Recent Reads: Rhyme Time

Another April, another National Poetry month.  To celebrate poetry in my storytimes this week my theme was “Rhyme Time.”  I know poetry doesn’t have to rhyme, but this was an introduction to poetry for preschoolers and you have to start somewhere.

I started out with an old stand-by: The Tale of Custard the Dragon by Ogden Nash, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger.

I’ve read this one countless times, and it never fails.

Next, I read a book that I had never used before: Roadwork by Sally Sutton, illustrated by Brian Lovelock. 

I knew that this book would be well-received because of the trucks and machines in the book, but I had no idea just how much the kids would like it.  As soon as I started reading the kids were really into it.  Each page has a simple rhyme about one step in the process of building a road, with the last line being a set of three onomatopoeias of the sounds made by a construction machine:

“Load the dirt.  Load the dirt.

Scoop and swing and drop.

Slam it down into the truck.

Bump!  Whump!  Whop!”

Every time I would get to the end of a stanza the kids couldn’t resist repeating the last line after me.  I love it when the kids get involved.  Huge success!

Next up was a book I’ve used a few times before, and once again the kids loved it:  Who Ate All the Cookie Dough? by Karen Beaumont, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin.

When Kanga the kangaroo discovers her cookie dough has gone missing she asks each of the animals she encounters if they ate it.  The rhymes repeat throughout the book and have a nice steady rhythm.   The beautiful illustrations show cute, cuddly animals such as Cheetah, Hippo, and Monkey.  The kids love the mystery.  They try to guess which animal is the cookie dough thief and are pleasantly surprised when the answer is revealed at the end.

I love it when a program really comes together with the right books for the right audience.  This was one of those programs.  We also sang some fun songs and played a rhyming guessing game to round it out.

Celebrating Poetry

April is National Poetry Month.  In my preschool storytime yesterday we celebrated by reading a few specially chosen picture books.  I wanted to expose my kids to poetry, not just picture books that happen to rhyme.  So I chose books that were illustrated poems.

We started with The Tale of Custard the Dragon.

The poem was written by Ogden Nash and copyrighted in 1936.  This picture book version, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger, was published in 1995.  This has always been one of my favorite read alouds.  The language rolls right off the tongue and kids love the silly story of Custard, the cowardly dragon who musters up the courage to fight a pirate invading his home.

Next was I Am America by poet/photographer Charles R. Smith, Jr.

Kids always see themselves in the photos in the book and the inclusive words of the poem.

We ended up with a couple of classics.  First was The Moon by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Tracey Campbell Pearson.

Finally we wrapped things up with The Jabberwocky from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass.

Christopher Myers takes this nonsense poem and through his brilliant illustrations tells a modern story of battle on the basketball court.  The kids in storytime were a little perplexed by Carroll’s made-up words, but they seemed mesmerized by the sounds and rhythm, and they definitely loved the artwork.

So, all in all, I think the kids really enjoyed this kick-off to National Poetry Month.