We took my review copy of Poetry Speaks to Children on vacation with us this July to try it out with the kids. It’s a hard cover picture book of poetry compiled by Elise Paschen with poems written by just about every famous poet around and a few I’d never heard of.
It comes with a CD containing readings of nearly all the poems, many of them read by the authors themselves. The track numbers are clearly listed on each page so it’s easy to follow along as you read, even if you’re too little to read words yet.
Dan and I loved the book and most of the readings. Some of the recordings are not super high quality and some of the authors are not excellent readers. Still it was fascinating to hear the voice inflections of the people who originally penned the words, a novelty that was lost on my 2 and 4-year-old but which I think older kids and adults would really appreciate.
My kids enjoyed it more when I read the book to them myself. The gorgeous illustrations really captured their imaginations (Well, Laylee’s imagination. This was still a bit of a stretch for Magoo.) and overall the experience was a success.
I think it would make a great gift for an elementary school aged child, one they might not appreciate at first but their parents would love you for and it would become a favorite as they learned to dive in and love the world of poetry.
It sounds like a great book! I don’t think I’ve ever read poetry to my kids except nursery rhymes. Will they turn out to be uncultured and crass??
I really like this book. It’s perfect to just pop open and read a few. There are a lot of “classic” poems in it, like the Jabberwocky, and that one by Robert Frost…