It's springtime, which means two things: sunshine (which leads to the near constant impulse to forgo all responsibility and frolic) and love. Yes, love. We know you feel it, some variation on the spectrum of romance which leads to the irresistible, inexplicable reading of poetry and daydreaming (and, for that matter, more exuberant frolicking; see above). Trust us. We feel it, too... now excuse us while we drift off into la-la land.

A POEM IS A POEM IS A POEM IS A POEM
Hear ye, hear ye — April is National Poetry Month! Gather your haikus! Brush up on your iambic pentameter! Dust off that old... wait. Why dust off old poetry books when there's so many fantastic new ones? If you read one poetry book this year, make sure it's Here's a Little Poem: A Very First Book of Poetry. Collected by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters, these 61 poems perfectly capture the everyday tribulations of a toddler's life, and we can't stop talking about it. David Elliott's On the Farm combines poems, using unique distillations of farm animals' important features, with Holly Meade's visually striking woodcuts. For the older crowd, editor Jan Greenberg's Side by Side: New Poems Inspired by Art from Around the World puts artists and poets literally on the same page. Browse our wide-ranging stacks of poetry for kids.

KIDS' Q&A: ALAN KATZ
For the fan of humorous verse in the vein of Jack Prelutsky, crack open Oops! by Alan Katz. He has quite the résumé. Once a writer for The Rosie O'Donnell Show and several animated series, he's also written for the televised Grammy and Tony Awards. After having children of his own, he turned his attention to children's poetry. Oops! features 100 of his newest poems with rhymes that will tickle your funny-bone. Read his sweet Q&A and find out the neatest (or messiest) way to eat Jell-O, who Five-Yard Fuller is, and save 30% on the cover price of Oops! through April.

DON'T BUMP THE POET: REMEMBERING SHEL SILVERSTEIN
It's hard to talk about poetry month without mentioning the godfather of children's poetry. The beauty of Shel Silverstein's poems is the nervous laughter that often follows. For example the legendary poem "Boa Constrictor," from Where the Sidewalk Ends, funcomfortably addresses mortality, as the narrator is slowly eaten by a gigantic snake. His poetry isn't going out of style either, evidenced by posthumous releases such as Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook, filled with tongue twisting spoonerisms, and Silverstein's first poetry collection, Don't Bump the Glump!: And Other Fantasies, just re-released with full-color illustrations. We also recommend reading the biography A Boy Named Shel: The Life and Times of Shel Silverstein to learn more about this amazing man and his work. Shop all his titles here, including Don't Bump the Glump! at 30% off for a limited time.

YA POETRY PICS
For older poetry lovers, our Mary Z. has compiled a few of her favorite young adult poetry books. Featuring writing guides such as Poetry from A to Z: A Guide for Young Writers by Paul B. Janeczko and moving verse from around the world like This Same Sky edited by Naomi Shihab Nye, this aisle has something to please rhymesters ages 15 and up. Be sure to check out some of Mary's absolute favorites: You Hear Me?: Poems and Writing by Teenage Boys edited by Betsy Franco, the collection of poems I Just Hope It's Lethal: Poems of Sadness, Madness, and Joy compiled by Liz Rosenberg and Deena November, as well as Faith and Doubt: An Anthology of Poems edited by Patrice Vecchione, and Red Hot Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Being Young and Latino in the United States edited by Lori Marie Carlson.

PUT YOUR POEM ON OUR BLOG!
What? You still need more encouragement to put pen to paper? Post your original short poem (20 lines or less, please) on the kids' section of our blog during the month of April and we will randomly pick five names to win a $25 gift card and a Powell's Kids' Nalgene Water Bottle! Under 13 years of age? No one under the age of 13 is allowed to submit their name, email address, or other personal information, so please ask your parent or guardian to post for you.

KIDS' Q&A: EMILY GRAVETT
Emily Gravett is the artist behind the wonderfully creative book Wolves, a favorite of ours for some time. Before Emily became the multi-talented author/illustrator she is today, she roamed around the world for eight years. We learned of her travels on her charming website which features games and activities for kids, like overcoming your fears by making them into a collage. How clever! Her adorable new book, Monkey and Me, has readers guessing what animals a little girl and her stuffed monkey are imitating. Read Emily's Q&A to learn why she longs to be a witch and buy Monkey and Me at 30% off.

KIDS' Q&A: STEVE KLUGER
My Most Excellent Year is the best kind of young adult book: one with broad appeal to both adults and teens. I mean, A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins and Fenway Park? Who doesn't like reading love stories in the spring? And who doesn't love the Red Sox? If there's not something for you in here, then we don't know what to tell you. Get a taste of Steve Kluger's distinctive sense of humor in this exclusive Q&A. Steve tells of dreams of Ethel Merman and why his voice reminds him of a buzz saw. And buy My Most Excellent Year at a savings of 30% off the cover price.

ORIGINAL ESSAY: LINDA SUE PARK
Maybe you've heard of Linda Sue Park? She's the winner of the 2002 Newbery Medal for her book A Single Shard. A daughter of Korean immigrants, Linda grew up outside of Chicago as an avid baseball fan — maybe we should introduce her to Steve Kluger! We might not have been Brooklyn Dodgers fans but we do love Linda's newest book, Keeping Score, about a girl living in Brooklyn during the Korean War. This book combines Linda's passion for baseball with her family's past. Be sure to read more about her motivation to write Keeping Score in her original essay, exclusive to Powells.com. Purchase Keeping Score and save $4.80 off the cover price, for a limited time.

SPRING CHICKENS
Have you ever appreciated the simple beauty of chickens? For all you skeptics, we guarantee no book will make you come around faster than the brilliant young adult novel The Chicken Dance by Jacques Couvillon. Stanley loves chickens with a passion, and by the end of the book so did we. One Hen by Katie Smith Milway is the true story of how one chicken changed a young Ghanaian boy's life. Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? answers the titular question 14 different ways by 14 different picture book artists. In The Chicken of the Family, Henrietta's older sisters manage to convince her that she's actually a chicken! Anyone who has ever had older siblings will appreciate the humor in Henrietta's gullibility. Check out our selection of books featuring the popular pullet here.

BOOK BUZZ
Speaking of springtime exuberance, did we mention how much we adore My Dad's a Birdman? David Almond struck a chord that resonated throughout the Kids' Team by creating a novel that is whimsically illustrated and darkly comic in a very British way. The story of Lizzie and her dad bonding over the Great Human Bird Competition (also serving to mask their grief of Mom's death) has both the strange lightheartedness of Roald Dahl's Matilda and the emotional maturity of Michael Rosen's Sad Book. My Dad's a Birdman was originally a play, and one of the character's names is Mr. Poop — try reading it out loud and not laughing.

THE KIDS' COLUMN
Welcome to the Kids' Column: unfettered commentary from the Kids' Team members at Powell's Books. This month, we hear from Sarah on the subject of sequels:

Too often, picture book sequels leave much to be desired. It sometimes feels like publishers are holding a pen to the heads of exhausted writers and illustrators demanding results. So, imagine my relief when I fell upon Little Hoot, the new book by the creative team of Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Jen Corace. Sticking with the look and ironic twist of their debut, Little Pea, about a pea who doesn't like eating his sweets, they've followed up with a book about a boy owl who hates to stay up late. An original premise with darling illustrations, it reminds me of my own nighttime stalling methods as a youngster. Little Hoot definitely stands on its own as a great bedtime read-aloud.

For more observations from our Kids' Team, visit the kids' section of our blog.

KIDS' BESTSELLERS

1. Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings (Young Adult) 2. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney (Middle Readers) 3. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (Young Adult) 4. Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen (Young Adult) 5. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (Middle Readers) 6. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (Yound Adult) 7. The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Field Guide by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black (Middle Readers) 8. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (Young Adult) 9. Gallop!: A Scanimation Picture Book by Rufus Seder (Pop-up Books) 10. Code Orange by Caroline B. Cooney (Young Adult)