Greetings Reader,

A happy first day of summer to you! (or second. or third... :-)

Welcome to new and longtime subscribers. As you know, this retired teacher can't help sharing ways for homeschool families, parents and grandparents to Make Friends with Poetry. And even in the slower days of summer it's good to keep the learning going... especially when it's fun!

I so appreciate those of you who have helped in that endeavor, namely by responding to the recent survey asking what Y O U would include on a list of 15 Poems Every Kid Should Know.

Narrowing the list to only 15 poems was a nigh-impossible task. Your responses were a lovely combination of devotional poetry and classics, from George Herbert and Gerard Manley Hopkins to Rudyard Kipling, and so much more. In addition to weaving in my own choices, I did my best to include poems I thought would be most accessible to the widest audience of people who are just making friends with poetry.

Consequently, the richer and deeper works were set aside for those that folks would find more memorizable, for lack of a better word. ((And respondents, look for an email soon--names will be put in a virtual 'hat' and I'll choose 5 folks to receive a free copy of either one of my poetry books. Those choices ​are here, btw)).

So, which poems made the list? Well, if there was an award for Frequently Nominated, it would go hands-down to Lewis Carroll's The Jabberwocky, a nonsense poem that was included in nearly half of the responses I received. And no wonder; Jabberwocky (from Carroll's Alice books) is the most fun nonsense poem ever with four memorable first lines:

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.'

Kids of all ages enjoy this entire poem regardless of the fact the words make no sense.... What's a slithy tove or a borogove? I have no idea but I still understand the poem! And if you want an activity using nonsense words and vocab for kids ages 5 to 15 using Jabberwocky, you can find that via this link.​

What other poems made the list? Many classics, a couple of limericks, some fun rhymes and memorizable verses for kids ages 5-18. It should be noted I also added two Honorable Mentions--there were too many poem choices!

So, without further ado, I offer you a list of poems to search out this summer and keep the poetry reading (and listening!) going with kids--nieces, nephews, grandkids, neighbor kids or grandkids. Oh, and you'll find some you like as well. Print the list, search up the titles and begin gathering them into a Poetry Folder for summer and beyond. To help you, there's a link button below the list for a downloadable print out.

15 Poems Every Kid Should Know

(ages 5 to 15 and up)

1. Afternoon on a Hill, Edna St Vincent Millay, 1917

2. Daffodils (I wandered lonely as a cloud), William Wordsworth, 1802

3. Good Morning, from Pippa Passes, Robert Browning, 1841

4. Hope Is the Thing with Feathers, Emily Dickinson, 1861

5. Hurt no Living Thing, Christina Rossetti, 1872

6. Jabberwocky, Lewis Carroll, 1871

7. My Shadow, Robert Louis Stevenson, 1885

8. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, Robert Frost, 1922

9. The Caterpillar, Christina Rossetti, 1872

10. The Eagle, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1851

11. The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost, 1915

12. The Tyger, William Blake, 1794

13. There was an Old Man with a Beard and There Was An Old Man in a
Garden, Edward Lear, 1846

14. We Have a Little Garden, Helen Beatrix Potter, 1922

15. Who Has Seen the Wind?,Christina Rossetti, 1847

HONORABLE MENTIONS

The Frog, Hilliare Belloc, 1896

The Arrow and The Song, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1845

Download your 15 Poems Every Kid Should Know HERE!

NOTE: Each poem included is in the public domain--an important choice ensuring you and I both can copy, download and print the poems freely. (Which is why some of the Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein poems readers mentioned in the survey didn't make the list. The Seuss and Silverstein estates guard written work very carefully.**)

Thank you again to everyone who responded to the survey with your top poem choices for kids. It's great to be part of this community to help folks Make Friends with Poetry!

Happy reading!

~Jody,

a grateful Nana whose grandkids leave her 'notes' around the house.

If someone forwarded you this email and you want to join the community, click HERE to subscribe to my monthly inspiration and activities for homeschool kids ages 5-17 and up.

**You might find this helpful: Before reproducing a poem, ensure it has entered the public domain: Pre-1923: Any poem published before January 1, 1923, is in the public domain in the United States. Expired Copyright: The standard U.S. copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years.