Poet to Know: Kwame Alexander
Kwame Alexander
Kwame Alexander
Kwame Alexander fell in love with poetry when he wrote his first poem at age 12, a mother's day gift to his mom. Years later, he is still writing poetry, now as a professional author. You may know his Newbery Award-winning book The Crossover, a novel in verse (in other words, a story told in poems) about basketball-obsessed twin brothers. Alexander has also published poetry collections, including Out of Wonder, a book of poems inspired by twenty of his favorite poets. Scroll down this page to learn more about the exciting poetry of Kwame Alexander.
Kwame Alexander fell in love with poetry when he wrote his first poem at age 12, a mother's day gift to his mom. Years later, he is still writing poetry, now as a professional author. You may know his Newbery Award-winning book The Crossover, a novel in verse (in other words, a story told in poems) about basketball-obsessed twin brothers. Alexander has also published poetry collections, including Out of Wonder, a book of poems inspired by twenty of his favorite poets. Scroll down this page to learn more about the exciting poetry of Kwame Alexander.
How to Read a BookHow to Read a Book
How to Read a Book
In this picture book, we get reading instructions in the form of a poem from Kwame Alexander. Watch the video to hear the poem and see the brightly colored illustraions by Melissa Sweet.
Wonderfinal.mp4Out of Wonder
Out of Wonder
In Out of Wonder, Kwame Alexander and a few of his poet buddies write poems inspired by the work of poets like Emily Dickinson and Langston Hughes. Check out the video for a few highlights and glimpse of Ekua Holmes's beautiful illustrations that accompany the poems.
Bonus Material
Bonus Material
Listen to Kwame talk about his books, how he became a poet, and why he thinks poetry is the ultimate form of writing.
Kwame calls on us to look out for our endangered animal friends in the book Animal Ark, featuring amazing photos from Photo Ark creator Joe Sartore.