Whilst browsing twitter one evening last week, I spotted that on October 3rd, it’s National Poetry Day. We are big fans of poetry here so I thought it would be the ideal opportunity to share some of our favourite poetry books.
I am the Seed The Grew the Tree is one of my favourite poetry books. It’s a large book that invites you in, and it’s the book that forms the basis of our poetry tea time. There is a poem for each day of the year, and it’s beautifully themed in line with the rhythms of nature and has a wide array of poems from haiku to sonnets. It’s a truly beautiful book and one I hope the children remember with fondness when they are older and reflect on our poetry tea times.
A Poem for Every Day of the Year and A Poem for Every Night of The Year are two books that the older two children received for Christmas last year. The poems in here can be a bit trickier to understand (for younger children at least) but there are helpful notes for each one to guide your understanding and appreciation. I love this book and it is ideal for younger and older children as well as adults! I find that some of the poems test me, and others make me question what a poem is, and how it can make us feel. We have had all sorts of interesting conversations sparked by some of the poems in these two books.
A Year of Nature Poems by Joseph Cohelo was gifted to use earlier this year and it is a lovely book and one that we try to look at each month and consider the poem in more detail. Each month features a poem that ties into the nature of the month, and it’s a lovely way to explore how the month will develop. Now that Emma is more confidently reading I am going to encourage the older two children to take it in turns to read aloud the verses each month.
I Bet I Can Make You Laugh and I am a Jigsaw are two books that were recently sent to us by Bloomsbury and Daniel loves these; he has been busy putting in markers on his favourite poems and he really does laugh out loud when reading these. I am a Jigsaw is all about ‘puzzle’ poems and I like that at the back it gives the child tips on how to write their own poems.
In anticipation of National Poetry Day I bought a couple of new books that I hope will arrive in time for Thursday. I have ordered Poems to Live Your Life By mostly for me. I went to a Poetry performance the week before last and it was fantastic so I want to explore poetry a little more. Poems to Perform looks like good fun and will hopefully help on rainy days to give the children something to act out and play. Finally, Moonstruck was one of the suggested books for this year and I like the idea of this one so that one is on its way to us too.
The National Poetry Day website has a wide range of resources and some fantastic suggestions for poetry books. I am hoping to get the book curated by Cerys Matthews, Tell me the Truth About Life, to mark this years poetry day (it’s on my wish list for Christmas). What other poetry books should we be looking at? Any recommendations gratefully received.
