A is for Acrostic

By Julie Rowan-Zoch

Welcome to the A to Z Poetry Challenge! Starting today and ending on April 30, I will be blogging about poetry from A to Z.  There will be a poetry challenge and resources at the end of each post. By the end of April you will be a poetry master!To kick off poetry month let's discuss acrostic poems. 

Acrostic poems use a word or a phrase for the subject.  Each letter in the word or phrase starts a new line in the poem. For example, take the word ‘animal’ and write it down vertically, then brainstorm a list of words that describe an animal or whatever words pop into your mind. Then starting with ‘A’ write something about that animal. Here is what I came up with: 

A birdy, a worm

Nature took its course.

It ate it up,

Munched it down—

A slurp, a crunch—

Lunch is done! 

--By Rena J. Traxel 

An acrostic poem can be simple like the one I wrote above or much more complicated.  It doesn't have to rhyme, but some choose to do so like in the acrostic poem from Lewis Carroll who used Alice's  real name, Alice Pleasance Liddell: 

A boat, beneath a sunny sky
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July -

Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear -

Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die:
Autumn frosts have slain July.

Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.

Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.

In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:

Ever drifting down the stream -
Lingering in the golden gleam -

Life, what is it but a dream?

Challenge
--Using the picture above as a prompt write a poem about an animal. Or
--Try writing an acrostic poem.  
Feel free to share your poem in the comments below, on your blog (leave a link in the comments), or on the poetry Facebook page.

Resources

--Get your kids involved by clicking here to find some acrostic worksheets. 

--Read a rhyming picture book review and learn more about poetry over at Louise Nottingham's blog by clicking here. 

If you liked this post please let others know. Tomorrow you will hear from author Bill Kirk, please come back for that. 

Julie Rowan-Zoch graphic designer morphed by motherhood into super-volunteer, spun into a pre-pubbie cocoon, soon to emerge writer and illustrator of children’s books! To learn more about Julie check out her fabulous blog by clicking here or find her on Facebook by clicking here. Stay tuned to see more illustrations from Julie.