Twenty Reasons to Share Poetry with Young People

Poetry does so much for young people as they develop their language and literacy skills. It offers a bridge from children’s earliest oral language development to their first steps in reading and writing language. In fact, author and literacy expert Mem Fox has noted, "Rhymers will be readers; it's that simple. Experts in literacy and child development have discovered that if children know eight nursery rhymes by heart by the time they're four years old, they're usually among the best readers by the time they're eight" (2001, p. 85). Here are 20 major benefits of sharing poetry with young people.

The list begins:

1. Poetry introduces new vocabulary and figurative language.
2. Poetry reinforces word sounds, rimes, rhymes and patterns (think phonics!).
3. Poetry provides practice for word recognition and word pronunciation.
4. Poetry provides examples of synonyms, antonyms, puns, word play, and coining of new words and expressions.
5. Poetry is rich in imagery and in stimulating the imagination.

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