storybook vs poetry

[Jean]

hi,

at what age do you start reading poem to children. at 3, i assume a
story book with pictures would be more appealing but would also like
to have a mix of both eventually. any recommendations of poetry
collections that comes with colourful pictures too? thank you.

regards
jean

[Splanche]

>hi,
>
>at what age do you start reading poem to children. at 3, i assume a
>story book with pictures would be more appealing but would also like
>to have a mix of both eventually. any recommendations of poetry
>collections that comes with colourful pictures too? thank you.

I had some wonderful Nursery Rhyme books when DD was about 3--
when you get right down to it, Nursery Rhymes are just poetry for kids.
- Blanche

[Beeswing]

"Jean" > wrote in message
m...
>
> at what age do you start reading poem to children. at 3, i assume a
> story book with pictures would be more appealing but would also like
> to have a mix of both eventually. any recommendations of poetry
> collections that comes with colourful pictures too? thank you.

I highly recommend Shel Silvertein's poetry books: Where the Sidewalk
Ends, Falling Up, and A Light in the Attic. The pictures are in black
and white, not color, but are still marvelous.

beeswing

[Kevin Karplus]

In article >, Jean wrote:
> at what age do you start reading poem to children. at 3, i assume a
> story book with pictures would be more appealing but would also like
> to have a mix of both eventually. any recommendations of poetry
> collections that comes with colourful pictures too? thank you.

We started reading poetry (rhymed verse) at quite an early age (1
maybe?). Rhyming games were very popular around ages 4 and 5, but he
never really got into poetry reading much on his own, preferring a
good story to a poem. Many of the "picture books" ARE poems.

If you are looking for poems for a somewhat older kid, the humor of
Shel Silverstein or Jack Prelutsky may appeal. The illustrations in
Silverstein's books add a lot to their appeal. (You might want to
avoid "The Giving Tree" until you've read it yourself---some people
feel that the poem is suggesting that parents should sacrifice
everything for their children and get nothing in return.)


--
Kevin Karplus http://www.soe.ucsc.edu/~karplus
life member (LAB, Adventure Cycling, American Youth Hostels)
Effective Cycling Instructor #218-ck (lapsed)
Professor of Computer Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz
Undergraduate and Graduate Director, Bioinformatics
Affiliations for identification only.

[Iowacookiemom]

>I highly recommend Shel Silvertein's poetry books: Where the Sidewalk
>Ends, Falling Up, and A Light in the Attic. The pictures are in black
>and white, not color, but are still marvelous.
>
>beeswing

We had a wonderful tape of his poetry too, and Henry used to fall asleep
listening to it -- another good way to introduce the almost-musical aspect of
some poetry.

-Dawn
Mom to Henry, 10

[Robyn Kozierok]

In article >,
Jean > wrote:
>hi,
>
>at what age do you start reading poem to children. at 3, i assume a
>story book with pictures would be more appealing but would also like
>to have a mix of both eventually. any recommendations of poetry
>collections that comes with colourful pictures too? thank you.
>

I start before they are old enough to express a preference one
way or another. I suspect that the rhyme and meter may be appealing
to babies, but who really knows.

"Sing a Song of Popcorn" is a nice varied collection with (I believe)
color pictures.

Also, Sandra Boynton has a number of short, funny, rhyming board
books that would appeal to a 3yo.

"Animals, Animals" is a nice collection of (you guessed it)
animal-themed poetry illustrated (color) by Eric Carle (Very Hungry
Caterpillar; Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?; etc.). There's
also "Dragons, Dragons" but we don't like those poems as much.

I would save Shel Silverstein for elementary school aged kids. 3 is
a bit young for most of it, I think.

--Robyn (mommy to Ryan 9/93 and Matthew 6/96 and Evan 3/01)

[Beeswing]

Robyn wrote:

>I would save Shel Silverstein for elementary school aged kids. 3 is
>a bit young for most of it, I think.
>

Could be. My kid loved it from maybe kindergarten on.

beeswing