Real Toads, Imaginary Gardens: On Reading and Writing Poetry Forensically BOTY_2025 LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A "powerful" (The Guardian) reflection on basketball

the suicide of Sylvia Plath

Perfect for children of all identities

who has worked behind the bar full-time since 1996

Real Toads, Imaginary Gardens: On Reading and Writing Poetry Forensically BOTY_2025 LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOKAn innovative and accessible guide to writing and reading poetry by an acclaimed poet and beloved professor of poetry. What makes reading a poem unlike reading anything else? In Real Toads, Imaginary Gardens, acclaimed poet and teacher Paisley Rekdal demonstrates how to observe the building blocks of a poem including its diction, form, imagery, and rhythm and construct an interpretation of its meaning. Using guided close readings and nearly 40