Here's a Little Poem: a collection of poems for the very young (ages 1 - 5)

Do you have little children with short attention spans? I love sharing poems and short nursery rhymes with them. Jane Yolen's collection, Here's a Little Poem, is perfectly suited for our littlest ones: young toddlers and preschoolers.

Here's a Little Poem: A Very First Book of Poetry
collected by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters
illustrated by Polly Dunbar
MA: Candlewick Press, 2007
ages 1 - 5
available on Amazon or at your local library

The poems in this collection are perfect for a young audience. Each poem is only a few lines long; the expressive illustrations are full of joy and a love of life. I love how these poems reflect a young child’s world. The sixty poems are organized into the following categories: Me, Myself, and I; Who Lives in My House?; I Go Outside; and Time for Bed. Above all, this is a very child-centered collection, one that you will treasure sharing with young children.

You can see how the illustrations bring the poems to life in this spread:

Here's a Little Poem gathers poems from various parts of the English-speaking world, including Great Britain, the Caribbean, Australia, and the U. S. Regional spellings and usage have been retained in order to preserve the integrity of the originals. The works of many of America’s finest children’s poets can be found in the pages of this book: Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Aileen Fisher, Nikki Grimes, Mary Ann Hoberman, Langston Hughes, J. Patrick Lewis, Myra Cohn Livingston, David McCord, Eve Merriam, Lilian Moore, and Marilyn Singer.

One of my favorite poems from the collection is "Mum Is Having a Baby" by Colin McNaughton:

Mum is having a baby!
I'm shocked! I'm all at sea!
What's she want another one for:
WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH ME!?

The poems in this collection are a joy to read aloud. You'll treasure this book for years, and your child will be drawn in by the rhythm, rhyme and joyful illustrations.

For another wonderful reviews, see Kelly Fineman's Writing and Ruminating and Elaine Magliaro's The Wild Rose Reader. For interviews with Jane Yolen, a prolific and creative author, see Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast and The Miss Rumphius Effect.

The review copy came from my local library. If you make a purchase using the Amazon links here, a small percentage will go to Great Kid Books. Thank you for your support.