April is National Poetry Month!  It is the largest literary celebration in the world and is celebrated by readers, students, teachers, librarians, booksellers, publishers, bloggers, and, of course, poets (poets.org). Poetry holds an important place in our culture and our lives. Poetry has a special place in our children’s lives as well.  Some of the first poems babies hear are Mother Goose rhymes such as Patty Cake, This Little Piggy and Mary Had a Little Lamb.  The rhythm, rhyme, and parental interaction are all bricks in the foundation of early literacy skills.

Poetry is so important that it is the first thing we read at each library Toddler Time and each Storytime program.  It is why we encourage our families to check out poetry books.  Poetry gives us another way to look at things, another way to express our feelings, and it’s just plain fun.  Who can resist a Shel Silverstein poem?   You’ll find his poetry books as well as many other wonderful poetry books on the  j 811 shelves in our non-fiction section as well as in our early non-fiction section.   Check out a poetry book today!