J Patrick Lewis once said, “Great poetry is a circus for the brain. It’s ten pounds of excitement in a nine-pound bag.”
When my mother came for a visit this past August she put my older daughter to bed by reading her poetry. I climbed into bed with them, closed my eyes and listened to my mother’s voice as she read some of her favorite poetry to my daughter. The cadence of her voice was so soothing, it brought my daughter and me such pleasure. I will cherish the memory of the three of us all snuggled up on my bed reading classic poetry.
Since that night in August part of my older daughter’s bedtime routine is for her to read a few poems to my husband or me before we read her a chapter from whatever chapter book we are reading at the time. Hearing her read quality literature is one of my proudest moments of being a parent.
Poetry is for everyone, for every mood — for parents to read to children, for children to read aloud. Reading to your children may be the single, most important contribution that we, as parents, can make toward our children’s success in school.
Poetry is a means of self-expression. Poetry appeals and matters to children because they can find or write a poem about any subject that appeals and matters to them. My daughter delights in hearing classic poetry like She Walks in Beauty by George Gordon, Lord Byron or How Do I Love Thee? by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. She also loves hearing silly poetry like Mrs. Mitchell’s Underwear by Dennis Lee or The Reason I Like Chocolate by Nikki Giovanni.
My older daughter’s favorite poem is Silver by Walter de la Mare. The words in the poem are so descriptive. It is one of my favorite poems as well. My younger daughter has two favorite poems, they are The Tyger by William Blake and Pegasus by Eleanor Farjeon. All three of us love Something Told the Wild Geese by Rachel Field.
There are many other poems and poets that bring us merriment. You can’t go wrong with Robert Louis Stevenson. In fact, one day I was reading Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Land of Counterpane to my older daughter, she asked me what a counterpane was. I admitted I had no idea. We got out our dictionary and we looked up the word. A counterpane is another word of a bedspread. Voila! A new word was added to our lexicon. Thank you Mr. Stevenson!
In her book, In the Middle, Nancy Atwell writes, “Seventy years ago half the literature taught to fourth grades in the United States was poetry. Today, it’s 97 percent prose and just 3 percent poetry. Poetry deserves better and kids deserve better.”
Reading poetry aloud to children should not be the responsibility of one parent alone; children need private reading sessions with their fathers just as much as with their mothers. Children, especially boys, do not see writing or reading poetry as a masculine activity, and so they grow up believing that the enjoyment of poetry is not a “manly” pursuit. If a school-aged child could hear their fathers read poetry aloud, they would be better able to resist prevailing cultural stereotypes. If you are a single parent, actively seek out adult role models of the opposite sex – grandparents, neighbors, friends, etc. to read.
My older daughter and I have been working on a special Valentine’s gift for my mother. I’ve been recording my six-year-old reading an anthology of poems. I plan on burning her voice recordings onto a CD. I am certain my mother will love the gift. Hearing her granddaughter read E.E. Cummings, Robert Frost, Robert Louis Stevenson, Rachel Field, Christina Rossetti, Emily Dickinson, Langston Hugues, and William Wordsworth to name a few will bring her down with a fever of delight.
Do you have a favorite poem or poet? If so, please share.
This is an original post to World Moms Blog by Courtney Cappallo of Massachusetts, USA. Courtney can be found homeschooling on her blog, Table of Four.
The photograph used in this post is attributed to the author.
I’m not very knowledgeable about poetry. I have a 2 year old son and wondered if you had any recommendations of books (collections, anthologies) that would begin to give us a taste. I’d love to start and see which ones he likes.
Dawn, my reply to you is down below… not sure why it did that?!
Courtney, I haven’t subscribed to Table of Four because I worry I will feel disappointed with myself and what I’m not doing with my kids. A piece of me longs to homeschool them, knowing I can expose my kids to so much more than they’re getting in school and so much more that I value rather than what’s deemed important for increasing standardized test scores.
This post, reminding me about poetry and it’s place in my own life (I was a poetry minor in college), really hit home. Two years ago, my husband bought Shel Silverstien’s Where the Sidewalk Ends when our daughter turned 4 and he reads from it on occasion. It came with a CD of Shel reading 10 poems and she loved it so much she memorized 4 of them before she turned 5. But you’re right, the REAL poetry of yesteryear, the Yeats, Wordsworth, Longfellow, Shakespeare, Shelley…I grew up hearing them, reading them, trying to emulate them.
Thank you for inspiring me to pull out some of my own poetry texts and beginning a new ritual at the end of each night’s chapter. I think I’ll start with Robert Lewis Stevenson’s: I Wish I were a Faery’s Child…maybe some Robert Frost as well.
Don’t put so much pressure on yourself @Growing Muses! I am sure they are learning a great deal of GOOD knowledge in school. Feel good about how you are supplementing their school studies. Whatever you do at home with your children is benefiting them. I’d love to read any poetry you’ve written. My advice to all parents is to put as much poetry in your childrens lives as possible! A nighttime routine of poetry is an excellent way to incorporate it into your lives. My husband, daughters and I take turns reading or reciting poetry each night too, one after the other.
I need to read poetry to my children (other than Shel Silverstein). 😉 I love “She Walks in Beauty.” I used to know it by heart.
I love that poem, too! You know Lady Jennie, I ask my six year old… “Would if you see a caterpillar? What would you say to your friends?” She immediately recites “The Caterpillar” by Christina G. Rossetti. Or I’ll say “Would if one of your friends complains to you about going to bed when the sun is still out this summer? What would you say?” She then recites “Bed in Summer” by Robert Louis Stevenson. I give her many examples of “would if” trying to link it to a poem she knows and then she’ll rise up to the challenge and quote the poem. We’ve been listening to the CD she made for my mother of 46 poems for a Valentine’s gift. Due to the fact that the CD is on high rotation in our house she’s memorized almost all 46 poems and my three year old isn’t far behind. You’ll catch my three year old walking around reciting “A Book” by Emily Dickinson or “Windy Nights” by Robert Louis Stevenson. I think it is quite remarkable how much my children have embraced poetry. I am certain all kids would do the same!
We own the book “Poetry Speaks to Children” – it comes with a CD. The book has classic poetry and silly poetry. We also own The Barefoot Book of Classic Poems, which I highly recommend. The illustrations are beautiful. For the longest time my 3 yr old loved Sylvia Plath’s “Morning Song” and I think the illustration had something to do with it. I would definitely give both of those books as gifts to friends.
Great post! I love poetry myself and the kids got Where the Sidewalk Ends as a Christmas gift. We enjoy reading the whimsical words and it is a great introduction to poetry. I never thought of exposing them to more poetry however I will! Thanks for encouraging me!
Thanks Third Eye Mom! Where the Sidewalk Ends was a childhood favorite of mine as well. I’ve noticed a huge difference in my children’s vocabulary since we made poetry a daily routine in our lives. My three year old says “I’m melancholy” instead of saying “I’m sad.” Poetry has such rich words to help children describe how they feel. It is such a shame that our educational system has changed the way we teach English. People that existed in Robert Louis Stevenson’s time, Jane Austen’s time and John Adams time communicated on such a higher level than compared to our day. Now a days how often do you hear someone say “that’s amazing” or “that’s awesome”. I feel like our vocabulary has been dumb down over time. Poetry exposes children (and adults!) to such a wide variety of words to describe our emotions. I am glad that you see an opportunity to incorporate more poetry in you life. I promise, you won’t regret it!
Thanks! Maybe I need to read a little poetry myself too! 🙂
Thank you so much for all of your recommendations!
You are quite welcome!
I learn so much from our writers! Courtney — a trip to the library is definitely in order for me after reading your post — there is a whole world that I am neglecting!!
Great ideas!!
Jen 🙂
So glad that you will be going to the library to stock up on poetry, Jen! Please share with me the poems Sophie tells you she likes. I love hearing what poems people enjoy! I truly believe it is such a good thing to expose our children to poetry so that they develop a lifetime appreciation for it.
Great post! I always assume poetry might not engage my kids as much as other books, but that isn’t true. We have a book of poems about the Thomas train engines. Not classic literature, but it is legitimate poems and my boys love them. Also, my 6 year old brought home a book of poetry about winter from the library, and we had such a good time reading it. He especially loved this poem about sledding that had the words printed up and down the page like a hill. That visual along with words about fun sledding adventures made it his favorite. As for me, I don’t know I have a favorite poem, but I am now more motivated to find out!
You are so right Tara B. Thomas poems count too! One book I was reading said that nursery rhymes are the best introduction to poetry. How true that is! Every child I know can sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. The lyrics are actually from the poem “Star” written by Jane Taylor.
Good for your 6 year old son! Sounds like he’s got the spirit of poetry within him!
Courtney – you always inspire me! Thank you! As a teen, I loved poetry but let that love (along with a few others like classical music) drop off as I got older and “busier” with the “real world”. I have always loved T.S. Eliot and I often surprised when Big Girl asks for me to read it to her.
I believe that your statement: “Reading to your children may be the single, most important contribution that we, as parents, can make toward our children’s success in school.” is very important. This fact has come up twice recently in our lives. Recently during a tour of a public Montessori school, I learned that reading for 20 minutes a night is the only homework assignment children have in Kindergarten and first grade. Reading aloud was also recommended as something done daily for Big Girl who has a speech articulation issue.
Again, you always inspire! Keep it up! And thanks again!
Angela, what a kind thing to write! Good for Montessori schools to see the value in children reading! I’ll have to read my girls some T.S. Eliot, thanks for the suggestion!
Does Dr. Suess count :)? Right ow we are in the midst of reading Treasure Island to my 5 year old, and although not exactly poetry, it is a classic and he is getting the same depth of vocabulary and appreciation from it. After this I might dust of my Shakespeare compilation and give it a whirl… You never know – he might end up loving it as much as I always have! What a wonderful idea Courtney – thanks!
Dr. Seuss absolutely counts! Dr. Seuss books are a GREAT way for children to read poetry at a young age all by themselves! My younger daughter loves “Hop on Pop” and “The Foot Book.” When my older daughter was a toddler I read her “One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish” all the time! For my older daughter’s first birthday we gifted her “Oh, The Places You’ll Go!”
As of last week my older daughter discovered the poem, Summer, by Frank Asch. It goes like this:
When it’s hot
I take my shoes off
I take my shirt off
I take my pants off
I take my underwear off
I take my whole body off
and throw it in the river.
My two girls giggle uncontrollably when my older daughter reads “I take my underwear off”. They think it is hysterical.
This week I read my younger daughter the poem “Where’s my hairy toe?”. She absolutely LOVES it! Each night I read it to her three times in a row. Isn’t if funny what kids laugh at?!
How is your 5 year old liking Treasure Island?
Kids do find the funniest things hysterical! That’s what makes them so wonderful!
He is absolutely loving Treasure Island! He is learning vocabulary (by stopping and asking what some of the big words mean while it is being read). During the evening my husband goes over what they read the previous night, to make sure he fully understands (which he seems to, without a problem), and then they read the next chapter.
I have noticed that a lot of his play has become pirate/boat centered play lately too, which just solidifies the story that he is hearing every night 🙂