When a Poem Meets a Pencil is an imaginative collaboration of the pencil drawings of Rob Hedges and the whimsical poetry of Chris Carpenter. Rob and Chris met while working at Gess Elementary in Chewelah, Washington, a small rural school nestled in the Selkirk Mountain Range of the Pacific Northwest. Chris was the music teacher and Rob was a para educator and the two would frequently combine their talents to make a lesson pop, showcase a school community bulletin board, or contribute to the annual PTA Reflections Art Program. Rob came to his career in education after a 23 year stint as a technical illustrator for Hanford, showcasing his drawing abilities in spite of his color blindness. In fact, his color blindness gave him a depth and dimension that set his drawings apart from other illustrators and caught the eye of Chris, who was looking for just the right person to capture the essence of her poems. When a Poem Meets a Pencil is the delightful result of two talented educators combining their efforts and leaving their mark - a mark of joyful wonder and thought.

The pages of this book are meant to celebrate the unique view of those who see the world through their color blindness. It is estimated that 1 in 12 males and 1 in 200 females have some form of color blindness affecting 4.5 % of the entire world’s population. When a Poem Meets a Pencil also honors the pencil doodlings of lines and curves and the rhythms and rhymes of words that lead to pictures and stories that celebrate life’s lessons through reflection, humorous anecdotes, and animal personification. Imagine a turtle changing her shell, a dragon living in a toaster, a fishy quartet, or a territorial squirrel. These are just a few of the animals that come to life and captivate the imaginations of those who spend time with the pages of this enchanting book.