IF I COULD CHOOSE A BEST DAY
Poems of Possibility
Selected by: Irene Latham & Charles Waters
Illustrated by: Olivia Sua
Published: March 4, 2025
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Poem Collection
Latham and Waters have gathered a collection of poems for children that all begin with “If”. Children naturally live in a world of “if”. Imagine “if” we lived in a castle. What “if” I could fly? The book begins with a poem titled “Welcome” by Irene Latham and Charles Waters to encourage children to imagine and wonder as they read the rest of the poems.
There are three sections of poems: Everyday Magic, The Power of You, and Kinfolk and Companions. In those categories, kids will find poems about building a tree house, or what to do when a bad dream comes. There are poems by favorite poets like Emily Dickinson’s “If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking” and my favorite, a Haiku about a puddle.
Puddle
by Bob Raczka
If this puddle could
Talk, I think it would tell me
To splash my sister.
Olivia Sua’s illustrations tell the story of each poem. In the Puddle poem, the full-page spread shows two sisters, one on each side of a puddle surrounded by mushrooms and grass. One sister in particular is just about to splash her other unknowing sister. Sua’s mixed-media illustrations have a three-dimensional feel of coloring mixed with cut paper. Her illustrations make the poems approachable for kids who have never read or had a poem read to them.
Latham and Waters called for submissions for this book and received nearly four hundred poems. They also searched published poems from various existing collections that met their criteria and were thrilled to add older published poems mixed with new ones to create a comprehensive poetry book for kids.
Poems in IF I COULD CHOOSE A BEST DAY are by: Lacresha Berry * Robyn Hood Black * JaNay Brown-Wood * Joseph Bruchac * Siv Cedering * Emily Dickinson * Rebecca Kai Dotlich * Nikki Grimes * Jolene Gutiérrez * Georgia Heard * Anna Grossnickle Hines * Irene Latham * Renée M. LaTulippe * Nancy Tupper Ling * Sylvia Liu * Rebekah Lowell * Vikram Madan * Guadalupe García McCall * Lilian Moore * Eric Ode * Bob Raczka * Lisa Rogers * Sydell Rosenberg * Laura Purdie Salas * Janice Scully * Teresa Owens Smith * Gabi Snyder * Sarah Grace Tuttle * Amy Ludwig VanDerwater * Charles Waters * Janet Wong
Irene Latham & Charles Waters are “poetic forever friends” first and collaborators second. They are the writing team behind Be a Bridge; African Town; Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship, which was awarded a Charlotte Huck Honor; and Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z, a National Council of Teachers of English Notable Poetry Book. They are also the editors of The Mistakes That Made Us: Confessions from Twenty Poets. Irene Latham & Charles Waters share a passion for poetry and are committed to creating meaningful books for young readers. Irene Latham lives in Alabama, and Charles Waters lives in Georgia.
Olivia Sua holds a BFA in illustration from the Pacific Northwest College of Art. She is the illustrator of Water Day / El día del agua by Margarita Engle and Uno Más, One More: A Latino Retelling of an Old Scottish Ballad by Silvia López. Olivia Sua was born in Washington State and now resides in Beaverton, Oregon.
To purchase a copy of these books, click HERE.
Get outside and fly a kite this spring with a gorgeous kite like this one, HERE.
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Thanks to the publisher for sending a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. This review is my honest opinion. If you choose to make a purchase through the above links, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase.
Posted Under Book Review, Charles Waters, Children's books, Irene Latham, Olivia Sua, poetry