HOP TO IT: Poems to Get You Moving

WINNER - "Best Book of Facts" - 2021 Kids' Book Choice Awards

Need a break? Hop to it! The hundred poems in this book will get you moving from nose to toes! Climb like a cat, sign the phrase watch me, or do a binky rabbit dance. Discover fun facts such as why pigeons make good messengers, who invented jumping jacks, and how sleeping can help you learn a new language. You’ll find pandemic poetry about wearing masks and virtual learning—plus poems that inspire you to stand up and speak out. Stretch your body and your mind with a 30-second brain break!

HOP TO IT: POEMS TO GET YOU MOVING is an anthology of 100 new poems by 90 poets—with STEM and social studies connections, thematic mini-lessons, read aloud tips, and extensive back matter featuring useful activities to help maximize student learning and social-emotional development. Share a new poem or two each week of the school year and get kids thinking and moving as they read aloud their favorite poems using pantomime, sign language, and whole body movements—including deskercise. Take a 30-second indoor recess whenever you need it!

The 90 contributing poets include many award-winning poets and some rising stars, too: Alma Flor Ada, Kathryn Apel, Rebecca Balcárcel, Ibtisam Barakat, Michelle Heidenrich Barnes, Doraine Bennett, Carmen T. Bernier-Grand, Robyn Hood Black, Susan Blackaby, David Bowles, Jay Brazeau, Joseph Bruchac, Stephanie Calmenson, F. Isabel Campoy, Rose Cappelli, Yangsook Choi, Lesa Cline-Ransome, Natalee Creech, Ed DeCaria, Kristy Dempsey, Linda Dryfhout, Alice Faye Duncan, Zetta Elliott, Margarita Engle, Janet Clare Fagal, Carrie Finison, Nancy Bo Flood, Catherine Flynn, Marilyn Garcia, Charles Ghigna, Xelena González, Joan Bransfield Graham, Paul W. Hankins, Janice N. Harrington, David L. Harrison, Jane Heitman Healy, Rebekah Hoeft, Carol-Ann Hoyte, Ann Ingalls, Karen G. Jordan, Jacqueline Jules, Alan Katz, Sheila Kerwin, Julie Larios, Renée M. LaTulippe, Rebecca Gardyn Levington, Suzy Levinson, Jone Rush MacCulloch, JoAnn Early Macken, Marjorie Maddox, Kevin Noble Maillard, Juli Mayer, Diane Mayr, David McMullin, Sarah Meade, Christy Mihaly, Heidi Mordhorst, Laura Mucha, Diana Murray, Lesléa Newman, Eric Ode, Linda Sue Park, Baptiste Paul, Miranda Paul, Moe Phillips, Jack Prelutsky, Deborah Reidy, Leslie Ross-Degnan, Shanah Salter, Darren Sardelli, Michelle Schaub, Robert Schechter, Claire Schlinkert, Laura Shovan, Buffy Silverman, Margaret Simon, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Eileen Spinelli, Elizabeth Steinglass, Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie, Holly Thompson, Linda Kulp Trout, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, Sylvia Vardell, Padma Venkatraman, April Halprin Wayland, Carole Boston Weatherford, Tamera Will Wissinger, Janet Wong, and Helen Kemp Zax.

About Pomelo Books

Pomelo Books was created in 2012 with the goal of making it easy for teachers and librarians to share poetry. While our early books in The Poetry Friday Anthology series focused on teaching poetry as part of the language arts standards, our later books address the need for poems that can be shared across the curriculum, such as poems about science, technology, engineering, math, and social studies—as well as social-emotional learning, especially with GREAT MORNING!: POEMS FOR SCHOOL LEADERS TO READ ALOUD. We expanded our focus again with the Poetry Friday Power Book series of interactive journals that provide a bridge between reading and writing, and that are used by many young readers and writers for supplemental learning at home. Our emphasis in all our books has been to highlight diversity and inclusion through a wide variety of 21st-century topics and a multitude of original and distinctive voices, both established and new. Learn more about all of the poetry anthologies published by Pomelo Books at our website.