April is National Poetry Month

To celebrate National Poetry Month, I'll dedicate a few posts to children's poetry books. Children's poetry is such a rich and diverse niche that it will be difficult to narrow it down to just a few books per post!



If your child needs to memorize a poem for school, have him/her browse through Poetry Speaks to Children. From classics like "Casey at the Bat" and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," to selections from popular children's authors such as Margaret Wise Brown and Naomi Shihab Nye, Poetry Speaks to Children is a fabulous collection of funny, silly, fanciful, and lovely poems. A CD is included, which includes poets reading their own poems (when possible).



If you are owned by a dog, you'll likely laugh with recognition at the poems in Good Dog. Breeds are represented by individual poems, including a bold little Chihuahua, an embarrassed Pomeranian with a poufy new style, and a tough looking bulldog with a gentle heart. Fans of mutts, do not worry: the honor of the last poem is reserved for them. Whether it's the imperial attitude of a King Charles Spaniel, to a hyper Boston Terrier, a pug that's simply starving, or the devotion of a Collie, these poems (and dogs) will win your heart.



When I was a child in New Orleans, my dad, sister, and I would watch a local television celebrity called Morgus the Magnificent. Morgus was a "mad scientist" who conducted ill-fated experiments with the "help" of his assistant, Chopsley, in between segments of classic horror movies. I would have loved Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich. While most will chuckle over the poems, those familiar with the classic monsters (Frankenstein, Dracula, etc) will get the biggest kick out of the poems, especially a running gag with The Phantom of the Opera.

Who says poetry is boring?