Good Books, Good Times
Reluctant readers…they can be hard to reach…hard to instill in them a love of reading. You’ve tried introducing them to novels, informational books, magazines, and nothing seems to work. These students read what is assigned, and that’s it. What can we do to inspire these kids?
Poetry is not necessarily something you would pick up to try to pique the interest of unenthusiastic readers. Adults tend to shy away from it, so children aren’t exposed to it very often. However, it’s great to use to instill a love of reading.
One of our favorite poetry books is Good Books, Good Times, an anthology compiled by the poet Lee Bennett Hopkins and illustrated by Harvey Stevenson. All of the poems revolve around the theme of books and reading. They are short and interesting to adults and children both. Also, the book features well known poets who write for young people…Jack Prelutsky, Aileen Fisher, Arnold Lobel, and Karla Kuskin.
The poems in Good Books, Good Times are entertaining. “What If…” by Isabel Joshlin Glaser begins with the lines:
What if…/You opened a book/About dinosaurs/And one stumbled out./And another and another/And more and more pour/Until the whole place/ Is bumbling and rumbling/And groaning and moaning/And snoring and roaring/And dinosauring?…
The alliteration and the pictures children will create in their heads make this poem a favorite.
Some of the poems offer insight into the magic of reading. Myra Cohn Livingston’s poem “Give Me A Book” does just that. It tells what a book has to offer. Other places and other faces. Hope and fear. It ends with these lines:
…The world stands still./I breathless, read,/And in their history/I see/The untold mystery/Of me.
Isn’t this one of the reasons we read? To see other places, understand other people, and then find a part of ourselves between the pages?
Jack Prelutsky introduces the idea of adventure in books in his poem “I Met A Dragon Face To Face”. He ends the poem this way.
…I stowed aboard a submarine,/I opened magic doors,/I traveled in a time machine,/and searched for dinosaurs./I climbed atop a giant’s head,/I found a pot of gold,/I did all this in books I read/when I was ten years old.
Listeners are always amazed at the adventures this child has taken. Then they are caught by surprise by the poem’s last two lines. “Cool,” they shout.
After you have read poetry to your students, we suggest you try writing some with them. One place to start is with the poem “Good Books, Good Times” by Lee Bennett Hopkins. It is simply a list of all the good things a book contains. Your students could make a list of all of the things they love about a book, soccer, their family, or anything else that interests them. Following the outline of a published poem is a great way to experiment with your style.
Start with our book suggestion or with some of your favorite poems. The more enthusiastic you are about what you’re reading the more your students will be!
True books will venture,
dare you out,
whisper secrets,
maybe shout
across the gloom
to you in need,
who hanker for
a book to read.
David McCord “Books Fall Open”