This Is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness

When Mrs. Merz asks her sixth grade class to write poems of apology, they end up liking their poems so much that they decide to put them together into a book. Not only that, but they get the people to whom they apologized to write poems back.

In haiku, pantoums, two-part poems, snippets, and rhymes, Mrs. Merz’s class writes of crushes, overbearing parents, loving and losing pets, and more. Some poets are deeply sorry; some not at all. Some are forgiven; some are not. In each pair of poems a relationship, a connection, is revealed. |

Packed with the intensity of everyday pain and sorrow, kids and adults exchange the words that convey grief, delight, love and acceptance of themselves and others.

Kirkus Reviews
The poems successfully navigate the complicated terrain for those who seek forgiveness.

Publishers Weekly

"Sidman's collection could help young poets express themselves and learn from their mistakes." Book Links January 2008 Book Links, ALA

"Delicate, mixed-media illustrations...add touches of whimsy and wit to these delightful missives." SLJ December 2007 School Library Journal