If I Could Choose a Best Day: Poems of Possibility

An ode to imagination and the power of “if,” this exhilarating poetry collection features the voices of thirty-one diverse poets.

If I could choose a best day
it would be sunny
it would be summer

and I would be with you.

Imagine what you could do with if. Build a tree house, ride your bike back in time, catch a firefly like a tiny star in the palm of your hands and let it go to make a wish—anything, when it starts with if. Because if is where your imagination begins, where the impossible becomes possible, if only you imagine. And if you do, just think of how much better our world could be. Thirty-one poets, selected by “poetic forever friends” and frequent collaborators Irene Latham and Charles Waters, begin each of their poems with the word if and imagine the possibilities the gift of if can hold. Olivia Sua’s cut-paper and painted-mosaic illustrations add warmth and meaning to the poems, allowing the reader’s mind to soar with possibility. In an end note, the anthologists offer insight into their selection process, aimed at gathering a comprehensive and representative collection of poems.

With poems by:
Lacresha Berry * Robyn Hood Black * JaNay Brown-Wood * Joseph Bruchac * Siv Cedering * Emily Dickinson * Rebecca Kai Dotlich * Nikki Grimes * Jolene Gutiérrez * Georgia Heard * Anna Grossnickle Hines * Irene Latham * Renée M. LaTulippe * Nancy Tupper Ling * Sylvia Liu * Rebekah Lowell * Vikram Madan * Guadalupe García McCall * Lilian Moore * Eric Ode * Bob Raczka * Lisa Rogers * Sydell Rosenberg * Laura Purdie Salas * Janice Scully * Teresa Owens Smith * Gabi Snyder * Sarah Grace Tuttle * Amy Ludwig VanDerwater * Charles Waters * Janet Wong

Irene Latham & Charles Waters are “poetic forever friends” first and collaborators second. They are the writing team behind Be a Bridge; African Town; Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship, which was awarded a Charlotte Huck Honor; and Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z, a National Council of Teachers of English Notable Poetry Book. They are also the editors of The Mistakes That Made Us: Confessions from Twenty Poets. Irene Latham & Charles Waters share a passion for poetry and are committed to creating meaningful books for young readers. Irene Latham lives in Alabama, and Charles Waters lives in Georgia.

Olivia Sua holds a BFA in illustration from the Pacific Northwest College of Art. She is the illustrator of Water Day / El día del agua by Margarita Engle and Uno Más, One More: A Latino Retelling of an Old Scottish Ballad by Silvia López. Olivia Sua was born in Washington State and now resides in Beaverton, Oregon.