WARNING
Inside everybody's nose
There lives a sharp-toothed snail.
So if you stick your finger in,
He may bite off your nail.
Stick it further inside,
And he may bite your ring off.
Stick it all the way,
and he might bite the whole darn thing off.
-Shel Silverstein
The other day, I had my copy of Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein out looking for this poem. My 7 year old wanted me to read her a few poems. She kept asking for one more and pretty soon had taken the book and was giggling over the silly poems. It made me realize that maybe I should be sharing more poetry with her.
Have you tried any poetry books with your little ones yet? Here are some fun activities you could do with a poetry book: read the poem and have the children guess the title, read the poem aloud and have your children draw a picture of what they see in their head, or play a rhyming game together. Give them a blank notebook and ask them if they want to create some poems of their own (or together). Poems are also great for reluctant readers since they are short passages of text and can often be roll-on-the-floor funny. Here are a few titles we love here at the library: Truckery Rhymes by Jon Scieszka, I am Still Here in the Bathtub by Alan katz, and Holiday Stew by Jenny Whitehead.
--Happy Readings,
Candy, Children's Librarian
