April: National Poetry Month
SPECIAL OFFER THIS WEEK!
To get you started, check out our SPECIAL:
The Arrow Poetry Guide is only $4.99 this week (April 1-8). Regular price: $9.95.
If you’ve never tried the Tuesday Poetry Teatimes, this is the month to start! There are many benefits to reading poetry, not the least of which is the sugar-sweet fun of rhyme, and the playful pop of alliteration and consonance as words trip their way over your tongue.
For the intimidated (you know who you are—you worry that you don’t “get” poetry or that you’ll fail at discovering meanings and themes and imagery), I have tips to make it easy for you to wade into these (I promise) friendly waters.
- Start with limericks and nursery rhymes. They’re easy to read/say, easy to understand (insofar as understanding even matters), and easy to repeat (leading your family in reciting them together. I don’t know why Jack jumped a candlestick or how an old woman turned a shoe into a family home, but for children, these images are direct and delightful. And that’s all that matters in this poetry ready. You’re delighting in sound, silly images, words, and linguistic music. You get to “go dense” on meaning for a change and know that that’s okay!
- Jack Prelutsky and Shel Silverstein. Get their books, ready them, enjoy them. One poem at a time— no need to read like a chapter book. Note that these two “get” children. They share the same sense of humor and level of insight that children enjoy.
- Riddles and jokes are a kind of poetry. They may not rhyme and they don’t follow poetic structure, exactly. But they are all about puns and language play. Include them in your poetry teatimes.
- Read poems in tandem. The poetry book featured above is one my grandfather gave me in junior high (you can tell it was well-loved as the frayed paper cover indicates). In it is a collection of poems that are written in alternating blue and black ink. Each reader picks a color and together, two people read a poem aloud! This book You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You is still in print, if you want to try it.
That’s enough to get your started. Seriously!
Set the table for tea, pull out the Oreo cookies or bake a batch of brownies or slice Pippin apples! Whatever is your family’s pleasure. Then, read aloud, laugh, read to yourself, try your hand at making your own rhymes, and notice all the while that you’re doing what you always say you want to do—bringing learning to life.
We’ll post some poetry resources on the blog over the course of the month so stay tuned!
SPECIAL OFFER THIS WEEK!
To get you started, check out our SPECIAL:
The Arrow Poetry Guide is only $4.99 this week (April 1-8). Regular price: $9.95.
My daughter would like to share a poem she wrote using the Arrow Poetry Guide. She had a lot of fun writing it. Here it is:
Because I Lost my Kitten by Kailey
There is nothing on the mat,
Playing with my mitten,
Giving it a playful bat,
Because I lost my kitten.
We coaxed her with a plate of fish,
It wasn’t even bitten,
I didn’t want a birthday wish,
Because I lost my kitten.
That is the best poetic tribute to Since Hanna Moved Away that I’ve read. I love it so much, and feel an ache in my heart about your daughter’s little kitten. Wonderful writing. Good job!