![]() Gone Fishing by Tamera Wissinger (great for elementary ages!).Brevity is welcome in a sea of bloated children’s novels. But reading verse novels can act like mental re-training: you won’t see a novel-length epic poem later and automatically write it off as “too hard.” After all, you’ve already read–and enjoyed–poems that same length! In fact, some children really love this format because of all the white space. The poetry in these novels isn’t elevated or hard to understand. We’ve reviewed plenty over the years at Redeemed Reader. Novels-in-verse, or verse novels, are quite popular these days, but they are relative newcomers to the field. The Poetry for Young People Series is a good resource if you’re leveling up by reading the more established poets (as opposed to contemporary children’s poetry). “The Highwayman” is another, longer favorite. Try a longer poem or ballad, broken up over the course of several days. If you’ve only been reading silly poetry, try a more thoughtful children’s poet, like A. Try reading a poet that is a bit harder to understand or more elevated, such as Gerard Manly Hopkins or John Donne. Once you’ve built a habit of reading poetry regularly, just for the fun of it, it’s time to level up your poetry game. (hint: most kids really love funny poems) Step 3: Level Up your Poetry Game Do you find that you enjoy the style of a particular book or author? Read more in the same vein. Did a particular line strike you? Mention that to your kids. When you read poetry regularly with your children (step #1), don’t try to explain it or analyze it (the technical term is “explicate”). See also our Poetry Anthologies list for some favorite starting points. ![]() Try Megan’s guaranteed, irresistible, effortless introduction to poetry. Have a weekly teatime during which you read poetry. The more often you incorporate poetry into your natural reading life, the more natural poetry will seem to you and your children. ![]() Sounds too obvious, doesn’t it? But it’s true. And everyone is chomping at the bit to read Beowulf this fall. This is simply based on my own family’s experience over the past 5 years–and the fact that all of my children, wildly different in personality and interest, have succumbed to the delights of poetry. My approach isn’t based on years of study, large samples of students, or a scholar’s research. What if I told you that YOU might even want to pick up an epic poem and read it on your own? What if I told you there was a way that might even entice your kids to want to read a lengthy epic poem? What if I told you there was a better way? Epic Poetry for Fun: a 5-Step Training Regimen ![]() Right up there, for me, with the audio recording of Julius Caesar that droned on and on in my ninth grade English class. After all, it was one of the more boring segments of high school English class. You, like me, may have assumed that epic poetry just wasn’t your thing, even if you love to read. Unfortunately, these lovely epic poems are often presented in school as follows: a fair-to-middlin’ introduction on the importance of said poem, a schedule of reading assignments, frequent comprehension quizzes, and analyzing the poem “to the pain” for its allusions, literary style, poetic techniques, and themes. Your teacher might even have assigned something like Longfellow’s The Song of Hiawatha or Evangeline. Do you remember reading (or being assigned to read) one of the following in school?
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