Green Bean Books
  • home
  • virtual events
  • shop books
  • shop audio
  • youth advisory board
  • contact us
  • about

Poetry For Middle Readers!

4/19/2012

0 Comments

 
Picture
We've been talking a lot about poetry lately at Green Bean, and with good reason: April is National Poetry Month, and we're still receiving submissions for our Green Bean Poetry Zine! We also have a ridiculously cool event and poetry reading with Oregon Poet Laureate Paulann Petersen coming up on Sunday April 22, at 2pm. 

With all this poetry talk, it's hard not to post exclusively about the gorgeous new illustrated poetry collections for younger readers arriving at the store every day, but what about collections for older kids? It's true that your average middle-grader would rather read fantasy novels from morning to night if given the choice, but finding the perfect book of poetry for them can be as rewarding as it is challenging.

Picture
Based loosely on a poem by Walter Dean Meyers and the Red Wheelbarrow poem by William Carlos Williams, Love That Dog by Sharon Creech is a favorite with both kids and adults. Slim and easy to digest (but packing the emotional wallop of a freight train), it is the perfect verse-novel for introducing older kids to different poets and forms of poetry without seeming obvious. The young narrator's voice is so authentic and effortless and his poetry so heartfelt, that kids may even be inspired to write a poem or two of their own.

Picture
Maybe I'm just biased because he happens to be my favorite poet, but there does seem to be something about William Carlos Williams' poetry that resonates with readers of all ages. The new middle grade poetry collection by Gail Carson Levine, Forgive Me, I Meant to Do It! owes a similar debt to WCW. You may already be familiar with his perfect, hilarious, and smug little poem about the frozen plums:

This Is Just To Say  
by William Carlos Williams

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold


Levine has crafted an entire series of "False Apology Poems," in the same vein, including her own version of This Is  Just To Say.

Picture
The result is a collection of poems that is as deep and engaging as it is laugh-out-loud funny. It would be the perfect book for a middle-grade book club, or as an anytime read for that picky young reader in your life.

So what about you? Do you have a favorite middle grade poetry collection or verse novel? Silverstein? The Make Lemonade trilogy? Feel free to share in the comments or at Sunday's poetry reading! And don't forget that tomorrow is the last day for kids to submit to the zine for publication! We can't wait to see what everyone creates!

*Andrea
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    September 2019
    January 2018
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    July 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    November 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly