Poetry

Random House Book of Poetry for Children, selected by Jack Prelutsky.

This book is a treasury of 572 poems for todays' child.

I thought this book had a wonderful collection of poems with a wide variety of subjects, from famous people to holidays, to months and seasons of the year, to the ways of living things.

One of the criteria from Nortons book for selecting childrens' poems was to introduce 'scenes of action'. I thought that the poem 'The Months',

introduced scenes of action. One of the phrases was, "Dull November brings the blast, then the leaves are whirling fast."

Following is an example of a poem that fits Nortons' criteria #7: the subject should delight children, say something to them, enhance their egos, strike happy recollections, tickle their funny bone or encourage them to explore.

Soap

Just look at those hands!

Did you actually think

That the dirt would come off, my daughter,

By wiggling your fingers

Around in the sink

And slapping on the top of the water?

Just look at your face!

Did you really suppose

Those smudges would all disappear

With a dab at your chin

And the tip of your nose

And a rub on the back of one ear?

You tell me your face

And your fingers are clean?

Do you think your old Dad is a dope?

Let's try it again

With a different routine

This time we'll make use of the soap!

Martin Gardner