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Children’s picture book Samuel T. Moore of Corte Magore (written in rhyme) tells the adventurous story of Sam, a tenacious land and sea fiddler crab (complete with fiddle and bow) who finds himself on the sandy shores of an idyllic island named Corte Magore. This book teaches children about courage and tenacity; to stand up to bullying; and to fight for that they believe in, while also teaching them about the concept of “home” – all told in one big epic poem. This book is geared towards children ages 3-7.

As promised, here are compelling reasons this book should be in your school’s library:

The book is written in rhyme:
Rhyming verse aids in early-development learning and recall.

By playing with the short texts of rhymes, children explore the mechanics of the English language. They find out how language works and become familiar with the relationship between the 44 sounds of English and the 26 alphabet letters – information which helps them when they begin reading to decode the sounds that make up words. The value of this type of language-play with rhymes in early learning is both underestimated and undervalued.

The book utilizes many different poetic devices that can be difficult to teach like alliteration, point-of-view, stanza, meter, reputation, assonance, personification, and my personal favorite, Onomatopoeia, which utilizes words which imitate sound.. Poetic devices are used to take the reader to a different time or place and helps with imagery.

Poetry can follow a strict structure, or none at all, but many different types of poems use poetic devices. Poetic devices are tools that a poet can use to create rhythm, enhance a poem’s meaning, or intensify a mood or feeling. These devices help piece the poem together, much like a hammer and nails join planks of wood together.

Authors like Seuss and Silverstein paved the way for poetry in children’s literature, yet it’s hard to find new children’s books today written in prose. Carol Hurst at http://www.Booksintheclassroom.com intimates why it’s best to not let this great art die.

…along came Shel Silverstein (Shel Silverstein’s website). He wrote poems about picking your nose and selling your baby sister and adults (some of them) winced and kids guffawed and kids’ poetry was changed forever. Now we’ve got the gamut of emotions and subjects in kids poetry. Poetry, of course, be it for child or adult (and the distinction is not always clear) is very much a matter of perception. Poems speak to the individual, even more than stories do, and some are not speaking to you — at least not right now. The rules of poetry selection are the same as for the selection of any kind of literary material that you’re going to use with your kids. It must speak to you as the living breathing adult you are before you can help it speak to kids. If it’s supposed to be funny, it should make you laugh or at least smile. If it’s supposed to be sad, it should choke you up a bit. If it’s a description of a thing or a feeling, it should help you see it or feel it in a new way.
So, which of all the books of poetry will you choose for your classroom? Every one you can afford.

And, that’s all just a start. Tomorrow, you can expect to see me add to my list. Rather than saving this post as a draft, I think I’ll go ahead and publish it now.

As always, thanks for the ear!

Tonia

Click through to sign up for the National Poetry Month giveaway!

“Vignette” is a word that originally meant “something that may be written on a vine-leaf.” This image makes me think: small, special, delicate, and perhaps not for everyone to see.