It’s National Poetry Month, a time “to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture.” Mother Goose and Dr. Seuss have played a part in many of our children’s lives, but I’m wondering: what poets or poems do your children like as they get older (and what other ones have they enjoyed while young)? Do they ever turn away from poetry, except perhaps to read the lyrics of a favorite pop song, not realizing their connection (however faint) to Shakespeare and Dickinson? How does their relationship with poetry compare to your own (and/or your partner’s)?
Personally, I’m looking to find some good poems that would appeal to those transitioning from Goose and Seuss, like my own son. He seems to enjoy books like Debra Frasier’s On the Day You Were Born
Please leave a comment with your own thoughts on children and poetry.
Take a moment, too, to visit the A Poem a Day site run by Houston’s Writers in the Schools (WITS) program. Every day throughout April, they post a poem from one of their student writers. Some have amazed me, given the age of the children. Not only that, but the executive director of WITS is none other than Robin Reagler of The Other Mother blog. (She’s also organizing a Blog Reader Appreciation Day this Wednesday and asking bloggers “to thank the readers for sticking with you even when you . . . [fill in the blank].”)
Dana, Thanks for another great post. Marcia and I were just talking last night about how even though we’re both writers, we don’t read or talk about poetry very much with our kids. Part of the problem is that the poetry in children’s books is (to our tastes, at least) rather poor. We all like On the Day You Were Born. I’ve been reading some of the WITS Poem a Day poems to Pearl. I’m not sure what she thinks of them. She often takes her time in adjusting to something new. I’m going to continue this discussion on The Other Mother next week, after Passover, but before Poetry Month comes to a close.
Some of our favorites for the post-Goose-and-Seuss age are anything by Shel Silverstein, and “Bone Poems” by Jeff Moss. http://www.amazon.com/Bone-Poems-Jeffrey-Moss/dp/076110884X The latter is great for any dinosaur-obsessed child.
My son and I went on a camping trip when he was 5, and I taught him to memorize “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost on our trek to and from the (very distant) outhouse each day. He missed all the dark undertones, but could certainly appreciate the “miles to go before I sleep”!