Happy Poetry Month!

Today has been an interesting day! Do you Wordle? I Wordle. And today's word was also the theme of today's NYT Crossword Puzzle. I thought that was intriguingly coincidental. AND - we found a baby turtle in the parking lot of the library! We relocated her to a safer place. 

Since it is poetry month, I am going to post a few of my favorite poetry books; novels in verse; books about poets; etc.over the next few days. Today I will highlight a book I just read  - Chester Van Chime Who Forgot How to Rhyme by Avery Monsen; Abby Hanlon (author of the Dory Fantasmagory series) contributed. (published March 22, 2022).

 

This is a perfect book for poetry month! One morning, Chester wakes up and - gasp! - he has forgotten how to rhyme! The couplets in the book are all set up for an easy rhyme but Chester replaces the rhyming word with a different set of words - a definition of sorts of the missing word that should be there. At school, the class thinks they will solve his problem by reciting a familiar nursery rhyme about a spider but that doesn't work. They try a series of words that rhyme and that doesn't work either. Chester is a bit despondent about his sudden inability to rhyme but then realizes that everyone has off days. The candle maker might mess up a wick. The baker might burn some bread. But Chester - and anyone - can overcome those not so great days and persevere. 

There are lots of allusions to nursery rhymes in both the the text and illustrations throughout the book and (obviously) tons of rhymes. I think this would be an excellent read-aloud for elementary-aged kids because they will enjoy filling in the missing rhyming word - and then hearing the words that Chester puts in place of the word that should be there.
You could also have a great mixed-up nursery rhyme story time and use books like To Market, To Market by Anne Miranda; Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet Ahlberg; and/or Interrupting Chicken: Cookies for Breakfast by Davide Ezra Stein. Or one of the many, many other books available that turn nursery rhymes topsy- turvy. Since it is National Poetry Month, I would encourage having kids share their favorite familiar rhymes and then have fun trying out other rhymes - maybe trying to find something that rhymes with their name - like Chester!