Aiden Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 I'm putting together plans for K, beginning in the fall. My daughter will turn 5 in July. One of the things I'd like to do is have a "morning time" in which we read her daily devotional, do some calendar work, and read a poem. I would appreciate your recommendations for books of poetry, or maybe some books-that-are-a-single-poem, to mix in with longer books of poems. We read A Treasury of Mother Goose poems this year. My daughter didn't like it--the poems were all too silly and nonsensical to her. I admit, I also didn't like it, because the whole point of nonsense poems is to be nonsensical, and when your child wants everything to make sense and therefore asks you to explain the poems and to tell her why the cat did this or the woman did that, you find yourself in the difficult position of trying to make sense out of nonsense. Not fun! We also read Eric Carle's Animals Animals this year, and it was liked better, but mostly because of the pictures (my daughter loves animals), not because of the poems themselves. For next year, I'd prefer poems that, while still on a level that a 5yo can understand, are longer than the 4-8 lines that we've mostly seen in our current poetry books. I'd like them to be a length where we can read one poem a day, then talk a little about what it says and what happened or what it's describing or how it makes us feel. I don't want these short little nonsense poems that we read one in 2 seconds flat and then can't discuss because what is there to say about nonsense? (I'm not a fan of nonsense poems, in case you couldn't tell!) I personally prefer old fashioned poems with meter and rhyme, rather than what seems to be the modern ideal of freestyle poetry, but I don't mind mixing in a book of modern poetry with books of older (or older-fashioned) poetry. My daughter may like it, and I would rather give her the chance by exposing her to it instead of imposing my preferences and not giving her the opportunity to see if she likes it. Beautiful artwork to accompany the poems would be much appreciated, but is not absolutely required. Given all that--what would you recommend for us? Thanks in advance for your suggestions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegirlwhopaintedtrees Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 How about A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson illustrated by Tasha Tudor. We also like the variety in A Child's Book of Poems illustrated by Gyo Fujikawa. It has a good balance of short poems and longer poems. You could read a whole page spread and discuss the longer ones while just enjoying the language of the shorter ones. There are many classic Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Christina Rossetti, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Eugene Field, etc. Those two have beautiful illustrations. The next one has only a couple of black and white illustrations, but is definitely older more classic poems: A Child's Anthology of Poetry. Based on what you want, this one is probably it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Btervet Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 We LOVE the Milne Poem books, Now We Are Six and When We were Very Young. They are a great length and my 5yo loved the topics. For humor, but not complete nonsense, I've lost my Hippopotamus is a hilarious collection of animal (mostly fake animal) poems. A Child's Garden Of Verses by Stevenson is a classic collection of poems that we enjoyed. I still had this book from my childhood, so it had some great memories attached to it as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 My kindergartener loves pretty much everything from Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky, both of whom write humorous poetry. We have a beautifully illustrated version of Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost, illustrated by Susan Jeffers. And a copy of Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, illustrated by Ted Rand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aiden Posted February 2, 2015 Author Share Posted February 2, 2015 How about A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson illustrated by Tasha Tudor. We also like the variety in A Child's Book of Poems illustrated by Gyo Fujikawa. It has a good balance of short poems and longer poems. You could read a whole page spread and discuss the longer ones while just enjoying the language of the shorter ones. There are many classic Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Christina Rossetti, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Eugene Field, etc. Those two have beautiful illustrations. The next one has only a couple of black and white illustrations, but is definitely older more classic poems: A Child's Anthology of Poetry. Based on what you want, this one is probably it. I saw those first two on Amazon, and my gut was telling me they'd probably be good. I'm glad for the confirmation! I have not seen the third one, but I will check it out. Thank you very much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aiden Posted February 2, 2015 Author Share Posted February 2, 2015 We LOVE the Milne Poem books, Now We Are Six and When We were Very Young. They are a great length and my 5yo loved the topics. For humor, but not complete nonsense, I've lost my Hippopotamus is a hilarious collection of animal (mostly fake animal) poems. A Child's Garden Of Verses by Stevenson is a classic collection of poems that we enjoyed. I still had this book from my childhood, so it had some great memories attached to it as well. It didn't even occur to me, but When We Were Very Young is included in a Pooh collection that my daughter received for Christmas. So, yes, it will be included. Thanks! I will check out the Hippopatamus one. Because my daughter loves animals so much, she may well like it, if she doesn't deem it too "silly." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aiden Posted February 2, 2015 Author Share Posted February 2, 2015 My kindergartener loves pretty much everything from Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky, both of whom write humorous poetry. We have a beautifully illustrated version of Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost, illustrated by Susan Jeffers. And a copy of Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, illustrated by Ted Rand. Thank you--I'll take a look at those! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALB Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 I will second A Child's Book of Poems! We just got it recently and I'm bummed I didn't buy it when my kids were younger. The selections are great and the illustrations are really good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue daisy Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Another vote for Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses and both Milne poetry books! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 At that age I used the classics, "A Child's Garden of Verses", "Now We are Six", and a Tasha Tudor nursery rhyme collection. But we also used "Hailstones and Halibut Bones". It is a more modern book , but my kids loved it. It was the poetry book they brought to me and would beg me to read from it. I can probably still recite some from memory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3curlytops Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 This was a cute book. http://www.amazon.com/Me-Too-Preschool-CJ-Heck/dp/0983932034 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Seconding Gyo Fujikawa's illustrated "A Child's Book of Poems" which is one of my family's favorites, and thirding her illustrated version of "A Garden of Verses", also beloved by my children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubiac Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 A Child's First Book of Poems with pictures by Cyndy Szekeres has a really terrific selection. Our favorite is The Golden Book of Poetry: 85 Childhood Favorites, from 1947 by Golden Press. Illustrated by Gertrude Elliott (blogged here: http://postapocalyptichomeschool.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-big-golden-book-of-poetry-85.html),but it can be hard to find. The Faber Book of Children's Verse by Janet Adam Smith is excellent, but probably for the whole grammar stage rather than K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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