

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.2

Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.