This is a Beautiful collection of poems designed to make us pause in our hectic day-to-day lives, and look around ourselves in wonder at the world we live in and the people we are connected to. I especially love the thought-provoking journaling questions interspersed throughout, and the book discussion questions at the very end.

This will make an excellent gift for someone (or yourself) even for those professed non-poetry lovers.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

An instant zap of serotonin for those of us needing a reminder about the awe-inspring things happening around us everyday.

This is an anthology poetry collection which has asked poet's to share the wonder that is all around us. While all the poem's are different in meter, rhyme and scheme they are all connected by a sense of awe. It's difficult to rate an anthology because some of the poems didn't resonate, while others made me need to close the book and think or share with friends.

I especially resonated with 'Slow Down' by Michelle Wiegers, a poem which juxtaposes the quickness with which we move through life to the value of driving in the slow lane - it's simple but so effective. I laughed out loud when I read 'Meghan Dunn's 'Ode to Butter', which highlighted the joy that can be had if we just stop and notice, "crisping and softening and browning and caramelizing everything it touches. To the sound it's waxed paper wrapper makes when a knife is sliced through at the blue line. Satisfying."

This collection feels like it's been organized into themes, but it's not explicitly divided into them. At first I wished it was, but then I was glad to be able to draw from the poems what I wanted to without being told what theme or focus I was supposed to come in with or walk away with.

Perfect for inspiring writers and poets, each section is punctuated by an invitation to Writing and Reflection. The reader is encouraged to pause their reading and consider or write around a specific theme inspired by the collection. It added a much appreciated engagement with the work that I now wish was in more collections.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storey Publishing for this advanced reader copy.

This book is best read with a pen and paper near by, and an extra handful of time to notice the awe-inspiring small wonders around us everyday.

It is an anthology of poems on positivity. I like the idea behind the book but I am a bit undecided about the poems in the book. Some are more my cup of tea, whilst some are not. I guess that is unavoidable as it is a collection of poems from different poets.

I would definitely recommend picking up a copy of this poetry collection. I certainly appreciate the thought provoking questions it asks after some poems and the writing prompts were also a nice surprise, The Food poems were some of my favorite. This poetry collection is certainly one I plan to own.
Thank you NetGalley for my ARC copy.

"If peace was something we could taste,
it would be figs drizzled with honey."
- Breathing Peace, Cristina M. R. Norcross


The Wonder of Small Things is an anthology of poems about cultivating wonder and seizing every opportunity to experience awe. The works selected revolve around love, nature, and appreciating small moments.

Every fifteen pages or so, readers can find an Invitation to Writing and Reflection to further explore the themes and ideas presented in one of the poems. The book ends with Reading Group Questions and Topics for Discussions based on specific poems. These Reflective Pauses and prompts ask us to be an active witness to our environment and take some time to write in response.


I loved this book. It is always difficult to judge a whole collection, especially with so many different authors and different styles, but the poems are organized following a common thread through different aspects of nature (trees and light and birds and food) that makes it all feel like one big ensemble work.

The collection is full of beauty and hope, and feels like sitting out in the sun on a warm sunny day.


I think this book, being over 200 pages, would have benefitted from being separated into sections to make it easier to find specific themes.


Added notes
My favourite poems :
AWE, James Crews
THE GROVE, Michael Kleber-Diggs
UNDER THE TEMPLE, Mark Nepo
HEAVENLY BODIES, Alison Luterman
SWIM LESSONS, George Bilgere
BELONGING, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
PRIMITIVE OBJECTS, Holly Wren Spaulding
LISTEN BACK, Brooke McNamara
ODE TO BUTTER, Meghan Dunn
ASK ME, Sue Ann Gleason
CHICKADEE, Meghan Sterling
ARCHILOCHUS COLUBRIS, José A. Alcántara

"Do you believe at times that a moment
chooses you to remember it & tell about it-
so that it may live again?"
- Lately, Laure-Anne Bosselaar

"The ocean's briny smell
fills my lungs with longing
for a simpler life."
- Ocean Love, Carolyn Chilton Casas

"And if it's true we are alone,
we are alone together,
the way blades of grass
are alone, but exist as a field."
- Belonging, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

Thank you NetGalley and Storey Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I really liked this colection of poems, beautifull written about the love of small things.
my favorite was the poem about butter.
i think this collection is a good place to start if you are new to poems..

This is a book of poems on the wonder of life with introductions telling how the poet started the creative process.

A review calls these poems ‘highly accessible’ and they are easy to read. I found them ‘nice’ but not thought provoking. Once read none will stick with me in the way some poems have.

It is a full collection and certainly some readers will enjoy their simplicity and the way in which they are themed around love of Nature and people.

I read a copy provided by NetGalley and the publishers.