End the month with poetry!

Sign on the street in Oxford, Mississippi.

Unless you don't read Facebook posts, signs on bookstore windows or watch C-Span Book TV — or even this blog —you probably missed that April is National Poetry Month. It began in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets to celebrate "poetry's vital place in our culture," according to the website. In honor of National Poetry Month, we offer a look at two children's books to encourage the poet of the next generation and to inspire others to read.

The former national poet laureate Maya Angelou published "Life Doesn't Frighten Me," a collection of modern poetry and art, in 1993 to introduce young readers to both inspiring art forms. Illustrated with paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat, who died too young at the age of 27 and whose artwork is exhibited around the world, the book is "a powerful exploration of emotion and its expression through the careful blend of words and arts," according to School Library Journal.

The book has been re-released by Abrams as a 25th-anniversary celebratory book. And if the talents of these two don't sway you enough, the fearless message might.

"I go boo

Make them shoo

I make fun

Way they run

I won't cry

So they fly

I just smile

They go wild

Life doesn't frighten me at all."

Award-winning author and poet Lee Bennett Hopkins edits a collection of poetry accented by artwork in a gorgeous board book titled "World Make Way: New Poems Inspired by Art from the Metropolitan Museum of Art." There's "Cat Watching a Spider" by Julie Fogliano next to Oide Toko's painting of the same name, "Early Evening" by Charles Ghigna accented by Winslow Homer's "Boys in a Dory" and "Studio" by Marilyn Nelson with Kerry James Marshall's "Untitled (Studio)" in which an artist shapes a subject's face in preparation for being painted. Even the editor has a page, his "Endgame" poem coupled with "The Chess Players," a Liberale da Verona painting of 1475.

Both are engaging books celebrating art at its highest form and perfect for young readers.

If you want to catch live poetry before the month is up, visit the Festival of Words and NUNU Arts and Culture Collective’s "Every Woman," a celebration of women's voices in poetry, story and music, at 7 p.m. Wednesday April 25, 2018, at Chicory’s Coffee and Café in Grand Coteau. Featured performers include poet Clare L. Martin reading from her upcoming poetry collection, author Sherry Broussard sharing from her book of “Zydeco” and a performance by playwright Sue Schleifer. Women are invited to share original creative work and both men and women are invited to share favorite poems, stories and songs by or in honor of women. For more information, contact festivalwords@gmail.com or 337-254-9695. 

Clare L. Martin

Louisiana Book News is written by award-winning author Chere Dastugue Coen, who writes romances and mysteries under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Her first book in each series is FREE to download as an ebook, including "A Ghost of a Chance," the first Viola Valentine mystery.