book | Thinking Through My Lens

Another book review? Is it even allowable to write three slices that double as book reviews?

But I simply couldn’t resist. I’ve been following Grant Snider for a while on Instagram/X and I am constantly inspired by his comic writing (for lack of a better term). Somehow he has a knack for simplifying complex ideas into 4 panels or 9 panels where the combination of images and words slices through and hits me right in the heart.

I preordered Poetry Comics, knowing that I needed to have this book not on my Kindle, not from the library, but right in my hands. Ironically, my school librarian got a copy last week and put it in my box a week before my preorder arrived today. I’ve been savoring each page, connecting both as an adult and as a teacher.

I know I will be having my students study a few of these poems and try their own hand at crafting their own poetry comic. There are so many great choices it’s making it hard for me to choose. Here’s one I am considering.

I can’t wait to see what my students will create as they explore poetry comics! How about you? Will you try to craft a poetry comic as we head into National Poetry Month?

Even if you don’t, I highly recommend Grant Snider’s Poetry Comics. There’s plenty to love in this deceptively simple volume.

Some days you just need a small book. One that takes only a few minutes to read, but that stays with you once you’ve read it. It might even make you want to pick it up and read it again.

A friend of mine gifted me this book a while ago. I read it then, then put it aside.

Today it found me again. I picked it up and read it again…and then again.

There aren’t many words, but the words there feel significant and the spare inky drawings seem just right.

Here’s a favorite page of mine:

“Do you have a favorite saying?” asked the boy.

“Yes” said the mole.

“What is it?”

“If at first you don’t succeed, have some cake.”

“I see, does it work?”

“Every time.”

Some days you just need to have some cake. And maybe read this book, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy, who says in the introduction, “This book is for everyone, whether you are 80 or 8–I feel like I’m both sometimes.”

If you need a lift…try this book, there are many more gems inside. Maybe I’ll read it to my class this week.