We went to the library this morning to visit our favorite children’s librarian, Miss Cindy, and we discovered that it’s National Poem in Your Pocket Day. Last year I gave some warning about this holiday and a few of our favorites. You can check out that post here. This year it crept up on us! Fortunately the library had us covered. They had a bunch of different poems printed out that anyone could grab and carry with them. Our poem is one of my favorites from my childhood.
A Purple Cow
by Gelett Burgess
I never saw a purple cow,
I hope to never see one;
But I can tell you, anyhow,
I’d rather see than be one.
Do you remember that one? What are your favorite children’s poems or poets? Do you enjoy poetry? Honestly, I have a hard time with poetry that doesn’t follow a rhyming scheme or have a real sing-song kind of rhythm. But like it’s important to expose our children to classical music and the performing arts, I believe it’s also important to expose them to different forms of writing, including poetry. I hope they can gain and understanding and appreciation for this art form without being hindered by my own preferences.
If you don’t get to carry a poem in your pocket today, the whole month of April is National Poetry Month so there’s still time left to celebrate poetry and get your little ones involved. One great resource for poetry and children is Gotta Book who had a fantastic series last year for poetry month, 30 Poets in 30 Days. He’s doing the series again this year so don’t forget to check out the 2010 edition of 30 Poets in 30 Days.
That purple cow poem was a favorite in my nerdy family growing up. We even made up a smoothie that we named after it!
My mother read us countless Dennis Lee poems growing up. His best-known books are Garbage Delight and Alligator Pie. If you like bouncy rhyming poetry for kids, you’ll enjoy him. I can still recite many of his poems by heart, some 30+ years later.