A comprehensive poetic tome, Amanda West Lewis shines a light on space and poetry in A Planet is a Poem illustrated by Oliver Averill.

Throughout this volume of poems, Amanda West Lewis not only teaches readers about different styles of poetry, she also appeals to readers' deep love for all things planets and space by creating poems for each planet in the galaxy and providing helpful and informative non fiction information as well. This is a clever book that appeals to a wide variety of readers and one that will find its way into the hands of both fans of poetry and nonfiction.

Each planet in the solar system is treated to its own poem, describing its unique features. Amanda West Lewis shares ballads, odes, acrostics, shape poems and more. It’s a total poetry lesson in one book and will provide inspiration for young poets as they write and develop their craft. A perfect book for teachers to share with students during poetry units.

Along with an inspiring poem, opening the page flap reveals not only non fiction information about the type of poem chose for the planet but also non fiction information about the planet itself, satisfying readers curiosity and desire to fill up their knowledge cups. While I love pages that open up and they provide space for the book to be a reasonable number of pages while also providing enough information, the perfectionist in me really dislikes when the flaps get all crumpled and bent and torn.

Oliver Averill’s art is gorgeous. The celestial sky is illuminated by his planetary illustrations and he really captures the vastness and majesty of a sky full of stars and planets.