The Spider and the Fly

this cautionary tale by Mary Howitt has been illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi (EASY collection PR 4809 .H2 S64 2002)

"Will you walk into my parlour?"
said the Spider to the Fly,

and the story continues until.....

He dragged her up his winding stair,
into his dismal den,
Within his little parlour -
but she ne-er came out again!

...and so ends our celebration of April as Poetry month. Did you find a poem or poet that dragged you in?

Do You Like Green Eggs and Ham?

"I do not like them Sam-I-Am!"

Poetry is used to create a rhythm in a story. Green Eggs and Ham (PZ8.3 .G276 GR) by Dr. Seuss rolics along with rhyming verse that closes with "Thank you! Thank you, Sam-I-Am."

Our childrens literature section has several authors who have written their stories in rhyming verse. It does help a child remember the story.

Why?

Have you ever wondered why people write poetry?

The Columbia History of British Poetry by Carl Woodring (PR 502 C62 1994) might help you understand.

"Literature in the shapeless galaxy of Indo-European languages has no brighter constellation than that of British poetry." There are 26 chapters each written by a different expert "...they remind us that poetry is a social record of the kinds of events ordinarily excluded from the histories written of various nations and peoples." (from the Introduction)

Mother Goose Matters

How many Mother Goose rhymes do you remember? Children should be able to recite 5 Mother Goose rhymes before they enter Kindergarten. Saying Mother Goose rhymes builds the brain, enhances vocabulary, enables your child to get a 2400 on the SAT (well, that may not be true).

Let's see what you remember....
Hickory Dickory Dock......
Little Miss Muffett sat on a tuffett....
Little Jack Horner, sat in a corner......
Jack and Jill went up the hill.........
Hey Diddle, diddle, thecat and the fiddle......

If you'd like to see the full texts (and more) check out this site ISLMC Poetry for Children

Lyrics

April is poetry month.

Songs are poetry set to music!
Look up your favorite songs at:
Lyrics.com
A-Z Lyrics Universe