POETRY: "SERIOUS PLAY"

"Play is what we want to do.  Work is what we have to do...poetry is both of those things.  Robert Frost, in fact, defined poetry as 'serious play'.  Poetry is the liveliest use of language, and nobody knows more instinctively how to take delight in that playfulness than children..." (Academy of American Poets - poets.org)


The ancient Greek word for poetry (poesis) is translated "to create".  Like me, maybe you haven't really considered the definition and origin of poetry since that last literature class you took in college.  I found a comprehensive, yet brief and interesting explanation of "WHAT IS POETRY" here.


Poetry, with its rhythm and rhyme, is perfect for reading aloud, and is very easy for children to memorize. It does not always have to rhyme, but it is always about expression and emotion.  Parents and teachers need to search for fun, thoughtful, and creative poems that will set children on the road to appreciating this literary art.  (If you're interested in poetry for babies and toddlers, you can read my earlier post about Mother Goose Rhymes).


There are classic poets, such as Edward Lear, Robert Louis Stevenson, Jane Taylor, A.A. Milne, and Christina Rossetti, whose long-cherished works will help paint wonderful pictures on the canvas of your child's imagination...  

WHO HAS SEEN THE WIND? by Christina Rossetti

Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you:
But when the leaves hang trembling
The wind is passing thro'.

Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I:
But when the trees bow down their heads
The wind is passing by.

We can also introduce our kids to modern poets, including Jack Prelutsky, Shel Silverstein, and Tony Mitton, to name a few.  Jim Trelease comments, from his READ ALOUD HANDBOOK:  

One of poetry's strengths is its brevity. A poem is not a novel or a short story, yet it can be very revealing in its smallness--like one of those see-through Easter eggs. A poem should add up to something, a slice of life. One expert put it this way: "Unless a poem says something to a child, tells him a story, titillates his ego, strikes up a happy recollection, bumps his funny bone--in other words, delights him--he will not be attracted to poetry regardless of the language it uses."

Click here to see and read the Lulu.Poetry list of Greatest Children's Poems Ever Written.

And go to Classic Children's Poems to download free poetry for parents and teachers.

ANTHOLOGIES for ages 4 and up:
THE RANDOM HOUSE BOOK OF POETRY FOR CHILDREN, compiled by Jack Prelutsky.  Illustrations by Arnold Lobel.
TALKING LIKE THE RAIN, compiled by X.J. Kennedy and Dorothy M. Kennedy.  Illustrations by Jane Dyer.

ELOISE WILKIN'S POEMS TO READ TO THE VERY YOUNG, compiled and illustrated by Eloise Wilkin.

FEELING LOST AT THE LOCAL LIBRARY

I'll never forget my first overwhelming visit to our local library, with two preschoolers and a baby in tow: trying to maneuver our stroller though the seemingly hundreds of aisles of bookshelves while racking my tired Mommy Brain about where to begin. Let's see, I remember something called the Dewey Decimal System...

My mind wandered as I tried to visualize a book I had loved as a child - was it about a cute house? I spied a small sign: "books arranged by author". Oh no! Now who wrote that book? Was it a woman or a man? I suddenly found myself wondering if I'd eaten a good breakfast this morning - I was having major Brain Fog. I needed help and didn't know where to start!

Since all three kids were with me and it was almost lunchtime, it was impossible to have a nice long conversation with the librarian. And this happened back in the 1980's, so I couldn't just go home and google "good children's books". The next day I called my mother-in-law, who was a first grade teacher. She suggested THE READ ALOUD HANDBOOK, by Jim Trelease*. Mr. Trelease expounds the many benefits of reading aloud to children and his extensive list of recommended read alouds goes from picture books to novels. After pouring over the contents, I finally felt ready to explore and conquer the children's section of the library, armed with names of authors and hundreds of titles!

Our family's journey into the world of read aloud books had begun...
oh, and the author (and illustrator!) of The Little House book was Viginia Lee Burton. She also wrote Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, Katy and the Big Snow, and Maybelle the Cable Car, to name a few.

*JIM TRELEASE HAS A GREAT WEBSITE.  MANY OF HIS HELPFUL TIPS CAN BE FOUND IN THESE FREE DOWNLOADABLE BROCHURES.  HERE ARE THREE OF MY FAVORITES:

30 "DO'S" TO REMEMBER WHEN READING ALOUD

QUESTIONS PARENTS ALWAYS ASK ABOUT READING ALOUD
READ ALOUD PICTURE BOOKS:  INFANTS TO TODDLERS