Poetry for first grade?

[Lovedtodeath]

We like Shel Silverstein and Dr. Suess. :) We don't like Mother Goose Rhymes, A Child's Garden of Verses, or While we were young (by the Winnie the Pooh author)

 

So give me some suggestions. Samples of a poem would be great. Public Domain books would be wonderful.

 

Thank you!!

[Karen sn]

Well that's good! Mother goose rhymes hold quite a bit of hidden meaning! And I just can't see singing half of them to my baby.

 

I googled children's poetry, poetry kids, etc.... years ago and found a zillion poems. My favorite that she has learned is Trees by Joyce Kilmer - I should add that I am not a Christian but LOVE this poem:

 

 

Trees

 

By Joyce Kilmer

1886–1918

 

 

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

 

A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed

Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

 

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

 

A tree that may in Summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

 

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

 

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

 

 

Daddy Fell Into the Pond

By Alfred Noyes

 

Everyone grumbled. The sky was grey.

We had nothing to do and nothing to say.

We were nearing the end of a dismal day,

And then there seemed to be nothing beyond, (I WONDER IF THAT "then" SHOULD BE "when" - MAYBE GOOGLE FOR OTHER VERSIONS TO SEE)

Then Daddy fell into the pond!

 

And everyone's face grew merry and bright,

And Timothy danced for sheer delight.

"Give me the camera, quick, oh quick!

He's crawling out of the duckweed!" Click!

 

Then the gardener suddenly slapped his knee,

And doubled up, shaking silently,

And the ducks all quacked as if they were daft,

And it sounded as if the old drake laughed.

Oh, there wasn't a thing that didn't respond

When Daddy fell into the pond!

 

 

How Doth the Little Crocodile

By Lewis Carroll

 

How doth the little crocodile

Improve his shining tail,

 

And pour the waters of the Nile

On every golden scale!

 

How cheerfully he seems to grin

How neatly spreads his claws,

 

And welcomes little fishes in,

With gently smiling jaws!

 

 

WHAT IN THE WORLD GOT INTO THE CAT

By Gregory K.

 

What in the world got into the cat?

Was it something he ate?

Can you answer me that?

 

He polished our silver.

He vacuumed the house.

He chased our poor dog,

And he danced with a mouse.

 

He did all my homework.

He mended Dad's shirt.

He made us lasagna

And pie for dessert.

 

We went to the movies

While he baby-sat...

So, what in the world

Got into the cat?

 

 

 

A Song From the Suds

By Louisa May Alcott

 

Queen of my tub, I merrily sing,

While the white foam raises high,

And sturdily wash, and rinse, and wring,

And fasten the clothes to dry;

Then out in the free fresh air they swing,

Under the sunny sky.

 

I wish we could wash from our hearts and our souls

The stains of the week away,

And let water and air by their magic make

Ourselves as pure as they;

Then on the earth there would be indeed

A glorious washing day!

 

Along the path of a useful life

Will heart's-ease ever bloom;

The busy mind has no time to think

Of sorrow, or care, or gloom;

And anxious thoughts may be swept away

As we busily wield a broom.

 

I am glad a task to me is given

To labor at day by day;

For it brings me health, and strength, and hope,

And I cheerfully learn to say-

"Head, you may think; heart, you may feel;

But hand, you shall work always!"

Edited March 13, 2009 by Karen sn

[Carrie12345]

The Bill Martin Jr. Big Book of Poetry

 

There is a section of Mother Goose poems toward the end, but I LOVE this book. The poems are grouped into categories like Animals, Nature, Family, Feelings, etc.

[Aurelia]

Jack Prelutsky has some fun ones, the newest book is Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face, and Ariel really enjoys the poems.

[Lovedtodeath]

Thanks for the suggestions! Anyone else?

[Guest Alte Veste Academy]

We like Shel Silverstein and Dr. Suess. :) We don't like Mother Goose Rhymes, A Child's Garden of Verses, or While we were young (by the Winnie the Pooh author)

 

It's hard for me to give recommendations based on a dislike of Mother Goose and A Child's Garden of Verses. Gasp! :lol:

 

It sounds like you lean toward the silly, which is perfectly lovely. In that case, I highly recommend Edward Lear. My kids LOVE him. We have several books by him, their favorite being the limericks in Nonsense by Valorie Fisher. http://www.amazon.com/Nonsense-Edward-Lear/dp/0689863802/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1236956532&sr=1-1 The pictures just can't be beat but, as much as I love it, this book won't last you a year. I mean, we'll enjoy it for years but it's not all I would use for one year.

 

I've also got Poetry for Young People: Edward Lear. It's pretty good.

 

You might also like My First Oxford Book of Poems put together by John Foster. http://www.amazon.com/My-First-Oxford-Book-Poems/dp/0192763393/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236956669&sr=1-1

 

I quite like it. Lots of wonderful (and many silly and semi-serious) poems and many classics. (Wynken, Blynken, and Nod and How Doth the Little Crocodile, etc.) Yes, I highly recommend this one for you. It would be my first choice, but do get some Lear. He's silly-rific! :D I'm pretty sure Lear would be public domain though, so you could search.

 

My next recommendation for you would be My First Oxford Book of Nonsense Poems. http://www.amazon.com/First-Oxford-Book-Nonsense-Poems/dp/0192762753/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_c

 

So give me some suggestions. Samples of a poem would be great. Public Domain books would be wonderful.

 

Have you seen Ambleside's online anthology? Here is their poetry info/schedule.

 

http://www.amblesideonline.org/Poets.shtml

 

Here are the free poems. Then you can pick and choose what you like. For what it's worth, I think there is nothing wrong with reading a kiddo a poem and them saying they don't care for it. We don't all love everything.

 

http://www.amblesideonline.org/text/208_Classic_Poems.txt

 

If you have any questions about specific anthologies you see, let me know. I own virtually all of them. :blush:

 

Good luck!

Edited March 13, 2009 by Alte Veste Academy

[Haiku]

Our favorite poetry book is A Family of Poems, compiled by Caroline Kennedy. It is a great collection by well-known and lesser-known poets, and the artwork is wonderful. My kids love memorizing selections from this book.

 

Tara

[Malenki]

Dirt on My Shirt by Jeff Foxworthy -- my guys laughed and laughed at this one; we've checked it out at least three times from the library

 

Jack Prelutsky for sure... My Dog May be a Genius has a ton of silly ones; my older DS loved a lot of them. We liked his The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders as well.

 

 

Maybe it was the particular Mother Goose collection that was a problem? We've read some really fun ones like Mother Goose Numbers on the Loose which has really funky art and all the rhymes have something to do with numbers. Lots of laughs with that one.

[Nestof3]

An Arkful of Animals (Selected by William Cole)

Poems and Prayers for the Very Young (Selected by Martha Alexander)

Puddle Wonderful: Poems to Welcome Spring (Selected by Bobbi Katz)

 

*******************************

 

Cotton Sailboats

Dancing Buttercups

http://www.rodandstaffbooks.com/

 

 

*****************************

 

Check your library for these:

 

Animals Animals by Eric Carle

http://www.amazon.com/Eric-Carles-Animals-Laura-Whipple/dp/0698118553/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236976109&sr=8-1

 

Random House Book of Poetry for Children

http://www.amazon.com/Random-House-Book-Poetry-Children/dp/0394850106/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236976137&sr=1-1

[Lovedtodeath]

Thanks some more!

[Nestof3]

Thanks some more!

 

Oh, if you want to borrow any of these, just let me know, and I can mail them to you.

[happyWImom]

I don't think anyone mentioned this, but what about "The Llama Who Had No Pajama-100 favorite poems" by Mary Ann Hoberman

 

"This inventively illustrated collection brims with enough wordplay and silliness to please a room full of young wordsmiths" Publishers Weekly

 

My kids really like it, but they like most poetry.

 

Also, what about Brian P Cleary books? "A Mink, a Fink, a Skating Rink, What is a Noun" and "Rhyme and Punishment: Adventures in Wordplay" and "On the Scale, a Weighty Tale" (math). These a terrific, plus you kill 2 birds by adding in some info on LA & math!:D

[Penelope]

We use the AO anthology and the book that is listed for year one as an alternative to a. a. milne.

 

The Douglas Florian books are cute-- we get these from the library.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b_0_7?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=insectopedia&sprefix=insecto

[Lovedtodeath]

Oh, if you want to borrow any of these, just let me know, and I can mail them to you.

 

Wow! Thanks so much for the offer! I wouldn't mind borrowing all of them. :) I don't know what we will end up liking.

[Lovedtodeath]

I don't think anyone mentioned this, but what about "The Llama Who Had No Pajama-100 favorite poems" by Mary Ann Hoberman

 

"This inventively illustrated collection brims with enough wordplay and silliness to please a room full of young wordsmiths" Publishers Weekly

 

My kids really like it, but they like most poetry.

 

Also, what about Brian P Cleary books? "A Mink, a Fink, a Skating Rink, What is a Noun" and "Rhyme and Punishment: Adventures in Wordplay" and "On the Scale, a Weighty Tale" (math). These a terrific, plus you kill 2 birds by adding in some info on LA & math!:D

 

I thought I ordered The Llama who had no pajama, and it ended up being a picture book called Llama, Llama, red pajama. It is DDs favorite!! LOL maybe I should try getting the real thing.

 

We use the AO anthology and the book that is listed for year one as an alternative to a. a. milne.

 

The Douglas Florian books are cute-- we get these from the library.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b_0_7?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=insectopedia&sprefix=insecto

 

Thanks! I will check it out.

[Lovedtodeath]

Well that's good! Mother goose rhymes hold quite a bit of hidden meaning! And I just can't see singing half of them to my baby.

 

I googled children's poetry, poetry kids, etc.... years ago and found a zillion poems. My favorite that she has learned is Trees by Joyce Kilmer - I should add that I am not a Christian but LOVE this poem:

 

 

That is beautiful. Thank you so much for the sampling of poems!

[StaceyL in Canada]

We like Shel Silverstein and Dr. Suess. :) We don't like Mother Goose Rhymes, A Child's Garden of Verses, or While we were young (by the Winnie the Pooh author)

 

So give me some suggestions. Samples of a poem would be great. Public Domain books would be wonderful.

 

Thank you!!

 

...is Snow Toward Evening: A Year in a River Valley. It includes a dozen poems, one for each month of the year, plus an extra one for New Year's, all short, classic poems by great poets (May's poem is the first verse of Daffodils by Wordsworth but the others are all complete poems). I have used this with all of my sons as an intro to poetry memorisation and poetic elements (just picking out things such as rhyme scheme, alliteration, similes and metaphors, imagery, personification, etc). Each poem is also accompanied by a full-page painting by Thomas Lockyer--beautiful.

[Jen in PA]

Seconding Jack Prelutsky.

[Jen in PA]

Seconding Jack Prelutsky.

[Lovedtodeath]

Dawn, they arrived today. Just from glancing, I really like the R&S one. Good call! Thank you!

 

I also found some that I like in McGuffy's second eclectic reader.

[Loupelou]

Jack Prelutsky has some fun ones, the newest book is Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face, and Ariel really enjoys the poems.

:iagree:

 

My kids laugh out loud for his poems. We like- It's Raining Pigs & Noodles, and The New Kid on the Block.

[DarlaS]

My kids ALL love Eric Carle's Animals Animals. (*I* love the artwork!)

 

Especially:

 

Mother Doesn't Want a Dog

 

Mother doesn't want a dog.

Mother says they smell,

And never sit when you say sit,

Or even when you yell.

And when you come home late at night

And there is ice and snow,

You have to go back out because

The dumb dog has to go.

 

Mother doesn't want a dog.

Mother says they shed,

And always let the strangers in

And bark at friends instead,

And do disgraceful things on rugs,

And track mud on the floor,

And flop upon your bed at night

And snore their doggy snore.

 

Mother doesn't want a dog.

She's making a mistake.

Because, more than a dog, I think

She will not want this snake.

 

Judith Viorst

[Lovedtodeath]

LOL! Thanks for that one!

[mamaneale]

My kids (ranging from 3 to almost 11) LOVE poetry books by Douglas Florian. His poems are funny, make use of wonderful plays on words, and lend themselves to easy memorization. The illustrations are beautiful. We first discovered this author at our library, and now it is a Christmas tradition to add one more book to our set each year. I highly recommend them!

 

Donna in Idaho