Poetry Picnic: May 26, 2017

We had a great poetry picnic right before Memorial Day weekend! Here's what we read while we enjoyed lunch and chocolate chip cookies! (Anthology titles link to Goodreads; poem titles link to online full text when available.)

From All Together:

• Night and Morning by Dorothy Aldis
• My Nose by Dorothy Aldis
• Grown-Up People by Dorothy Aldis
• The Seals by Dorothy Aldis
• In May by Dorothy Aldis
• The Storm by Dorothy Aldis
• Goodness Me by Dorothy Aldis

This collection is perfect for preschoolers. I want to work on getting Miss Muffet (age 3.5) to memorize and recite some of these poems herself. "Goodness Me," which is about a child realizing she might be starting to be good all the time, would be a good one to start with since it connects with her own struggle to behave well! 

From Sing a Song of Seasons:

• The Big Swing-Tree is Green Again by Marchette Chute
• The Worm by Ralph Bergengren

I wasn't sure Miss Muffet would understand the humor of "The Worm," but she did seem to laugh appropriately. Both of these poems were taken from the summer section of the book.

From The Year Around: Poems for Children: 

• Remembering Day by Mary Wight Saunders
• Secret by Esther Hull Doolittle 
• Jack-in-the-Pulpit by Ivy O. Eastwick

These poems were taken from the Memorial Day and Summer sections of the book.  I suspect this will be my go-to source for upcoming poetry picnics, since there is something for almost every holiday and occasion.

From Poems to Read to the Very Young:

• Good Morning by Muriel Sipe
• I Saw a Ship a-Sailing
• Near and Far by Kate Cox Goddard

I found this book at a used bookstore and snatched it up because I love the illustrations. We have all of these poems in other anthologies, but the pictures really appeal to Bo Peep (20 mos.) and I chose these poems with her in mind.

From Beneath a Blue Umbrella: 

• In downtown Philadelphia... by Jack Prelutsky
• Idaho Rose... by Jack Prelutsky
• Captain Flea and Sailor Snail... by Jack Prelutsky

We received a copy of this book free at a recent city truck touch event. The poems are Prelutsky originals but they read like nursery rhymes, and the illustrations are by Garth Williams. The individual poems do not have titles, so I have just listed them here by first line.