Contest: Do you have a favorite kids’ poem? Would you or your kids like to write your own? Post your new or favorite poems in the comments, and you’ll be entered to win a copy of the poetry book of your choice, up to a $10 value. This might include the book pictured here OR something for older readers like N. D. Wilson’s Notes From The Tilt-A-Whirl: Wide-Eyed Wonder in God’s Spoken World
My Daughter’s Poetry Book
My kindergarten-aged daughter and I are working on a poetry book this winter/spring. She practices writing the lines in her journal, and then complements them by drawing a picture or two about the text.
Here’s the first entry by Christina Rosetti, one of my all-time favorite Christian poets for kids (and adults too!):
Brown and furry,
Caterpillar in a hurry;
Take your walk
To the shady leaf or stalk.
May no toad spy you,
May the little birds pass by you;
Spin and die,
To live again a butterfly.
With all the recent hubbub about The Lorax, I’m as interested as the next person in what the movie got wrong. But I’m even more interested in what it got right–trying to help kids appreciate the natural world–and how we can do that in a wise, Christ-honoring way.
In that spirit, do you guys have other poems you could recommend for my daughter’s poetry book? Or even poems for her when she gets a little older? Poems that touch on God or His Creation, even in seemingly small, mundane ways like this one above? In a lot of ways, I’m just beginning my search for good kids’ poems, and I’d love to hear your recommendations. Maybe you guys could help me create a resource for folks who want to teach their kids about the glory of God’s Creation in a little less political fashion than The Lorax.
For more on The Lorax and the natural world, see our interview with James Wanliss, our Parents’ Guide to Environmentalism in Kids’ Media, and Janie’s post on two classic survival stories for kids.
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Who Has Seen the Wind by Christina Rossetti
I Meant to Do My Work Today by Richard LeGallienne
Spring Song from Pippa Passes by Robert Browning
The Pasture by Robert Frost
The Snake by Karla Kuskin
A bird came down the walk by Emily Dickinson
The Reason for the Pelican by John Ciardi
April Rain Song by Langston Hughes
The Woodpecker by Elizabeth Maddox Roberts
The Wasp by William Sharp
What Is Pink by Christina Rossetti
Night Creature by Lilian Moore
Mice by Rose Fyleman
My three little girls love “Maggie and Milly and Molly and May” by e.e. cummings, and (to my chagrin) “Daddy Fell Into the Pond” by Alfred Noyes.
My daughter (6) is enjoying humorous poems lately.
She loves Ogden Nash’s book Zoo, filled with short, funny rhymes about various creatures.
Her current poem for memorizing is Hillaire Belloc’s The Yak.
Perhaps her favorite so far this year is this:
Dinosaur Diets
by Jane Yolen
Stegosaurus fed on ferns,
The sauropods on pine,
Tyrannosaurus ate them both
Whenever he did dine.
So he is not invited
Very often out to lunch
Because he chose upon his hosts
To munch
and crunch
a bunch.
This always gets a good reaction when recited well!
Our family’s two favorite illustrated poetry books are
A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Tasha Tudor
and A Family of Poems edited by Caroline Kennedy.
Our basic poetry tome is Favorite Poems Old and New edited by Helen Ferris.
Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleishman!!! MUST READ ALOUD or get the amazing audio version. The poems are all about bugs and follow the seasons of the year. A great car ride listen :-).
Tie between “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll and “Calico Pie” by Edward Lear. My sis and I go around singing “Calico Pie, / The little birds fly, / Down to the calico tree…” (literally singing, because my sis made a tune for it when she was about ten and it still gets stuck in our heads). And “Jabberwocky” is even more fun to recite in a deep brogue like Johnny Depp’s Mad Hatter (best part of that movie other than the Cheshire Cat).
If songs count as poetry, the Slugs & Bugs albums by Randall Goodgame and Andrew Peterson absolutely nail kid awesomeness. 😉 “Oh, polar bears don’t need Frigidaires / to keep their carcasses cold / Low temperatures keep leftovers / no flies, no maggots, no mold.”
And I’m glad you posted this, because I didn’t realize the surprising lack of children’s poetry in my slowly growing collection. I think I’ll try some today. Sounds like fun.
I’ve always been partial to the poems of Robert Louis Stevenson. I love his Child’s Garden of Verses and the poem The Swing in particular. They are classic poems that are reminiscent of a happy childhood.
The Swing
How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!
Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside–
Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown–
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!
These are such great suggestions! Thanks so much. I’ve already picked one poem out for Rebecca’s poetry book this week. It’ll be hard to pick another one from such a great list!
Charles and Mary Lamb have some good poems
Also Edgar Guest
Aileen Fisher’s I Like it When it’s Mizzly is perfect for this time of year!
Isaac Watts has a good children’s collection (I loved Against Quarreling and Fighting)
I have found some good lists at Triviumacademy.blogspot.com. I also have found some ideas from the IEW website, though I have not purchased their poetry memorization package.
Thanks, Mary! I didn’t know the Lambs had poems…will have to check those out. And Isaac Watts has kids’ poems???! I will definitely track those down. May have to link to them if I can find a good source.
I may be too late to the party, but here is a list of some of our favorites:
ttp://greenertrees.net/2011/11/19/the-foundational-five-poetry/
Thanks, Julie! Always looking for good kids’ poetry!