Forthcoming Column on Books for Kids

I asked the students in my college class on children’s literature, “Who hates poetry?” All hands went up. Then I asked, “When did you start hating it?” One student called out, “Tenth grade!” and the others nodded in agreement.

Hating poetry unfortunately is something that children learn to do in school, but they are not born that way. Poetry, like curiosity, is too often either sucked out or squelched from young children.

A young child is naturally rhythmical. She beats on the tray of her high chair, kicks her foot against the table, and chants her vocabulary of one or two words in a singsong fashion. She delights in the sound of “Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker’s man,” or “Hey diddle-diddle the cat and the fiddle” before she understands the meaning of the words. Rhythm is a part of the daily beat of our lives—the steady pulse rate, regular breathing, the regularity of night and day, the ebb and flow of the oceans.

Poetry satisfies the child’s natural response to rhythm, and rhyme and sounds provide a musical addition that is both pleasurable to listen to as well as it is fun to make. Children love poetry for it is play, first of all, a playing with words and a most satisfying form of language, being both oral stimulation and an echo of in-utero sounds.

So before your children get to tenth grade and have the joy of rhythm & rhyme forever extinguished from their souls, bank their fires of passion for poetry and their love of words. You will not fail them.

HERE’S A LITTLE POEM: a very first book of poetry, by Jane Yolen.

These are poems that highlight the moments of a toddler’s world from dawn to dusk carefully gathered by Jane Yolen. They capture a very young child’s intense delight in the experiences and rituals of every new day--greeting the morning, enjoying the adventures of the day, cuddling up to a cozy bedtime. This exuberant celebration of is an essential collection for every child's library and a gorgeous gift to give, share, and treasure.

NOISY POEMS by Jill Bennett.

Yickity yak, yickity yak, the yak has a scriffily, scraffily back! This charming collection is packed with noises and rhymes children will love to listen to and repeat. Illustrated in colour throughout by award-winning artist Nick Sharratt, this is a perfect first poetry book, including poems by Spike Milligan, Jack Prelutsky, Eve Merriam, and Eleanor Farjeon.

KIDS PICK THE FUNNIEST POEMS by Bruce Lansky.

This collection of poetry should be in every elementary classroom and should be read aloud to the students. This book has never failed to help me get the attention of students-- they like it and I like it too. This book covers many subjects kids address in school and in life. What better way to deal with real life issues than with laughter!

DIRTY LAUNDRY PILE: poems in different voices by Paul B. Janeczko.

These poems are "persona or mask poems" written in voices of nonhuman things, for example: a washing machine sings its washing songs "Blub-blub-a-dubba"; a vacuum cleaner complains, "I swallow twigs./ I slurp dead bugs," and finally threatens, "I think I'll swallow you today!" The volume begins with poems about wind and weather and ends with works about insects and animals. Very funny and great for reading aloud.

Don’t forget Mother Goose and jump rope rhymes as other sources for poetry for children.