Sharing poetry with children
For Immediate Release
CHICAGO — Since “Poetry Aloud Here!” was published, acclaimed by Booklist as “required reading for all children’s librarians,” poetry written for young people has continued to gain interest as an educational tool. Now, Sylvia M.Vardell has revamped and expanded her guide into “Poetry Aloud Here 2: Sharing Poetry with Children,” published by ALA Editions. Author of many works exploring poetry, as well as a coeditor of the popular “Poetry Friday” series, Vardell shows educators innovative ways to use poetry and establish an atmosphere that encourages individual participation and creativity. Blending information and inspiration, her book:
- offers practical strategies for reading aloud and teaching poetry in both formal and informal situations;
- details best practices gleaned from years in the field, with numerous suggestions that cross the curriculum––from literature to science and math;
- presents “Poet Profiles,” spotlighting several poets and samples of their work;
- includes expanded lists of poems, poet profiles, book-poetry pairings and other tools useful for programming and collection development.
Vardell is currently a professor at Texas Woman’s University in the School of Library and Information Studies, where she teaches graduate courses in children’s and young adult literature. She has published articles in Book Links, Language Arts, English Journal, Reading Teacher, New Advocate, Young Children, Social Education and Horn Book, as well as several chapters and books on language and literature, including “The Poetry Teacher’s Book of Lists,” and “Poetry People: A Practical Guide to Children’s Poets.” Her current work focuses on poetry for children. Since 2006 she has organized and hosted the annual Poetry Round-Up at the Texas Library Association Conference. She was recently coeditor of the international journal Bookbird, and was previously president of the Children’s Literature Assembly and the United States Board on Books for Young People. She blogs at Poetry for Children.