Posts Tagged ‘poetry for children’
Hey kids! What do you see?
The National Institute of Health has named May Healthy Vision Month!
A lot of times we take our eyes for granted. This is a lovely poem by K.C. Bean that encourages kids to use and appreciate their eyes.
Take a look!
Your Eyes
Hey kids!
Have you noticed your eyes?
Squeeze them tight
Then open them wide!
What’s all around you?
What can you see?
The biggest sky,
The tiniest flea?
Your awesome eyes,
They see all around.
Look to the sides
Look up, look down.
Use them to read
Or watch TV.
In bright light or dark
What can you see?
The colors, the lights,
The patterns, the shapes
Wherever you look
Is a big see-scape!
Love them, enjoy them,
Take care of them too.
Your eyes are a wonderful
Part of you.
Visit K.C. Bean on Facebook!
Start the Week With Words!
Posted on: April 4, 2011
- In: authors | books | early literacy | elementary | emergent literacy | Literacy | poems | Poetry | Poetry for children | preschool | read alouds | toddler | Uncategorized | west palm beach public library
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Here is a Spring-y poem for young and old!
The alliteration and repetition build important early literacy skills such as phonetic awareness and vocabulary. Read this to your babies, or help your older children recite this playful poem!
*
Nibble Nibble Nibble
~By Margaret Wise Brown
*
Nibble Nibble Nibble
Goes the mouse in my heart
Nibble Nibble Nibble
Goes the mouse in my heart
Nibble Nibble Nibble
Goes the mouse in my heart
And the mouse in my heart is
You.
*
Lippity Lippity Clip
Goes the rabbit in my heart
Lippity Lippity Clip
Goes the rabbit in my heart
Lippity Lippity Clip
Goes the rabbit in my heart
And the rabbit in my heart is
You.
*
Flippity Flippity Flop
Goes the fish in my heart
Flippity Flippity Flop
Goes the fish in my heart
Flippity Flippity Flop
Goes the fish in my heart
And the fish in my heart is
You.
*
Biff Bang Bang
Goes the hammer in my heart
Biff Bang Bang
Goes the hammer in my heart
Biff Bang Bang
Goes the hammer in my heart
And the hammer in my heart is
You.
*
Drum Drum Drum
Goes the drum in my heart
Drum Drum Drum
Goes the drum in my heart
Drum Drum Drum
Goes the drum in my heart
And the drum in my heart is
You.
*
Softly now beats the beat of my heart
Softly now beats the beat of my heart
Softly now beats the beat of my heart
All for the love of you.
*
From the book Nibble Nibble by Margaret Wise Brown. Paintings by Wendell Minor. HarperCollins. 1987.
Check this out to view the beautiful illustrations!
Whether you are heading to the stadium, watching on TV, or signing up to play, baseball season is here! The game of baseball has evolved over time, catching on and becoming uniquely American in the 1850s! Now a national pastime, the game is part of our culture in the form of family traditions, movies, heroes, and even poems! One of the most famous baseball poems is Casey at the Bat. It was written in 1888 by Ernest L. Thayer. This poem tells a gripping tale about a fictional baseball team, the ‘Mudville nine’ and star player, Casey.
Please enjoy this excerpt of Casey at the Bat. Visit the library to check out the complete poem!
Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888.
The out look wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville nine that day’
The score stood four to two with but one inning more to play.
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.
[...]
Then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
It knocked upon the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,
For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.
[...]
Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.
Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,
Defiance gleamed in Casey’s eye, a sneer curled Casey’s lip.
Happy Spring! Celebrate with a poem!
Spring
~By Lee Bennett Hopkins
Roots
sprouts
buds
flowers
always-
always-
cloud-bursting showers
rhymes
April fools
fledglings on wing
no thing
is
newer
or
fresher
than
spring.
From the book: Sharing the Seasons: A Book of Poems. Selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins. Illustrated by David Diaz. Margaret K. McElderry Books. 2010.
- In: authors | books | holidays | Literacy | poems | Poetry | Poetry for children | read alouds | reading | Uncategorized | west palm beach public library
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My ValentineBy Myra Cohn Livingston
My Valentine
Has eyes of green
With twenty eyebrows in between.
Her skin is blue.
Her head is square.
She hasn’t got a brain in there.
Her four ears twitch.
Her noses shine
But still,
(I think,)
I’ll make her mine!
Find this and other themed poetry in Celebrations! By Myra Cohn Livingston.
- In: authors | books | early literacy | educational | elementary | Literacy | poems | Poetry | Poetry for children | read alouds | reading | Uncategorized | west palm beach | west palm beach public library
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Poetry can be read for beauty, emotion, action, and to learn! The rhythm and rhyme transform the words from vocabulary and fact to meaningful pieces that stick in your mind. Music too has a great effect on memory.
The following poem is from the book Count me a rhyme: Animal poems by the numbers by Jane Yolen. As children go through the pages, new animals are featured for them to count along with reading or listening to the poem.
To count the rest of your way through the book, check it out today! See below for more poetry that include a lesson.
Six Spiders Spinning
by Jane Yolen
Six spiders spinning
A long and glittering strand;
Six spiders shinnying
Hand over hand over hand over hand,
Hand over hand over hand over hand.
Six spiders throwing
Out a glistering strand;
Six spiders going
Hand over hand over hand over hand,
Hand over hand over hand over hand.
Six spiders hurrying
Down a glistening strand;
Six spiders scurrying
Hand over hand over hand over hand,
Hand over hand over hand over hand.
Six spiders creeping
Upon a glimmering strand;
Six spiders sleeping
Hand over hand over hand over hand,
Hand over hand over hand over hand.
From the book: Count me a rhyme: Animal poems by the numbers. By Jane Yolen. Photographs by Jason Stemple.
- In: art | authors | books | early literacy | Literacy | poems | Poetry | Poetry for children | preschool | read alouds | reading | toddler | Uncategorized | west palm beach | west palm beach public library
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We all know and love Eric Carle’s picture books like The Very Busy Spider 
and The Very Hungry Catipillar. Did you know he has published and illustrated dozens of other titles? Included is an illustrated collection of poetry by various authors titled, Eric Carle’s DRAGONS DRAGONS & other creatures that never were.
This is a beautiful book where mythological creatures are brought to life through images only Eric Carle could create. Please enjoy this selection, and check out the book for more! And check back this week for more on Eric Carle.
Sphinx
By Deborah Chandra
As the sun
Is going down,
And shadows mix
With yellow sand,
He rises slowly,
Stretches, stands,
Wades into the Nile to wash
Mummy-dust and sand fleas off -
Licks heavy paws
With heavy tongue
Until the cool night air is gone.
While on Egyptian earth
He drops dry purrs,
Ground out like powdered rock.
For our squirrelly moods, here is a fun poem!
THE BALLAD OF EARL THE SQUIRREL
By Robert L. Forbes
There once was a show-offy squirrel
Who had changed his name to Earl,
(It used to be Sid when he was a kid)
And, yes his girl was named Pearl.
Now Earl worked out with weights
And took Pearl out on dates
Where he wore flashy duds and drank mugs of suds –
Just the boyfriend mom squirrel hates.
Hanging out at the park every day
To hustle his food and not pay,
He’d stake out a bunch of kids with their lunch
To attack them and steal it away.
Squirrels are notoriously rude,
As they shamelessly beg for your food,
But Earl felt superior and thought them inferior
To him, a most righteous dude.
Along came a bright boy named Joe
Who figured out what he needed to know
To outsmart the pest who bothered the rest
By pinching their food on the go.
So to Earl he offered a deal:
“Stick with me and I’ll bring you a daily meal
You’ll happily swallow, and then get to wallow
In snacks you won’t have to steal.”
Oh bliss! Oh joy! What a gig!
Joe’s servings were supersized big.
But Earl didn’t know that he’d started to show
What happens when you eat like a pig.
One night he waddled back to his home base,
Where he knew his girl Pearl he would face.
He came to their tree but then found that he
Was too heavy to climb! Oh disgrace!
He fell down and started to cry,
And wailed, “Gosh, why didn’t I
See that my figure was unnaturally bigger
Once I gave up food on the fly?”
His sobbings soon perked up the ears
Of the one foe every squirrel fears:
It’s Old Al the cat who grinned knowing that
These were Earl’s last tears.
The next day all they could find
Was what poor Earl left behind:
His torn sequined suit that had been such a hoot,
Though Pearl, coolly, paid it no mind.
For she’d grown disgusted with Earl,
No longer her grooviest squirrel.
He wound up sleazy when life got too easy –
“Oh, what a swine!” said Miss Pearl.
