Jabberwalking by Juan Felipe Herrera

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Candlewick, 2018. ISBN 9781536201406
"Can you walk and talk at the same time? How about Jabberwalk? Can you write and draw and walk and journal all at the same time? If not, you're in luck: exuberant, blue-cheesy cilantro man Juan Felipe Herrera, Poet Laureate of the United States, is here to teach you everything he knows about being a real-life, bonified, Jabberwalking poet!
Jabberwalkers write and speak for themselves and others no matter where their feet may take them - to Jabberwalk is to be a poet on the move. And there's no stopping once you're a Jabberwalker, writing fast, fast, fast, scribble-poem-burbles-on-the-run. Scribble what you see! Scribble what you hear! It's all out there - vamonos!" (Publisher)
Juan Felipe Herrera is the first Mexican-American Poet Laureate in the USA. For people that like poetry and nonsense words, then this book is for you. It is part story, part handbook and packed with nonsensical words and phrases - which loosely reminded me of the made up words featured in Roald Dahl books. It allows readers to see that words can be written down anywhere - they can be completely random and interesting at the same time. Lessons learnt could include listening, expressing and tailoring one's ideas and thoughts about writing. An interesting read.
Kathryn Schumacher

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