What does April bring, other than showers? National Poetry Month, of course! While you wait for those May flowers to arrive, here are some easy ways to share poetry with the children in your life. And don’t worry; if you don’t get to them in April, they’re still fun year-round!
Browse the library shelves under J 811.
- Find a collection of poetry themed on something your child enjoys. Love sharks? Try Slickety Quick, by Skila Brown. Sports fan? How about Good Sports, by Jack Prelutsky. Looking for laughs? Check out A Hatful of Dragons, by Vikram Madan. And for kids who love to build, don’t miss Construction People, with poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins.
Choose a fun poem to make a part of your baby or toddler’s daily routine.
- Add some silliness to getting dressed with “The Button Bop” from A Great Big Cuddle, by Michael Rosen.
- Laugh away breakfast messes by reciting “I like to drop food from my chair. It lands kerplop but I don’t care… My mom says no, my dad says please, stop launching bits of toast and cheese” from Little Poems for Tiny Ears, by Lin Oliver.
- Or check out these books for more, easy-to-remember poems your young child will enjoy hearing!
Read a new poem each night before bedtime.
- For some gentle poems to send your child off to dreamland, try Sail Away, by Langston Hughes or Switching on the Moon, collected by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters.
Write a poem together.
- Decide together what you want your poem to be about, then take turns writing a word or line to add to the poem. Remember that it doesn’t have to rhyme!
Celebrate Poem in Your Pocket day on April 29th.
- Help your child write down or print out a favorite poem and put it in their pocket. Challenge them to read it to someone else during the day!
- Visit https://poets.org/national-poetry-month/poem-your-pocket-day for more ideas on how to participate while socially distanced.
Feeling poetic? Visit the library to get started sharing the joys of poetry with the children you love. Because you’re never too young and you’re never too old to enjoy a good poem.
Emily K., Children’s Services Librarian
