We have been loving Poetry Tea Time this last two months. I am happy to say that we have done this ritual almost every week, and we even invited friends one Tuesday to share our Poetry Tea Time with us. It was fabulous!
Often I post a quick snapshot on Instagram of our table and books. I wanted to share with you some of our favourite poetry books from this season so far. I always start the tea time with reading from two books from our home library. I read only one or two from each book each week. We then read more poetry books I find at the library.
One of the two books I read from each week is The Children's Classic Poetry Collection compiled by Nicola Baxter. When I was looking at purchasing a book that had a collection of poems, I chose this one because of the poets it included and of the way it was set up. The sections are themed: animals and birds, weather and seasons, bright and beautiful, dreams and wonders, songs of the sea, tales of travel, childhood, at the end of the day. The book also includes a brief biographical "about the poets" section at the back. So far, we have enjoyed this collection.
The other book I read one or two poems from each week is The Tree That Time Built: a Celebration of Nature, Science, and Imagination selected by Mary Ann Hoberman and Linda Winston. This book includes an audio CD but we haven't used it yet. This collection has been beautiful so far. I do think I am enjoying it more than my children are, but I haven't any complaints yet! This book includes a glossary, about the poets section, and suggestions for further reading and research. Many poems include a few lines that explain the poem, give extra information, or just gives the reader something to think about. Each section also includes an introduction to the theme. There are many sections, I am listing them to give you a better idea of this beautiful poetry collection: oh, fields of wonder; the sea is our mother; prehistoric praise; think like a tree; meditations of a tortoise; some primal termite; everything that lives wants to fly; I am the family face; hurt no living thing.
Both of these books include many well known poets like Ogden Nash, Emily Dickinson, Christina Rossetti, Carl Sandburg, and many more!
We read many Halloween themed rhyming books in October. One stood out above others. The Monsterologist: a Memoir in Rhyme was fun to read aloud and had a lot of interesting pages.
Often I post a quick snapshot on Instagram of our table and books. I wanted to share with you some of our favourite poetry books from this season so far. I always start the tea time with reading from two books from our home library. I read only one or two from each book each week. We then read more poetry books I find at the library.
One of the two books I read from each week is The Children's Classic Poetry Collection compiled by Nicola Baxter. When I was looking at purchasing a book that had a collection of poems, I chose this one because of the poets it included and of the way it was set up. The sections are themed: animals and birds, weather and seasons, bright and beautiful, dreams and wonders, songs of the sea, tales of travel, childhood, at the end of the day. The book also includes a brief biographical "about the poets" section at the back. So far, we have enjoyed this collection.
The other book I read one or two poems from each week is The Tree That Time Built: a Celebration of Nature, Science, and Imagination selected by Mary Ann Hoberman and Linda Winston. This book includes an audio CD but we haven't used it yet. This collection has been beautiful so far. I do think I am enjoying it more than my children are, but I haven't any complaints yet! This book includes a glossary, about the poets section, and suggestions for further reading and research. Many poems include a few lines that explain the poem, give extra information, or just gives the reader something to think about. Each section also includes an introduction to the theme. There are many sections, I am listing them to give you a better idea of this beautiful poetry collection: oh, fields of wonder; the sea is our mother; prehistoric praise; think like a tree; meditations of a tortoise; some primal termite; everything that lives wants to fly; I am the family face; hurt no living thing.
Both of these books include many well known poets like Ogden Nash, Emily Dickinson, Christina Rossetti, Carl Sandburg, and many more!
We read many Halloween themed rhyming books in October. One stood out above others. The Monsterologist: a Memoir in Rhyme was fun to read aloud and had a lot of interesting pages.
Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman and illustrated by Rick Allen is a Newberry Medal Honoree. It is a collection of 12 poems all related to night creatures in the woods, including mushrooms and trees. Along each poem you can read facts. Did you know a baby porcupine is called a porcupette?
We usually read one or two rhyming picture books after the poetry, for fun. Here are a couple of favourites.
Mr Leon's Paris is the story of a taxi driver in Paris. The illustrations are captivating, Celeste and I both liked the ink drawings with the big painted sections. The colours really appealed to us too. The story is set in Paris and mentions many streets that are real. There is a map at the end of the book.
Another fun picture book was If You Want to See a Whale. We really enjoyed this title by Julie Fogliano. Her stories are great for reading aloud or quietly to yourself.
During our poetry tea time, we often have baked treats, but not always. Sometimes we just have some fruits or packaged cookies. We have tea or apple cider. We especially love teas from David's Tea and from the English Tea Shop. When the temperature is warmer, we often have lemonade, fruit juice, or a mix of sparkling water and juice. You can read more of my poetry tea time posts here. We love it!
Thank you for sharing these books! I'll have to check some of them out. Dark Emperor looks intriguing. Mr. Leon's Paris will probably be a good choice for us too, since SA loves maps.
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