A recent study on hospitalized kids showed that poetry can be therapeutic, even in serious situations. Research vetted by the American Academy of Pediatrics showed that reading or having poetry read to you can offer significant relief from sadness, anger, worry, and fatigue. What’s more, the use of poetry in a hospital setting promoted increased happiness and family involvement, as well as creativity and self-reflection.
You can get all this good stuff for your kids at Wilmette Public Library! Our recently updated collection includes some stellar anthologies for kids:
Bound through backyards relishing life’s abundance, with And Too, the Fox, by Ada Limón.
Read The City Sings Green: & Other Poems About Welcoming Wildlife, by Erica Silverman, in order to learn through imagery and delight how to intervene so that nature can work her magic
Wish you could lunch with a lemur or snack with a snake? Try Wild Brunch: Poems About How Creatures Eat, by David L. Harrison, offers a window in to the wild.
Experience our nation’s struggle toward equality by steeping yourself in I Heard: An American Journey, by Jaha Nailah Avery.
Celebrate the rollicking moments of childhood with Jane Yolen's In and Out the Window.
Find solace and encouragement in The Mistakes That Made Us: Confessions from Twenty Poets.
Enjoy the interplay of works and pictures in Poetry Comics, by Grant Snider.
Or just browse and let your mind turn over like a freshly plowed field. Happy spring and happy reading!