Celebrate the 4th of July with Rhyme!

Happy Fourth of July from the Rhyme Doctors! 

We hope you enjoy lots of lemonade and apple pie this Fourth of July. Oh, and of course, some poetry too! Here are a few of our favorite America-themed rhyming picture books and poetry collections to get you in the holiday groove. 

BLUE SKY, WHITE STARS by Sarvinder Naberhaus, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, is a great mentor text for those who enjoy writing spare verse. This deceptively simple book is a poetic tribute to the beauty and wonder of America's history, landscape, and symbols. 

In THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND, Woody Guthrie's classic ballad is brought to new life with Kathy Jakobsen's detailed paintings. Similarly, Wendell Minor captures the stunning beauty of the United States by reimagining Katharine Lee Bates's timeless poem, AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL. Both of these books are great examples of how illustrations can add layers and diversity to simple rhyming texts.  

Finally, here are three poetry books that will get you in a patriotic mood while modeling a variety of poetry forms and poetic devices:

Not only is A IS FOR AMERICA  by Devin Scillian, illustrated by Pam Carroll, an alphabet-book mentor text, it's a great example of pairing poems with side bars. MY AMERICA: A POETRY ATLAS OF THE UNITED STATES, edited by the beloved Lee Bennett Hopkins and illustrated by Stephen Alcorn, weaves a tapestry of the United States through fifty poems organized by geographic region. THE POETRY OF US, edited by former U.S. Children's Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis, shares the beauty of America's people and places through 200+ poems and photographs.

From sea to shining sea, we hope you enjoy a superb 4th of July!