Other Sources of Poetic Language in Books for Young People

There are many types of books that are written in rhyme and might loosely be considered “poetry.” They certainly hold a great deal of appeal to children who enjoy the music of the language when these books are read aloud. In fact, once you start looking you may be surprised at all the different places rhyme and poetry are appearing. Technically, many of these books might not be considered "poetry." They may be written in rhyme, but the words probably would not stand alone published as a poem. However, these books do make the point that poetry, rhyme, and verse are all around us.

The list begins:

1. Rhyming picture books (for example, Move Over Rover by Karen Beaumont; Harcourt, 2006)

2. Rhythmic picture books (for example, Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown; Harper, 1947)

3. Predictable books (for example, Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin, Jr.; Holt, 1992)

4. Alphabet books (for example, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault; Simon & Schuster, 1989)

5. Counting books (for example, Counting Crocodiles by Judy Sierra; Gulliver, 1997)

For more details, get your copy of The Poetry Teacher’s Book of Lists.

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