Poetry Aloud Here 2: Sharing Poetry with Children, by Sylvia M

Poetry aloud here 2: Sharing poetry with children, by Sylvia M. Vardell, Chicago: American Library Association/ALA Editions, 2014, 286 pp., US$45.00 (ALA members $40.50) (soft cover), ISBN 978-0-8389-1177-8 (available from Inbooks)

This updated and expanded edition of Poetry aloud here! (2006) offers librarians and teachers ‘an outline of effective poetry books for children aged five to twelve, a tool kit of poetry presentation strategies and a repertoire of follow-up activities. Major poets currently writing for children, mainly American, have contributed short accounts of their work, sometimes including a poem. Vardell writes in the tradition of Charlotte Huck, Bernice Cullinan and Lissa Paul, supporting their beliefs about the importance of poetry for children and evincing a similar commitment, breadth of experience and depth of knowledge.

The six chapters address these questions:

1.  Why make poetry a priority?

2.  Which poets are popular?

3.  What poetry do children enjoy?

4.  How do you promote poetry?

5.  How do you present poetry to children?

6.  What happens after you share the poem?

In each chapter the author’s rationale, discussion and clearly sequenced instructions are complemented by poet profiles and ‘practitioner perspectives’ (short comments or accounts of related experience by a teacher or librarian). These, as well as dot points and lists, ensure that the text is easy to read and allows space for readers to reflect on its academic and philosophical aspects. Many of the poems reproduced or cited have universal appeal, and the engaging poems about words and poetry are especially suitable to introduce programmes or for display as posters. Interesting as the annotated lists of poetry books, American poetry awards and poets are, Australian and New Zealand librarians will want to substitute or add poetry reflecting our local culture and environment (Steven Herrick seemed to be the only Australian inclusion.) The Source (www.magpies.net.au) could be added to the section on tools for locating and selecting poems for its Australian and New Zealand material, including the text of copyright-free poems and indexes for topic, genre, and author approaches.

The tables of resources for recommended strategies are excellent in themselves and provide models for librarians to develop their own files: poem-novel pairs and poem-story pairs, classic and contemporary poem pairs, non-fiction book and related topic-based anthologies. The last of these complements the section on poetry across the curriculum (pp. 135-141).

Poetry aloud here 2 adds to other books on the topic in its emphasis on oral interpretation, related music and movement. Besides recently-published print resources, currently available audio visual and online resources are integrated without taking away from the emphasis on the poems themselves and children’s participation and responses. Poems suitable for specific ways of reading aloud, notable poets and their websites are listed in Appendices A and B, whilst Appendix C is a comprehensive bibliography of children’s poetry books (pp. 229-269). Poetry aloud here 2 is recommended for teachers and librarians as a rich source of information on current poetry resources and both proven and innovative strategies.

Lyn Linning

Brisbane

Lyn Linning