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Sharing Poetry

When you read poetry aloud with your child, you help her fall in love with words and give her the tools she needs to become an enthusiastic reader. By emphasizing the sound and rhythm of language, poetry builds your child's phonemic awareness, or sensitivity to the smallest sounds of speech, laying a foundation for beginning reading. Also, poets' inventive, skillful use of language introduces your child to new vocabulary words and concepts.

Your baby, toddler, or preschooler will appreciate the bouncy, playful sounds of rhyming poems. Your kindergartener or first grader will be tickled by funny poetry, and your second- or third-grader will be fascinated by the way poets use words to create vivid images. In this Talking & Reading Together article, you will learn how Natalie, a children's librarian, uses poetry to get children excited about books and reading.

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• Interview with a Children's Librarian
• Our Expert's Recommended Children's Poetry Books
• More Children's Poetry Books