What do you think?
Rate this book
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
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
- GenresPoetryPicture Books
64 pages, Hardcover
Published March 4, 2025
29 people want to read
About the author
Charles Waters
15 books22 followersI was born in Philadelphia and raised in the suburbs of Philly in a town called Yeadon.
Fun fact: Will Smith grew up 15 minutes from me in one direction and Tina Fey grew up 15 minutes from me in another.
After graduating from Fairleigh Dickinson University, I joined several theater touring companies, including, Poetry Alive! where I first experienced the power of poetry.
For eight years afterward when I wasn't developing my poetic skills, I was acting at Walt Disney World performing in various shows, including, the role of Judge at The American Idol Experience at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
I'm the co-author (with Irene Latham) of various books including: CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR? Poems of Race, Mistakes and Friendship, DICTIONARY FOR A BETTER WORLD: Poems, Quotes and Anecdotes from A to Z, AFRICAN TOWN, BE A BRIDGE (Fall '2022) and curating our first anthology, IF THIS PUDDLE COULD TALK: Poems of Imagination (Spring '22).
My poems have appeared in many anthologies including:
- Amazing Places edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins.
- The National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry edited by J. Patrick Lewis.
- The Proper Way To Meet A Hedgehog edited by Paul B. Janeczko.
- The Poetry Friday Anthology Series edited by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong.
- One Minute Till Bedtime edited by Kenn Nesbitt.
Since 2007 I have been a proud member of the Society of Children's Books Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).
Fun fact: Will Smith grew up 15 minutes from me in one direction and Tina Fey grew up 15 minutes from me in another.
After graduating from Fairleigh Dickinson University, I joined several theater touring companies, including, Poetry Alive! where I first experienced the power of poetry.
For eight years afterward when I wasn't developing my poetic skills, I was acting at Walt Disney World performing in various shows, including, the role of Judge at The American Idol Experience at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
I'm the co-author (with Irene Latham) of various books including: CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR? Poems of Race, Mistakes and Friendship, DICTIONARY FOR A BETTER WORLD: Poems, Quotes and Anecdotes from A to Z, AFRICAN TOWN, BE A BRIDGE (Fall '2022) and curating our first anthology, IF THIS PUDDLE COULD TALK: Poems of Imagination (Spring '22).
My poems have appeared in many anthologies including:
- Amazing Places edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins.
- The National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry edited by J. Patrick Lewis.
- The Proper Way To Meet A Hedgehog edited by Paul B. Janeczko.
- The Poetry Friday Anthology Series edited by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong.
- One Minute Till Bedtime edited by Kenn Nesbitt.
Since 2007 I have been a proud member of the Society of Children's Books Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 28, 2025
Latham and Waters have gathered a collection of poems for children that all begin with “If”. Children naturally live in a world of “if”. Imagine “if” we lived in a castle. What “if” I could fly? The book begins with a poem titled “Welcome” by Irene Latham and Charles Waters to encourage children to imagine and wonder as they read the rest of the poems.
There are three sections of poems: Everyday Magic, The Power of You, and Kinfolk and Companions. In those categories, kids will find poems about building a tree house, or what to do when a bad dream comes. There are poems by favorite poets like Emily Dickinson’s “If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking” and my favorite, a Haiku about a puddle.
Puddle
by Bob Raczka
If this puddle could
Talk, I think it would tell me
To splash my sister.
Olivia Sua’s illustrations tell the story of each poem. In the Puddle poem, the full-page spread shows two sisters, one on each side of a puddle surrounded by mushrooms and grass. One sister in particular is just about to splash her other unknowing sister. Sua’s mixed-media illustrations have a three-dimensional feel of coloring mixed with cut paper. Her illustrations make the poems approachable for kids who have never read or had a poem read to them.
Latham and Waters called for submissions for this book and received nearly four hundred poems. They also searched published poems from various existing collections that met their criteria and were thrilled to add older published poems mixed with new ones to create a comprehensive poetry book for kids.
Poems in IF I COULD CHOOSE A BEST DAY are 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
There are three sections of poems: Everyday Magic, The Power of You, and Kinfolk and Companions. In those categories, kids will find poems about building a tree house, or what to do when a bad dream comes. There are poems by favorite poets like Emily Dickinson’s “If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking” and my favorite, a Haiku about a puddle.
Puddle
by Bob Raczka
If this puddle could
Talk, I think it would tell me
To splash my sister.
Olivia Sua’s illustrations tell the story of each poem. In the Puddle poem, the full-page spread shows two sisters, one on each side of a puddle surrounded by mushrooms and grass. One sister in particular is just about to splash her other unknowing sister. Sua’s mixed-media illustrations have a three-dimensional feel of coloring mixed with cut paper. Her illustrations make the poems approachable for kids who have never read or had a poem read to them.
Latham and Waters called for submissions for this book and received nearly four hundred poems. They also searched published poems from various existing collections that met their criteria and were thrilled to add older published poems mixed with new ones to create a comprehensive poetry book for kids.
Poems in IF I COULD CHOOSE A BEST DAY are 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
March 23, 2025
Thank you to the publisher for the beautiful gifted copy of this book; I am beyond excited to share my thoughts on this one!
📖 Book Review 📖 The world is heavy right now and this book was exactly what I needed to be reminded of the beauty in the world. If I Could Choose a Best Day: Poems of Possibility is a collection of thirty one timelessly inspirational verses accompanied by beautiful illustrations that allows readers of all ages to explore the endless depths of wonder that exists in our imaginations and world if we dare to dream.
I hope that whatever you have planned for today that you find beauty and gentle encouragement to step outside your comfort zone!
📖 Book Review 📖 The world is heavy right now and this book was exactly what I needed to be reminded of the beauty in the world. If I Could Choose a Best Day: Poems of Possibility is a collection of thirty one timelessly inspirational verses accompanied by beautiful illustrations that allows readers of all ages to explore the endless depths of wonder that exists in our imaginations and world if we dare to dream.
I hope that whatever you have planned for today that you find beauty and gentle encouragement to step outside your comfort zone!
March 28, 2025
👧🏻reviews: love the imagination, positivity and poems. After reading this, it gives a great vibe and insight that there are still good things in life. My mom said starting with the word “If” is one way of describing a better outlook and outcome than being negative about things. Colorful and artistic.
March 18, 2025
These are simple poems from many famous names all containing "If." Very sweet. I enjoyed half of them, one making me cry with it's beautiful but simple sentiment. Great for an elementary school poetry unit.
September 13, 2024
A lovely compendium of poetry that starts with the word "If." (I'm slightly biased as one of my poems, "If You Catch a Magic Fish" is in this anthology.) Beautiful art and hopeful messages!
March 7, 2025
Phenomenal, engaging poetry selections with the most beautiful paper-cut illustrations by Olivia Sua that I have ever seen. A must add to a public or personal library collection.
March 16, 2025
A wonderful collection of poems, all beginning with IF and proving that the possibilities are endless!
June 11, 2025
Wonder-filled poems that make you feel good.
July 20, 2025
Interesting collection of ”If” poems with colorful pictures illuminating the message. Possibilities are ok. I like memories better. Get on it!! Whatever YOUR ”if” is!!
September 17, 2025
Useful poetry collection. Nothing wow.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews