Explosion at the Poem Factory

A funny story, full of wordplay, brings poetry alive as never before! Kilmer Watts makes his living teaching piano lessons, but when automatic pianos arrive in town, he realizes hes out of a job. He spots a Help Wanted sign at the poem factory and decides to investigate hes always been curious about how poems are made. The foreman explains that machines and assembly lines are used for poetry these days. So Kilmer learns how to operate the meter meter and empty the clich bins. He assembles a poem by picking out a rhyme scheme, sprinkling in some similes and adding alliteration. But one day the machines malfunction, and there is a dramatic explosion at the poem factory. How will poetry ever survive? Kyle Lukoffs funny story, rich in wordplay, is complemented by Mark Hoffmanns lively, quirky art. The backmatter includes definitions of poetic feet, types of poems (with illustrated examples) and a glossary of other terms. An authors note explains the inspiration for the story. Key Text Features definitions glossary author's note Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.4 Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.