16 Comments

You put such care into all your posts, Sarah!

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Thanks so much, Jolene ❤️

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What a great post. I wish I had learned to love poetry as a child, I was never exposed to it. I have such a hard time reading poetry, my mind wanders, I have to concentrate and I lose patience quickly. I guess if I really wanted to enjoy it, I'd learn how to do that. I tried reading two of Elizabeth Acevedo's books and failed supremely. However, I did listen to all three on audio and loved them. So much so, that I bought all three audiobooks as I know I'll want to listen to them again.

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Maybe you just haven’t found the right poetry, or poet, yet. I hear from a lot of people that poetry is what they go to when they *can’t* concentrate…

But listening to poetry (Elizabeth Acevedo’s books are amazing on audio; that’s how I’ve read them all) totally counts!

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I've been meaning to read this slowly! So much here.

For my non-reader son, he was fascinated by a book of baseball poetry, and all the white space in that book made him think "it was easy." It was a breakthrough book, for him.

Poetry expands our senses of rhythm; my older son loves rap, and can come up with very rhythmic ideas. I come from a background of little music listened to or poetry read, and it took me a long time to learn how to dance. Rhythm is so important (really, in sports, in driving a car, in cooking multiple dishes... I do see connections in developing a real sense of rhythm.

You've really shown us a breadth of books--there are poetry books for everyone, no matter what interests one has. I took 70 into a grade four classroom once...and everyone found something. all the poetry nay-sayers grew very quiet through that time of immersion!! By the end of a week of poetry walks and such, they were all happily on board. (A poetry walk is when you write out each line on a strip of cardboard, and set them out on the floor and then walk through them saying each line aloud--fun!)

Thank you for another great post!!!

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Thanks, Alison! And thank you also, for adding your own experience and ideas here (I love the poetry walk!)

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This is a topic I get excited about :) Seeing my son connect with reading, as he had not with other books, was SO good! You are onto something here.

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Well, me too, obviously 😊 I think you make an excellent point about poetry being accessible to developing and even dormant readers (those struggling, or those who merely do the bare minimum required for school) -- I hadn't really thought about that.

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Ha! Poetry gives us so MUCH to think about..

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Amen!

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Absolutely love this post Sarah! I've been looking for some poetry collections for my children and really appreciate your recommendations! Thank you!

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Yay! So glad I can help.

I'm coming out with a Spotlight On: Poetry issue in the beginning of August -- those are deep dives into a single topic, where I'll review seven books for a variety of ages and recommend many more. Keep an eye out for it!

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I liked poetry many moons ago, but was put off it in secondary school. Badly taught, and it was a boys' school so poetry was regarded as being for girls. I then rediscovered my love of it at college -- specifically Chaucer and Elizabethan verse romances. A few months ago I signed up for a course and the tutor was brilliant: made every word come alive. I even ended up enjoying Wordsworth. I think the quality of teaching makes such a difference. I think your article is brilliant, and so potentially helpful.

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Ah, thank you, Terry!

I think your experience is super common -- even the norm, sadly -- but I am so happy to hear that you rediscovered your love of it. And yes, a teacher who brings poetry alive is a gift!

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Indeed. And the recent brilliant teacher had to be dragged out of retirement to teach it. What a waste. Don't you think retirement should be banned for inspiring teachers?Anyway, I'm sure a LOT OF PEOPLE MUST HAVE FOUND YOUR ARTICLE INSPIRING. oops, sorry

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I meant 'inspirational' teachers.

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