A book for young poetry lovers, poetry haters, and teachers of language arts provides an intriguing--and inspiring--look at how creativity takes form in many different ways. Editor Myra Cohn Livingston gave students in a master poetry class at UCLA an assignment: write a poem with the word "rabbit"in it. The results were as diverse as the students themselves: haiku and free verse, serious and silly. The assignment continued, more complex: write a poem with three words (ring, drum and blanket). Finally, the students wrote poems in which they all used the same five words, and an optional sixth word. Many of the results are published in this collection that includes the work of Tony Johnston, Ann Whitford Paul, Alice Schertle, Janet S. Wong and other students from Livingston's class. I Am Writing a Poem About... is an exciting look at poetry and poem-writing that is whimsical, observant and insightful. Neither students nor teachers should miss it. (Age 10 and older)

As a teacher of poetry at UCLA, Myra Cohn Livingstone's first assignment to her class was to use one given word in a poem: the second was to use three given words; and the final one was to use six words. From these poems, Mrs. Livingstone chose this collection.