With My Hands: Poems About Making Things by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
With My Hands: Poems About Making Things resonated with me so much. It stirred my creative heart and got my brain buzzing and brimming with thoughts and ideas of possibilities unbound.
You’ll have to stick with me for a moment as I share with you how Amy’s book prompted me to think about what Making looks like and means to me in my library media center.
The library to me has always been a launch pad for possibility. Wondering about and discovering the world around us through books, research, and the exploration of curiosity through play, hands-on activity, and constructing something new. In our K-5 library, I continue to work at creating an environment that sparks creativity. We read, enjoy, and study the craft of many authors and illustrators and leave space for every class that comes through our doors to be an illustrator, a writer, or a maker of comics. To make. To do. To create. I believe our students can do anything and everything imaginable and I count it a privilege to play any part in being a springboard, that gentle nudge, or that voice that whispers, “you can do it.” It is a big part of why I love what I do.
It is that bravery to dream big, bold dreams, that motivates me and my colleagues every day. The joy that it brings to see the stars shine bright, as a twinkling in our students’ eyes, as they learn, grow, and discover their gifts and talents.
I too am a dreamer as I continue to learn and grow with my family. I am a maker as I unwind from the cares of the day and chop and prep and cook the most delicious meal for my family. I am a maker when I put pen to pad and scratch out the words that flow from my heart as I write. My husband is a maker and tinkerer when he builds and repairs and repurposes things and stuff and then more stuff and things into new nightstands and workbenches. I am always impressed.
There is just something so rewarding about making. It is the stuff dreams are made of…I think. Dreams realized. The magic of it all makes me smile.
This book took me by surprise. It’s not just a book of poems. It’s page after page of living, breathing inspiration and the fuel to fan the flames of creativity. It is a book that was already on my radar. I’d already had a copy of it on my book order for next school year. After reading it, I will go ahead and quickly add more copies to my order.
With My Hands: Poems About Making Things
Amy Ludwig VanDerwater
Shout-Outs
Amy Ludwig VanDerwater | https://www.amyludwigvanderwater.com/
Clarion Books
An imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
https://www.hmhco.com/
Book Excursion | PLN Group of Rockstar Reading Educators| #BookExcursion
CeCeLibrarian’s Book Blog 
I can’t wait to see this book.
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I’ll show it to you tomorrow. You’ll love it. One of our 4th grade teachers already owns it and we had a nice chat about it this morning.
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