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Poetry for Children

First off, these aren't just for kids. A good poem has universal appeal, and if it captures a child's imagination it ought to capture an adult's as well. The main difference between "poems for kids" and "poems for adults" is that the former are easier to understand and enjoy at face value.

T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland goes over heads because it's full of allusions and analogies only the well-read are likely to get, whereas Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein is self-contained (though there's plenty more going on beneath the surface for older readers to appreciate). And who can argue that John Donne is easier to understand than A.A. Milne?

Of course, "at face value" doesn't mean there are no hidden meanings in children's poetry. It just means kids don't have to pick them up to be impacted by the poem. At the same time, teaching them to do so from a young age with the poetry they love will give them a huge advantage when they're older and encounter Milton, Frost, and Yeats.

Poetry intended for young readers is often marked by what some consider a juvenile rhyme scheme. Yet organizing thoughts and words in a metrical pattern and making it seem effortless isn't the work of some "kiddie writer," but of a master.

Kindling in children a love of poetry (not just rhymes) is essential for helping them reach their full imaginative potential. Stories are important, but poems impart a sense of wonder and an attitude of curiosity and investigation that mere prose can never accomplish. If Keats could transport grown men and women to other realms, why would we think Grahame, Carroll, or Stevenson couldn't do exactly the same thing for kids?

Readers often forget that poetry is intended to be read aloud. While children can have plenty of fun curled up on the couch with their favorite book of poems (probably mouthing each word silently as they read, deaf to the rest of the world), reading aloud with them opens their ears to the beauty of language, its cadences, its mysticism and enchantment. It'll probably do the same thing for you.

Which brings us back to the first point: poetry for children is also poetry for adults. Nowhere else is the ethos of childhood so perfectly rendered than in poems of this kind, where the happiness, terror and innocence of the young is brought to full light not just in the images and words themselves, but in the very way they're structured on the page and spoken out loud. If you feel lost or dead to the world of childhood, read some of the poetry written to and for kids before adulthood squelches any youthfulness of soul you have left.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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Active Filters: 1st grade (Ages 6-7), Hardcover, In-Stock Books & Materials
All the World's a Stage
by Rebecca Piatt Davidson, illustrated by Anita Lobel
from Greenwillow Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Another Book of Verses for Children
by E.V. Lucas (editor), illustrated by F.D. Bedford
from Macmillan
for 1st-5th grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$20.80 (1 in stock)
Arnold Lobel Book of Mother Goose
by Arnold Lobel
from Random House
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Mother Goose & Nursery Rhymes (Location: PIC-MG)
$9.60 (2 in stock)
Child's Book of Poems
by Gyo Fujikawa
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$12.74
Child's First Steps to Virtues
by Emily Hunter
from Harvest House
for Nursery-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Tasha Tudor
from Simon and Schuster
Poetry for 1st-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$16.99 $11.60 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Eulalie
from Platt and Munk Publishers
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Cooper Edens
from Chronicle Books
for 1st-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
Arcadia
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Charles Robinson
from Princess House Books
Poetry for 1st-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson
from Macmillan
for 1st-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Eulalie
Popular Edition from Platt and Munk Publishers
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Child's Garden of Verses - A Poetry Pop-Up Book
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Martin & Alice Provensen
from Golden Books
for Preschool-1st grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$5.60 (1 in stock)
Classic Poetry
by Michael Rosen & Paul Howard
from Candlewick Press
for 1st-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$8.80 (1 in stock)
Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night
by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Rick Allen
from Houghton Mifflin
for 1st-4th grade
2011 Newbery Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$15.29
Drat These Brats!
from Margaret K. McElderry Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Eric Carle's Animals Animals
by Eric Carle
First Edition from Philomel Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Family of Poems
by Caroline Kennedy
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
First Poems of Childhood
by Tasha Tudor
from Grosset & Dunlap
for Nursery-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Flower Fairies of the Spring
by Cicely Mary Barker
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Flower Fairies of the Spring—A Celebration
by Cicely Mary Barker
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Leaves From a Child's Garden of Verses
by Robert Louis Stevenson, Illustrated by Donna Green
from Vermillion, Inc
for Preschool-1st grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Lullabies & Good Night
by Stephen Elkins (editor), illustrated with paintings by Mary Cassatt
from Ideals Children's Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Marshmallow Clouds
by Ted Kooser and Connie Wanek, illustrated by Richard Jones
from Candlewick Press
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$16.99
My Daddy Rules the World
by Hope Anita Smith
from Henry Holt and Company
for Preschool-4th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$15.29
My First Oxford Book of Poems
by John Foster (compiler)
from Oxford University
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
My Shadow
by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Ted Rand
First Impression from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
My Uncle Emily
by Jane Yolen
from Philomel Books
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$15.29
Now We Are Six
by A. A. Milne
from Dutton Children's Books
Poetry for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$16.99
Now We Are Six
by A. A. Milne
from Dutton Children's Books
Poetry for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Nursery Friends from France
from Book House for Children
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Vintage Anthology Collections (Location: VIN-ANTH)
$15.20 (1 in stock)
Owl and the Pussycat
by Edward Lear, illustrated by Colin West
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Owl and the Pussycat
by Edward Lear, illustrated by Gwen Fulton
from Atheneum
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.20 (1 in stock)
Owl and the Pussycat
by Edward Lear, illustrated by Gwen Fulton
from Katherine Tegen Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Peaceful Pieces: Poems and Quilts About Peace
by Anna Grossnickle Hines
from Henry Holt and Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Piper, Pipe That Song Again
by Nancy Larrick
from Random House
for Preschool-5th grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Poke in the I
by Paul Janeczko
1st edition from Candlewick Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Prayer for a Child
by Rachel Field
1957 Printing from Macmillan
for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$3.60 (1 in stock)
Random House Book of Poetry for Children
by Jack Prelutsky
from Random House
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$11.20 (1 in stock)
Real Mother Goose
by Blanche Fisher Wright
for 1st-3rd grade
in Mother Goose & Nursery Rhymes (Location: PIC-MG)
$4.80 (2 in stock)
Richard Scarry's Best Mother Goose Ever
by Richard Scarry
50th Anniversary Edition from Golden Books
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Mother Goose & Nursery Rhymes (Location: PIC-MG)
$15.29
Ride a Purple Pelican
by Jack Prelutsky, illustrated by Garth Williams
1st edition from Greenwillow Books
for Nursery-1st grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Silver Pennies
by Blanche Jennings Thompson, editor; illustrated by Winifred Bromhall
1935 Printing from Macmillan
for 1st-6th grade
in Vintage Poetry (Location: VIN-POET)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Sing a Song of Popcorn
by Beatrice Schenk De Regniers
1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Sing a Song of Seasons
by Fiona Waters (selections), illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon
from Nosy Crow
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$34.00
Sounds of Home
a Sounds of Language Reader
by Edited by Bill Martin Jr.
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for Kindergarten-1st grade
in Vintage Readers & Textbooks (Location: VIN-READ)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Sounds of Numbers
a Sounds of Language Reader
by Edited by Bill Martin Jr.
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for 1st-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Sounds of Numbers - Teacher Edition
a Sounds of Language Reader
by Edited by Bill Martin Jr.
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for 1st-2nd grade
in Vintage Readers & Textbooks (Location: VIN-READ)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Spider and the Fly
by Tony DiTerlizzi; based on the story by Mary Howitt
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
2003 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.14
Stopping By the Woods on a Snowy Evening
by Robert Frost
from Dutton Children's Books
for Kindergarten-2nd
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$15.29
Treasury of Poetry for Young People
by Anthology - Various
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for Preschool-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$22.00 (1 in stock)
Under the Window
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Visit to William Blake's Inn
by Nancy Willard
1st edition
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Waiting to Waltz
by Cynthia Rylant
from Atheneum
for 1st-7th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$16.99
When the Horses Ride By
by Eloise Greenfield, illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist
from Lee & Low Books
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
When We Were Very Young
by A. A. Milne
from Dutton Juvenile
Poetry for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$16.99
When We Were Very Young
by A. A. Milne
from Dutton Children's Books
Poetry for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$5.60 (1 in stock)
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