April: Poetry and Earth Day

Categories: In the News , Award Winners , Children's Books , Poetry

April is National Poetry Month; Earth Day 2008 is April 22. There are lots of poetry books that celebrate Spring and the Earth on the library bookshelves.

The 2006 Caldecott Honor book Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems (2005) by Joyce Sidman makes a lovely connection between Earth Day and Poetry Month. Beckie Prange's gorgeous hand colored woodcuts pull together the poetry and scientific information on pond life.

Pat Mora and Steve Jenkins' This Big Sky (1998) brings us to the desert Southwest in words and pictures. Katharine Boling's New Year Be Coming!: A Gullah Year (2002) is illustrated with Daniel Minter's fascinating linoleum block prints illustrating the Gullah life of the Southeast coast, so closely tied to the earth and seasons.

Marilyn Singer's Turtle in July (1989) is a collection of poems about animals, stunningly illustrated by the great Jerry Pinkney. Fireflies at Midnight (2003) by Marilyn Singer, illustrated by Ken Robbins, also celebrates animals and insects.

Pause and enjoy these charming tributes to our Earth. The simplicity and uncomplicated joy will refresh you, and make you realize how universally appealing "Children's" poetry can be.

A few more favorites:

• Under the Sun and the Moon and Other Poems by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Tom Leonard
• Earth Verses and Water Rhymes by J. Patrick Lewis, illustrated by Robert Sabuda (yes, the pop-up guy!)
• in Just-spring by e.e. cummings, illustrated by Heide Goennel