poetry

Goldfinches

Sophie Rosen , ,

Oliver, Mary. Goldfinches. New York: Viking, 2026.
A poem to greet spring by the life-giving American writer, Mary Oliver. Exquisitely illustrated by Melissa Sweet, whose delicate artwork and scientific details carry readers into a new realm of wonder. Accompanied by a lengthy afterword, this picture book is most highly recommended for everyone – 9 to 90 years old – who loves nature.

“Have you ever been so happy in your life?”

“One more thing I want to mention before the pages actually begin. Writing poems, for me but not necessarily for others, is a way of offering praise to the world.” from Long Life: Essays and Other Writing (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2004)

More poems turned into picture books

Poems to read and memorize

Write your own poems

In Praise of Mystery

Sophie Rosen , ,

Limón, Ada. In Praise of Mystery. New York: Norton Young Readers, 2024.
A poem, presented as a picture book. At the end, it is written on one page – seven stanzas of three lines each. But before the end, 27 pages of illustrations by the illustrious Peter Sís slow readers down so the poem can slowly unfold, leaving time to ponder and reflect on the wonders of creation and the mysteries of life. Highly recommended as a read-aloud for kids seven to nine years old, but even more recommended as an introduction to a philosophical discussion with students twelve years old and up. 
P.S. The poem is engraved – in the author’s handwriting – on the Europa Clipper spacecraft sent to Jupiter in 2024.

Books about philosophy

Stories written in verse

Poetry Analysis Outline

Some People

Sophie Rosen

Some People

Isn’t it strange some people make

You feel so tired inside,

Your thoughts begin to shrivel up

Like leaves all brown and dried!

 

But when you’re with some other ones,

It’s stranger still to find

Your thoughts as thick as fireflies

All shiny in your mind! 

– Rachel Field

From A Child’s Anthology of Poetry edited by E. H. Sword (Scholastic, 1995).

More poems to read aloud

Acrostic Poems

Sophie Rosen

School

Six
Central
Hours
Of
Our
Life

– Ramneek 

 

 

Winter

When will the white snow come?
I am slowly growing impatient.
Never took this long for snow to come.
Trying to stay hopeful,
even when it will rain for many more days. Will
rain eventually turn to snow?

– Savreen

 

Friends

Friends are so hard to find. My
running is not the best.
I am gaining weight.
Everyone knows me:
Not a good writer. But
“Don’t get angry,” I tell myself.
“Sometimes you just have to deal with it.”

– Inderjot

Sacrifice

Seeing comrades fall
And knowing what to do:
Costly.
Realizing you can make a difference.
Instinctively rising with new courage.
Fighting back so your comrades can escape. Now stumbling
In pain, you still keep going,
Calmly charging the enemy again and again.
Everyone escapes, but you remain fighting.
Sacrifice.

– Russ

More ideas for aspiring poets

Finding Langston

Sophie Rosen , , , , ,

Dear Reader,

Have you ever felt alone? Have you ever felt misunderstood by those who love you? Have you ever found hope in unexpected places? Then you know how the main character feels in this outstanding novel for readers 9 years old and up. Told in present tense from the first person point of view, the sentences come alive with the cadence of the main character’s Southern speech. If you like stories by Patricia MacLachlan, you will love this 104-page novel. 

Cline-Ransome, Lesa. Finding Langston. New York: Holiday House, 2018.

After the death of his mother in 1946, eleven-year-old Langston moves with his father from Alabama to Chicago. Living in a lonely apartment building and bullied at school, Langston finds refuge in the school library where he discovers the magical poetry of Langston Hughes.

More stories of moving

More stories about bullying

More stories set in the past

More stories about people of African heritage

Poetry by Langston Hughes

A post about the power of poetry

Happy reading!

Ms. R. 

Defiance

Sophie Rosen , , , , ,

Dear Reader,

What are signs that you are growing up? That you are starting to leave childhood behind and starting to become a young adult? It can’t be that you merely want to make decisions for yourself. Two-year-olds want to make decisions for themselves. It can’t be that you secretly do things your parents forbid. Most children of all ages at least occasionally disobey their parents. So how does thinking for yourself and making your own decisions show maturity rather than mere selfishness?

Hobbs, Valerie. Defiance. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2005. 

Eleven-year-old Toby wants to have fun. His parents want to protect him from any possible danger. Toby has cancer. His mother wants him to stay close to their cabin in the country, out of the sun and away from anything that could cause him to get hurt or even tired. He wants to go exploring. So he does. He wakes up early in the morning, sneaks off on his bicycle, and meets an elderly neighbour, Pearl, and her old cow, Blossom. They become friends and life changes for Toby.This story is about growing up, about learning to think for yourself without thinking only about yourself. 

The reading level of this book is not difficult. There are only 117 pages and the lines on each page are spaced far enough apart to be easy on the eyes. But there is a lot to ponder in this story. So don’t read it when you are in the mood for a quickly-paced humorous story. Read it when you have the time to slow down and consider this question: What is the meaning of life?

Ms. R.

More stories of thinking for yourself

More stories set in rural areas

More stories of summer vacations