The last blog post talked about April being National Autism Awareness Month, but it is also National Poetry Month.  We can’t let the month go by without sharing a favorite poem.  Here is a good poem for a rainy April day from Shel Silverstein’s posthumous book, Every Thing on It, published in 2011.     [...]

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Don’t stop reading poetry just because National Poetry Month is over.  Your local library has lots of poetry books to keep you entertained all year long.  The Children’s Library alone has hundreds of poetry books on all types of subjects.  Here are just a few recent titles you may enjoy.  Click on the blue highlighted titles [...]

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  Open a Book Open a book And you will find People and places of every kind. Open a book and you can be Anything that you want to be: Open a book And you can share Wondrous worlds you find in there. Open a book And I will too. You read to me And [...]

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LISTEN TO THE MUSTN’TS Listen to the MUSTN’TS, child, Listen to the DON’TS Listen to the SHOULDN’TS the IMPOSSIBLES, the WON’TS Listen to the NEVER HAVES Then listen close to me- Anything can happen, child ANYTHING can be. from Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

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Here is one of Langston Hughes’ (1902-1967) most well-known poems: Dreams Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams For when dreams go Life is a barren field Frozen with snow. This can be found in The Dream Keeper and Other Poems by [...]

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  Rabbits are Nice Neighbors Rabbits are nice neighbors, Kindly and quiet. They don’t bite mailmen, Or make loud noises in the night. Rabbits are ornamental, Lop-eared and silky, With long bouncy legs, And noses that quiver. And now and then-not often- They deliver- Eggs. by Zilpha Keatley Snyder  

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Surprises I’ve learned that snakes have cool silk skin and earthworms shrink when you’re petting them, that a butterfly frowns as it dips and drinks as if each sip saps all its strength, that early in a morning mist a spider’s web is dew drop kissed, that toads may look like rocks with eyes, and [...]

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Keep A Poem In Your Pocket By Beatrice Schenk de Regniers   Keep a poem in your pocket And a picture in your head And you’ll never feel lonely At night when you’re in bed.   The little poem will sing to you The little picture bring to you A dozen dreams to dance to [...]

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Cyrus, Kurt Hotel deep: light verse from dark water   In twenty-one poems a lone sardine goes off in search of its lost school within the dark halls of a great coral reef.  The oversize format is highlighted by brightly colored illustrations.   Graham, Joan Splish splash Twenty-one short poems celebrate water in its forms [...]

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Sports Poetry Books  While it’s no secret that the Children’s Library has an extensive collection of poetry for children, young sports fans may not realize that more than a few of those books feature poems about their favorite sports.  Here is a sampling: Adoff, Arnold: The Basket Counts! Sports Pages Fehler, Gene: Change-Up:  Baseball Poems [...]

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