For thousands of years, people have been writing poetry. But what is poetry? Award-winning wordsmith Michael Rosen has spent decades thinking about that question, and in this helpful guide he shares his insights with humor, knowledge, and appreciation.

What is poetry? -- What can you do with a poem? -- My thoughts as I was writing some poems -- Ways to start a poem -- Writing poems -- Some technical points about poems -- So what is poetry? -- Appendix.