NPM 2018: Shaking Things Up

National Poetry Month 2018
"Give praise with friends near and far,
flinging words to the sky!"
- Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

Today I'm sharing a new-to-me picture book, Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World by Susan Hood. 

I'm sure that someone recently recommended this book on their blog and that's how it ended up on my holds shelf at the library. However, I was totally surprised when I picked it up to discover that its pages are filled with poems about these young women which are illustrated by thirteen different illustrators. (Wondering about fourteen young women and thirteen illustrators? One illustrator's page features two women who were secret agent sisters during World War II.) You can see some of the artwork from the book  in the official book trailer at the Harper Collins site.

The timeline provided at the beginning of the book helps to place each woman in a historical context. After each poem, there is a brief biographical paragraph at the bottom of the page. The author's note explains that Susan " . . . chose to write this book-to celebrate the world I want for my daughters, my new granddaughter, and all the young girls and boys out there." Sources, Books, Websites, and More provides information about each woman with a list of sources used, and further resources available. These four pages alone provide invaluable resources which you can access at this page from Harper Collins.

Beautiful illustrations, important front and back matter and a note from the author, but my favorite part of the book is the poetry about each of the female trailblazers and activists. The variety of poems is perfect for inspiring young writers! You'll find examples of alphabet and concrete poetry, couplets, a cumulative poem, an elegy, free verse, a limerick, a persona poem, a quatrain, a question poem, and even a book spine poem in one of the illustrations. This stunning book of poems is a celebration of young women that deserves a spot on your bookshelf!