Dear Acorn (Love, Oak)

Illustrated by Melissa Sweet, Clarion/HarperCollins, 2025, ISBN: 978035833467

Dear Sky,

Hello, It’s me, Bubble!

I’m here!

Someone breathed me awake!

As I float up and up

in your dazzling blue—

how I long to be

part of you—

What is it like to be little? What is it like to be big?

Whether it’s a small bubble writing to the enormous sky, or a mighty oak writing to a tiny acorn, these surprising and delightful poems examine how we’re all connected—in both big and small ways. Brilliantly illustrated by Caldecott-Honor-winning artist Melissa Sweet, Dear Acorn (Love Oak) will have readers dreaming up messages of their own to this big, beautiful world.

  • Featured on NPR

  • Minnesota Book Award Finalist

  • American Library Association 2026 Notable Book

  • National Council for Teachers of English 2026 Notable Book

  • Kirkus Best Book of 2025

  • Horn Book Fanfare

  • Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

Reader’s Guide

Also, more suggestions to use as a mentor text @ Writing Mindset

“An insightful masterpiece of poetic correspondence that invites readers to discover new connections.”

**Kirkus, starred review

“The poems illustrate harmony through the overarching message of togetherness.”

**Booklist, starred review

“Wonderfully imaginative letter poems . . a celebration of connection.”

**Publisher’s Weekly, starred review

“The first-person voice in each poem is strong, offering an invitation, an homage, or a vivid self-portrait.”

**Horn Book, starred review

Next

We Are Branches