Tom Angleberger is the author of the popular Origami Yoda series and the Flytrap Files series, as well as several other books for kids. Here he reflects on his new book, Dino Poet: A Graphic Novel, kicking off a series about a T. rex who fancies himself as something of a T.S. Eliot.

You’ve probably heard somebody say, “I can’t draw!” and then immediately contradict themselves by adding, “only stick figures.”

Similarly, people who “can’t cook” still scramble themselves an egg and people who “can’t sing” do plenty of singing in the car.

So why is it that people who “can’t write poetry” really do stop right there and never write poems?

The fear of failure is so huge for poetry. Before we start, we’re thinking about Emily Dickinson and Rita Dove and Robert Frost and Nikki Giovanni and we will never be that good! Anything we write will be cringeworthy by comparison!

But why are we comparing? And why are we cringing?

And, most importantly, why aren’t we writing the ding dang poem?

If this is where you’re stuck, try my new Dino Poetry method:

Write it!

Read it!

ROAR IT!

And then eat anyone who doesn’t like it!

(It worked for Emily Dickinson, after all.)

The reason I bring all this up is that drawing, cooking, singing in the car and, of course, writing poetry can all be a ton of fun.

And the results might not be great art, food, music or poetry, but the process almost certainly makes us better humans—exercising our brains, our sense of humor, our empathy.

It definitely makes us happier humans, as long as we remember not to compare or cringe.

Look, I would never, ever, ever stand up and say, “I’m a poet.” That would be madness!

And yet... I write poetry and have a great time doing it. Now, I’m trying to get more kids to do the same thing.

If that seems ridiculous, remember that I taught a kabillion kids how to fold Origami Yoda, even though I, personally, am terrible at origami. That’s not false modesty, that’s my secret sauce.

See, if I was good at origami, I’d have come up with something complicated and kids wouldn’t have been able to fold it and the whole thing would have been forgotten. Instead, 15 years later, kids are still sending me their Origami Yodas, Origami Baby Yodas, Origami Pikachus, Origami Kermits and Origami Everybodies.

Now, I’m going to try it again with something else I’m terrible at: poetry.

Will I be buried under an avalanche of dinosaur drawings and wacky rhymes? I sure hope so!

Dino Poet isn’t a book of poems about dinosaurs.

It’s about a dinosaur who wants to write a book of poems.

That’s not easy, especially when you’re being chased by a T. rex.

Luckily, the dinosaur meets a proto-frog who seems to know a lot about poetry. (Actually, the proto-frog only knows a lot about not getting eaten.)

So, do kids actually want to write poems? Judging by my recent school visits: yes, and they are quite loud about it and may forget to sit criss-cross apple sauce and raise their hands and wait to be called on.

Here’s an actual poem some kids and I wrote in Richmond, Va., recently. We started with a picture of a T. rex (drawn by a kid named Margot, because I also teach kids how to draw dinosaurs), and wound up with this:

“Oh No! I was hit by a CAR!

It made me spill my JAR!

The jar went FAR

And now I am a SUPERSTAR!”

That, my friends, is poetry!

We did it! They did it! You can do it!

Forget the meter, ignore the rules, force the rhyme if you have to. Just write that poem!

And then don’t compare, don’t cringe.

Just roar and rejoice!

Dino Poet: A Graphic Novel by Tom Angleberger. Abrams, $13.99, Mar. 25 ISBN 978-1-4197-7280-1