Poetry can be a difficult concept to put into words, let alone explain to a child. Archer’s beautifully illustrated book, Daniel Finds a Poem, proves that poetry isn’t elusive—it’s everywhere.

Daniel is typical kid enjoying a day at his favorite park when he notices a sign promoting a poetry reading. “What is poetry?” he asks.  To find the answer, he sets off on a week-long quest, asking the park’s animals to explain poetry to him. Each response is different, of course, since every critter defines poetry as the thing that makes them the happiest. For the turtle, poetry is “sun-drenched sand;” to the owl it’s “moonlight on the grass.”

This book is great for reading together because it showcases lots of cool elements kids love, like animal identification, days of the week, and playground toys. Plus, Archer slips in expressive vocabulary–“twilight,” “glisten,” “crisp,”—adding depth and sparkle to a simple story, and providing parents a great opportunity to share new words with their little ones.

Best of all, Archer conveys Daniel’s adventure with beautiful illustrations of the tissue paper collage and oil paints. Every page is a tapestry. Children and adults alike can get lost in the rich colors and astonishing detail.

A array of familiar animals, sunny playground scenes, and the glorious colors of nature, Daniel Finds a Poem the perfect book now that spring is (finally) here. Daniel and his animal friends show us that poetry is everywhere around us, if we only look for it…