We read from a book of poetry about once a week just for beauty and enjoyment as part of our cultural studies loop.
Just for the blog record, here are the books of poetry we read during the 2015-2016 school year (6th grade, 3rd grade, 1st grade, pre-kindergarten).
The Dragons are Singing Tonight by Jack Prelutsky, pictures by Peter Sis - This is a whole book of poems in the voice of different dragons. Some are silly or clever. The children enjoyed them all. The illustrations were adequate for the poems, though I prefer other illustrators to Sis. (library copy)
The Oxford Illustrated Book of American Children's Poems edited by Donald Hall - This is a wonderful anthology covering nearly all of America's historical periods. The illustrations vary, matched with contemporary poems. (library copy)
Is It Far to Zanzibar? Poems about Tanzania by Nikki Grimes, illustrated by Betsy Lewin - A delightful collection of poetry sharing life in the African country of Tanzania with wonderful illustrations. This is a great book to include if you're Reading Around the World and want to cover Africa. (library copy)
Carnival of the Animals with new verses by Jack Prelutsky, illustrated by Mary GrandPre - We were revisiting poetry by Jack Prelutsky because my children enjoy his poems tremendously. This particular book is fun because it celebrates the Carnival of the Animals with new lyrics. It includes a CD of the music by Camille Saint-Saens. (library copy)
Earthshake: Poems from the Ground Up by Lisa Westberg Peters, pictures by Cathie Felstead - I loved this quirky book of geology poems, illustrated with bold colors and swirls. (library copy)
Goodnight Songs by Margaret Wise Brown is a book of twelve quiet poems illustrated by twelve different respected children's book illustrators like Jonathan Bean and Melissa Sweet. Tom Proutt and Emily Gary set each of the poems to music, available on the included CD. My children listened to the poems when I read them, enjoying the illustrations, but the younger ones loved the CD. They even asked me to add a couple of the songs to their playlist on Spotify. (library copy)The Children's Own Longfellow, poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, which I wrote about here. (library copy, but now we have our own copy from PaperBackSwap.com)
America the Beautiful in the Words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - an older book with photographs of different American scenes to illustrated some of Longfellow's poetry. The kids were not as interested in this book. (library copy, one which they no longer have)
The Cuckoo's Haiku: and Other Birding Poems by Micheal J. Rosen, illustrated by Stan Fellows, provides about seven poems about different birds for each of the seasons. I am not a good judge of haiku, but the illustrations are lovely examples of nature study journals. I loved this book of poems. (library copy)
My America: A Poetry Atlas of the United States collected by Lee Bennett Hopkins - We finished the year with this book as a complement to First Daughter's third grade state study. We didn't quite finish it and picked it back up in the fall. I like this collection of poems that highlights a few characteristics of the areas of the United States. We've checked it out from the library numerous times, but now we have our own copy thanks to PaperBackSwap.com.
