kid poetry club
One of the lovely things about books is there’s always a new (or new-to-you) author to discover (read: obsess over) and recently, for me, that author has been Karla Kuskin. Currently I’m reading Dear Genius, the collected letters of famed editor Ursula Nordstrom, director of Harper’s Department of Books for Boys and Girls from 1940 to 1973. It is an extraordinary book, because Nordstrom herself was extraordinary, and so it follows that her authors and illustrators were too — Karla Kuskin, yes, but also Maurice Sendak, Ruth Krauss, Crockett Johnson, E.B. White, Tomi Ungerer, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Shel Silverstein, Garth Williams, Syd Hoff, Arnold Lobel, Anita Lobel, Remy Charlip, Edward Gorey, and Margaret Wise Brown, to start.
These names! This list! Those books! Legends, all. It is beyond me that no one’s made a film about this yet. The vibes alone! Can you imagine the dinner party scene? Johnson opening the door to take Syd Hoff’s coat. Gorey in the kitchen holding court, the Lobels making cocktails beside. Silverstein on guitar, and Krauss with a good merlot, poring reassuringly over Sendak’s latest round of art. Refilling Remy Charlip’s glass. Replacing the record, surrounded by books and walnut. I mean! What does a girl have to do to get a mini-series for crying out loud. HBO, obviously, and Mike White at the helm, his cozy era — library stacks and intrigue, turtlenecks and tortoiseshell as far as the eye can see. Right? Let’s make it happen, team. I’m here for the memes and the merch.
Ok ok, back to my girl Karla Kuskin. I recently ordered a few books of her poetry — Any Me I Want to Be, Near the Window Tree, and The Rose on My Cake, which is perfect — and thought now would be a good time to do a small poetry unit at home. It’s January, what else do we have going on? (Uh, everything, Kristen, but shhhh). My kids have shown interest in memorizing poems before (especially if they’re incentivized), so I went to the bank for some cash (the girls are seven and eight, thus very interested in cash). I withdrew some rolls of coins (nickels, dimes, quarters); small bills (ones and fives); and was delighted beyond measure to get my hands on a roll of half-dollars *and also* two-dollar bills, neither of which I’ve seen in the flesh in years. Then one day last week I set out all our poetry books and proposed the plan for the girls’ approval.
We’re calling it Kid Poetry Club (or Family Poetry Club, depending on interested parties), and here’s our current thinking:
A recital will be held on Sundays, during which participants may perform poems they’ve memorized that week.
Participants may earn a penny a word per poem. Poems will be considered memorized if they have been:
copied down into the participant’s official poetry binder
studied and practiced
performed from memory without visual aid during the recital
Participants may earn additional money if their poem is illustrated within their binder.
Original poetry is strongly encouraged.
Recital money must be spent on books or clothes.
Moms and Dads and family dogs and anyone else may participate as long as they follow the rules. What if Dad wants to read a long sports ballad* from his phone? Totally cool, but he won’t earn any money.
*Casey At the Bat, obviously
Our first recital was Sunday and it went very well! Jane earned $3.05 and Rose earned $4.40; I’m happy to report the half dollars and $2 bills were requested when cashing out. If you’re interested in doing something similar I put together a few lists of recommended poetry books — one on Bookshop and one on Thriftbooks — but if that’s overwhelming, may I suggest this starter pack:
An annual anthology (I will never stop recommending Sing A Song of Seasons by Fiona Waters and Frann Preston-Gannon; also love When Green Becomes Tomatoes by Julie Fogliano and Julie Morstad)
A children’s anthology (The Random House Book of Poetry for Children, selected by Jack Prelutsky** and illustrated by Arnold Lobel, or maybe The Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog and Other How-To Poems by Paul B. Janeczko and Richard Jones)
Any of the Poetry for Young People books; these two especially:
When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne
Moon, Have You Met My Mother? — Karla Kuskin’s collected poems, illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier
**Speaking of Jack Prelutsky, literally any of his books (Prelutsky was the first U.S. children’s poet laureate and has more than 50 collections of poems) — but especially The New Kid on the Block, or any of his seasonal collections (It’s Valentine’s Day is great, along with It’s Halloween and It’s Christmas).
Last but not least, both Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein, who for me remains the goat (and whose website, wonderfully, is completely delightful; it includes a treasure trove of bonus materials, including free printables, event kits, and learning resources). Also I was today years old when I learned you can listen to Silverstein’s recordings from both aforementioned books on Spotify; I created a playlist for each here and here.
For how-to-write poetry books, I love A Child’s Introduction to Poetry by Michael Driscoll and Meredith Hamilton, or Jack Prelutsky’s Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry: How To Write a Poem (Kenn Nesbitt’s poetry4kids.com is also a great resource, and free). For teens, I love this Marginalian round-up of essential resources by poet Thom Gunn (especially Bob Dylan’s songbook and the Beatles’ songbook, both of which I must now get my hands on). The Marginalian, incidentally, is maybe my Number One Resource on Everything, and reliably serves up fantastic rabbit holes of information I would never otherwise find (like this article about Emily Dickinson’s Herbarium, and Sylvia Plath’s little-known bedtime book, and Mary Oliver’s thoughts on punctuation). I also always love OnBeing’s episodes about poetry and writing, especially “The Vitality of Ordinary Things” episode with Michael Longley, whose voice alone is a balm. Finally, I bookmarked this Twitter thread of recommended collections and poems just this morning; can’t wait to research more.
Who am I missing? What are some of your best-loved poems or collections? We’re always looking for new and new-to-us titles and talents so please comment with any of your favorites.
Thanks, all! Happy weekend!
Kristen