What+is+Poetry+for+Children?

What is Poetry for Children?
Click the **Edit** button (far right side of screen) and paste your content in the space below. Make sure to **Save** changes before exiting. Poetry appeals to a child's thoughts and feelings. The words and use of words takes on a deeper meaning. Poems are often about experiences children can relate to such as going to school in //Do// //Buses Eat Kids?// by Laura Purdie Salas. The poems describe the school experience from “Boring Bus Ride” to “What's for Lunch” and also talks what children may be feeling in “Finding my Place”. The poem may take on many forms and it often has musical quality. //Big Talk Poems for Four Voices// by Paul Fleischman illustrates this musical quality. The poems in the book are meant to be read by four people with alternating lines. This makes it a great read aloud and reminiscent of singing a round. Poems may be as short as one word as in Robert Carola's poem “Stowaway”. The important part of a poem is the choice of words. They should teach children the importance of words and encourage them to creatively use words. “Stinky Boys” by Brod Bagert illustrates the humorous use of words. He describes the big brother holding his baby brother as he starts to stink. Poetry for children is often funny or whimsical and is often illustrated. “True poetry, even in it's smallest shape, should have form, meter, rhythm bound into a whole with words that so match and express its subject they seem inevitable” (Norton 317).
 * Submtted by Meg Clley**

Works Cited: Bagert, Brod Ted Arnold Ill. //Giant Children//. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 2002. Print. Fleischman, Paul. Beppe Giacobbe Ill. //Big Talk: Poems in Four Voices.// Cambridge:Candlewick Press, 2008. Print. Janecko, Paul Chris Raschka Ill //. A Poke in the I.// Cambridge: Candlewick Press, 2005. Print. Norton, Donna. //Through The Eyes of a Child//. New Jerey:Pearson, 2007.Prnt. Salas, Laura Purdie. //Do Buses Eat Kids?// Manakato, Minn: Capstone Press, 2008. Print.

//Added by Pat Henderson// Poetry for children has some of the same elements as adult poetry -- rhythm, form, and rhyme for example. It varies from adult poetry in its simpler word choice and more obvious imagery. It also taps into experiences and feelings that are common in children, and that children can relate to. Poetry for children contains imagery that helps children to picture a situation as they hear or read it. Poems about common subjects – nature, animals or holidays – can be easy for children to picture and connect to. Some poems for children have a rhythm, a sound and pattern that children automatically respond to, such as Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes, or All Things Bright and Beautiful by Cecil Francis Alexander. Some poems are a narrative that tells a story, such as A Visit From St. Nicholas by Clement Moore. Some poems are a ballad, such as My Darling Clementine by Stephen Foster. Poems with humor and silliness are often popular with children, produced by authors such as Jack Prelutsky, Shel Silverstein, and Jim Aylesworth. Poems for children can look like adult poetry at first glance, but clearly are written for children, in terms they can understand, and are written specifically to elicit an emotional response from the young reader. Sources: StoryLit http://www.storyit.com/Classics/JustPoems/classicpoems.htm

Submitted by: Kathleen Marcoux

Poetry is an artistic and authentic way of expressing oneself. Poetry is experienced in different ways by different people, We enjoy poetry as it is presented to us because of its meaning, sound, or rhythmic language choices. These things cause an emotional response from the reader and may make you laugh or cry depending on the mood the author has chosen. It captures the reader by connecting with them through personal experience. Poetry writing has changed dramatically throughout time and although some poems are written in a specific meter and rhyme, this is not true for all poems. There is a vast amount of poems that do not follow the "norm" of rhyming that some people relate with poetry. Some websites you might enjoy on poetry include the following:


 * TEACHERS AND STUDENTS: **

Types of Poetry [] Learn Out Loud ~ Free Audio Poems []
 * STUDENTS: **

Poems for Kids ~ The Classics [] Poetry for Kids []# Online Tool to Create Acrostic Poems [] Online Haiku Creator [] Lots of Kids Poetry Games [] Mother Goose and Famous Quotations [] Different Types of Poems for Kids []