Your Time to Rhyme*

*Note: Not all poems have repeating sounds at the end of the lines. And some do not have regular meter or form. Just express yourself in a creative way.

Generations of readers have puzzled over the meaning of Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky," considered by many to be the greatest nonsense poem in the English language. Now comes author-illustrator Christopher Myers with his own interpretation.

Carroll's words are as mystifying as ever -- "the vorpal blade went snicker-snack," to give one example -- but Myers's drawings are vividly clear.

Myers re-imagines the 1871 poem in today terms: The larger-than-life Jabberwock is the menacing king of a city basketball court. No one dares take him on until, one day . . . well, you'll have to get a copy of the book to find out.

Reading "Jabberwocky" is just one way to enjoy National Poetry Month in April. Here are some other good books, with snippets of their poetry. -- Marylou Tousignant

"Keeping the Night Watch" by Hope Anita Smith; E.B. Lewis, illustrator; ages 9 and older.

In this sequel to "The Way a Door Closes," a teenager feels anger and confusion when his father returns to the family he abandoned.

When the quake hit,

it hit hard,

shook us to our core.

Our fine bone-china security

fell to the floor and shattered.