[This is the latest in an occasional series by Beth Melo, a Southborough mom who loves to read to her kids. This post was originally published on the Southborough Library website, and has been reposted here with permission. For more of Beth’s book recommendations, click here.]
I’m taking a semi-hiatus this month, but should be back next month with a full article.
In the meantime, I want to post an update to my article last year Children’s poetry for the non-poetry-lover-parent. In that article, I shared the best poetry books that I found for reading with my children. This month, I discovered three new ones:
- The Bill Martin Jr. Big Book of Poetry lives up to it’s name. It is a vast collection that covers a wonderful range of styles and samples from famous poets of different eras. Some are fun, some are thoughtful. Selections can easily be read to or by kids from preschool through 6th grade.
- My Hippo Has the Hiccups : and Other Poems I Totally Made Up by Ken Nesbitt tickles my 7 year old’s funny bone. The humor stems from plays on words that will fly over the head of younger children. He has a quirky sense of humor that most elementary students should appreciate. Some older children might prefer Shel Silverstein’s sense of macabre, but I prefer Nesbitt’s puns, especially for 1st-2nd grade.
- Valerie Worth and Natalie Babbitt’s Small Poems captured my attention. It’s a sweet little book. Short poems focus on observations about a specific animal or simple item. It seems like a lovely book to read to toddlers and preschoolers. (Unfortunately, in my research I went through so many poetry books that by the time I got to this one, my son wanted a break from poetry. But I plan to revisit it later in the year.)
I wish you have luck finding poetry that you enjoy with your children. As always, if you have any questions for me, feel free to e-mail becmelo@yahoo.com. If you have any suggestions for other parents, you can post a comment below.
