Just Wondering

Why do crabs walk sideways? Does hammering cinnamon sticks cause hunger? Can geometry

carry you to outer space? Why’s there a hideout built into a restaurant wall? What should you do

if a baseball bat flies toward your head? What can you hear in a totally silent room?

Just Wondering—40 Poems for Smart Kids (You) is for students ages 9-12 who enjoy thinking.

Some of the poems are serious, some light. Some rhyme, and some don’t. All forty assume that

kids think widely and intelligently. Vivid, witty illustrations accompany every poem.

The poems’ topics include DNA pasta, ice-skating ancestors, acrobatic raisins, messy rooms,

poison ivy, wingless flying, talking silverware, things that never happened, rooftop lookouts, and

many others, from these categories:

• People I (Might) Know


• Science, Math, and Food


• Outdoor Adventures


• My Room


• Thinking and Wondering

And for kids who hate poetry, there’s a final poem, “A Poem Is a Horrid Thing.”

Just Wondering—40 Poems for Smart Kids (You) is lively, challenging, and fun for smart kids

everywhere.