Recess! Media

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You’re hearing Ruthie, who’s eight, reciting part of the poem, “Where a Cloud Sleeps” from a wonderful CD called “Re-Bop Read Aloud / For Kids, By Kids” from ReBop Records in Marshfield, Vermont. It’s National Poetry Month, and one of the ways that we can welcome children into the delights of reading and writing poetry is through the kinds of works that they’ll hear on this recording. The more than three dozen poems here are about real kid things — having a stopped up nose, or getting up on the wrong side of the bed, or needing to declare your own individuality when everyone attributes a part you to a parent or another relative. One of my favorites is a poem called “Shy” — here’s Sarah, Lisa, and Beth:

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Many of the poems included here were written by Diana Winn Levine; in the creation of these verses, she has worked closely with kids combining her ideas with their fresh, playful language and, most importantly, with their expressive spirits and inventive energy. And the results, whether they’re about ordinary or universal experiences — are pure magic:

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