- Children's poetry
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Children's poetry is poetry written for, or appropriate for children. This may include folk poetry (for example, Mother Goose rhymes); poetry written intentionally for young people (e.g. Shel Silverstein); poetry written originally for adults, but appropriate for young people (Ogden Nash); and poems taken from prose works (Lewis Carroll, Rudyard Kipling).
Contents
Notable Children's Poets
- Dr Seuss - Wrote many Children's poetry books including The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!.
- Robert Louis Stevenson - Author of such works as A Child's Garden of Verses.
- Shel Silverstein - Author of such works as Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic, Silverstein also wrote The Giving Tree.
Michael Rosen is a broadcaster, children's novelist and poet and the author of 140 books. He was appointed as the fifth Children's Laureate in June 2007, succeeding Jacqueline Wilson, and held this honour till 2009.
Roald Dahl (1916-1990) is one of the most successful children's writers in the world: around thirty million of his books have been sold in the U.K. alone. Dahl's collection of poems Revolting Rhymes is a re-interpretation of six well-known fairy tales, featuring surprise endings in place of the traditional happily-ever-after.[1] Dahl's poems and stories are popular among Children because he writes from their point of view - in his books adults are often the villains or are just plain stupid!.[1]
Valerie Bloom: Valerie was born in 1956, first came to England in 1979, and is now based in Kent, but continues to travel around the UK and abroad adding to her thousands of performances, workshops and school visits.
Brian Moses (b. 1950) is one of Britain's favourite children's poets, for both his own poetry and the anthologies he has edited, and he has performed in over two thousand schools across the UK and Europe. He is a Reading Champion for the Literacy Trust, and is able to animate reading and writing poetry for pupils and teachers alike, in his workshops and in his resource books for teachers.
Roger Stevens is a performance poet, author, musician and artist. His poems have appeared in more than one hundred anthologies. Roger founded the award-winning Poetry Zone web-site, which offers young people the chance to publish their poetry on the web and features interviews with well-known writers.
Gez Walsh is a performance poet and stand-up comedian best known as the author of the cult classic children's poetry book "The Spot on my Bum". He is actively involved in delivering workshops which promote poetry and reading in school, using his unqiue blend of comedy and interactive learning to help students (and teachers!) have fun while "learning without learning".
Allan Ahlberg (b. 1938) is one of Britain's best-loved children's writers. The author of over a hundred books, Allan has been delighting children of all ages for more than thirty years
Jean Sprackland (born 1962) is an English poet, the author of three collections of poetry published since 1997.
Benny Bellamacina Songwriter, musician, children's author and poet. Born in Manchester and now living in London. Songwriting credits include BoA on the best-selling album No.1, Lee Ryan and Claire Johnston (musician).
Josie Whitehead, retired teacher and well published children's poet, from Ilkley, Yorkshire, has a wide range of poetry which goes into school classrooms worldwide daily both from her books and especially from her internet website (Google: JOSIE'S POEMS). Younger children appreciate the poems written with rhyme, rhythm and stories which help them develop phonemic awareness, a key literacy skill, as well as the fun of these poems. All age groups love the fact that the rhythm within these poems helps make them excellent performance poems which even the youngest child will enjoy performing. The poems have linked well to music, dance, drama, animation and art to make them fantastic modern poems for children. Flower of Eternal Sleep, her very popular poem for Remembrance Day has been put to music for organ and choir by Robert May of Dymock Church, Gloucestershire.
Further reading
- Brewton, John Edmund. Index to Poetry for Children and Young People, 1964-1969. New York: Wilson, 1972.
- Index to Poetry for Children and Young People, 1976-1981. New York: Wilson, 1981.
- Sell, Violet, Dorothy B. Frizzell Smith, Ardis Sarff O’Hoyt, and Mildred Bakke. Subject Index to Poetry for Children and Young People. Chicago: American Library Association, 1957, ISBN 0838902421.
References
- ^ a b Once upon a time, there was a man who liked to make up stories ... The Independent (Sunday, 12 December 2010)
External Links
Categories:- Children's poetry
- Children's literature stubs
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