Dear Readers,
I have been looking for poetry book for my daughter who has recently shown a marked interested in writing and reading poems. She would often scribble in her notbeook and read me some excerpts when she feels brave enough to share.
She asked me to recommend poets for her to read but since I grew up learning French poetry and not English poetry, I wasn't too sure of what could be good poems for her age.
I started looking around and found a lovely collection of illustrated books aimed to introduce children (age range: 8-12 years old) to famous poets such as Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost.
So I bought "Poetry for Kids: Emily Dickinson" with illustrations by Christine Davenier. Susan Snively, who is a guide at the Emily Dickinson Museum, wrote the introduction (a short biography of Emily's life).
The illustrations are truly beautiful and match the content of the poems: nature, small animals, the change of seasons, etc.
There are a few word definitions for each poem but no explations as to the meaning of the poems. This was a bit of a letdown because it would have been nice for the children to explore the themes and context of these poems.
And it would have made it easier for the parents too because children sure do have a lot of questions! ^_^
But overall, my daughter enjoyed this book very much. She loved the very colorful illustrations too.
Do you like poetry? Do you know of good poetry books for children?
