Last month, I had the opportunity to pitch a middle-grade verse novel to an editor, and as these things sometimes happen, the pitch turned into a conversation. We spoke about One and The Weight of Water (I prefer the first; the editor I was talking to prefers the second). I had not yet read Clap When You Land, or I would have mentioned it. And then she asked me if I had read Love That Dog. I hadn't, but I thought I'd see if I could find it. I did--and I loved it!The book begins in a surprising way. I read on. I was just on page three or four of the book, and I was already laughing. I remember my reaction to William Carlos Williams's 'The Red Wheelbarrow'. And the protagonist Jack has the same reaction! Why does so much depend on a little red wheelbarrow? What? What does the poem even mean?And slowly, from lightheartedness to emotion, we move with Jack, and understand just how … [Read more...]