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Which poet would be of most interest to a 2nd and 4th grader?
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We’ve never done a poetry study before, and I’ll confess that despite my love of poetry, I’m not very well acquainted with the famous poets!
I’m looking for an American poet, since we’re focusing on American history, so I’m looking at SCM’s resources for Carl Sandburg, Emily Dickinson, Longfellow, John Greenleaf Whittier, or Oliver Wendell Holmes. Any recommendations which of these might be most appealing for a 2nd and 4th grader? The last thing I’d want to do is introduced poetry study with someone whose work is too over their heads for them to enjoy it. 🙂
Thank you so much for your thoughts!!
They’re not American poets, but my 2 favorites for the younger group are :
Robert Louis Stevenson
Christina Rossetti
My girls (7 and 8) love both of these poets. For Robert Louis Stevenson, I highly suggest “A Child’s Garden of Verses”. It’s a beautiful book!
Look up some of their poems online or in an anthology and read then to yourself or your girls. Who do you or they like best? Dickinson can be whimsical but sometimes gets a bit weird. Just check the poem.
We are doing Robert Frost next year. My kids are 1st and kindergarten… We did Stevenson this year. I have an illustrated version of “stopping by the woods on a snowy evening” and hope to get the illustrated version of “Christmas trees” as well. We will read others but these are really nice.
Robert Frost is a good suggestion, and I agree about the illustrated versions. The “Stopping by Woods” illustrated version is very nice.
What about Ogden Nash? He’s funny. I think he wrote about Custard the Dragon.
And Mildred Plew Meigs (I think that’s the spelling.) She wrote a poem about a snowman that’s cute. And did she write the I’m Hiding poem? That’s cute, too.
Jack Prelutsky?
We have a Golden Book of poetry with neat pictures that my girls really like.
If you choose Emily Dickinson, then you have to read The Mouse of Amherst by Elizabeth Spires. It would be fun for your 2nd grader, but I think your 4th grader would enjoy it as well. From Amazon: “When a mouse named Emmaline takes up residence behind the wainscoting of Emily Dickinson’s bedroom, she wonders what it is that keeps Emily scribbling at her writing table throughout the day and into the night. Emmaline sneaks a look, and finds that it’s poetry! Inspired, Emmaline writes her own first poem and secretly deposits it on Emily’s desk. Emily answers with another poem, and a lively exchange begins.”
We used books from the series Poetry for Young People because they contain a brief (2-3 pages) biography of the poet featured. I know they have one for Emily Dickinson, and one for Robert Frost. We used those a few years ago.
The poets I would suggest for those ages are Robert Louis Stevenson (my children memorized many of his) & A. A. Milne (who authored the Winnie the Pooh books). Here are links to the their books:
The poets SCM has are really great. However, if you really want your little one to enjoy poetry, I would start with someone else.
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