Summer: An Alphabet Acrostic

Several years ago a friend of mine recommended that I buy one of Steven Schnur's books for my Reading Lab. When the book (Summer) arrived, I was impressed with the beautiful illustrations and the simple, creative acrostic poems. I now own two or three of the seasons covered by these lovely Alphabet Acrostic books. Since acrostic poetry is something that can be taught to even young writers-the poetry included in Schnur's... Read Full Review

I used this with middle schoolers and they really love the structure, the challenge of topical poems and using the acrostic device to write good poems. The books in this series are handsome enough that even high school kids would be intrigued with the challenge. Writing is hard enough--why not make it attractive, too?

Steven Schnur's Summer: An Alphabet Acrostic is one of a series addressing the four seasons, with acrostic poems for each letter of the alphabet. Each letter has its own page, with a brief impressionistic poem addressing a subject that starts with that letter. So, "D" is about a daisy; "M" about mosquitoes; "V" about vegetables. However, the subject of the poem is never mentioned directly, instead the word spelled out in... Read Full Review

I love it when someone takes a tired old poetry exercise and breathes a little life into it! These acrostics are a lot of fun, and not like the old classroom language arts ditties: Lisa is my friend/I like her/So would you/Amen. When I teach poetry to kids, I try to get them out of this kind of blah thinking, and into more imaginative word play. These acrostics are not only fun and imaginative, but they are also in alphabetical... Read Full Review