[Grades PK-K] Poems for Children
[Grades 1-2] Poems for Children
[Grades 3-4] Poems for Children
I always thought that poems were supposed to be written for adults, at least teenagers who are mature enough to understand the subtle emotions hidden behind the words.
I realized it was not the case when my girl Harmony started to dig out a Shel Silverstein's book on my shelf. She was 5 at the time but she sat there for hours, giggling through the book.
She finished the book and asked for more poems and she really enjoyed reading them.
This is one of her favorite:
Sick
By Shel Silverstein
I cannot go to school today,"
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
“I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash and purple bumps.
My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,
I’m going blind in my right eye.
My tonsils are as big as rocks,
I’ve counted sixteen chicken pox
And there’s one more--that’s seventeen,
And don’t you think my face looks green?
My leg is cut--my eyes are blue--
It might be instamatic flu.
I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,
I’m sure that my left leg is broke--
My hip hurts when I move my chin,
My belly button’s caving in,
My back is wrenched, my ankle’s sprained,
My ‘pendix pains each time it rains.
My nose is cold, my toes are numb.
I have a sliver in my thumb.
My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,
I hardly whisper when I speak.
My tongue is filling up my mouth,
I think my hair is falling out.
My elbow’s bent, my spine ain’t straight,
My temperature is one-o-eight.
My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,
There is a hole inside my ear.
I have a hangnail, and my heart is--what?
What’s that? What’s that you say?
You say today is. . .Saturday?
G’bye, I’m going out to play!”
Poetry with its specific form carries out imagination in its unique creative way.
At the tail end of National Month, April 28th marks the observance of National Great Poetry Reading Day. This day celebrates distinguished poetry and the notable poets who wrote them.
Find best poems I compiled for kids at all grades on the right of this post and hope they will enjoy them just like Harmony did.
Poets create a beautiful blue sky where you can fly with wings of imagination and find yourself again and again. Debasish Mridha
Buy books mentioned in the article
-
K
Shel Silverstein
Where the Sidewalk Ends: Poems and Drawings
Hardcover (HarperCollins Feb. 18, 2014)