Hit: Poems about Reading - Part 2

[Judy Seck <jseck@LSD.K12.MI.US>]

Here is part two of the reading poems hit.


BEST WAY TO READ A BOOK
by EDGAR ALBERT GUEST


Best way to read a book I know
Is get a lad of six or so,
And curl him up upon my knee
Deep in a big arm chair, where we
Can catch the warmth of blazing coals,
And then let two contented souls
Melt into one, old age and youth,
Sharing adventure's marvelous truth.

I read a page, and then we sit
And talk it over, bit by bit;
Just how the pirates looked, and why
They flung a black flag to the sky.
We pass no paragraph without
First knowing what it's all about,
And when the author starts a fight
We join the forces that are right.
We're deep in Treasure Island, and
From Spy Glass Hill we've viewed the land;
Through thickets dense we've followed Jim
And shared the doubts that came to him.
We've heard Cap. Smollett arguing there
With Long John Silver, gaunt and spare,
And mastering our many fears
We've battled with those buccaneers.

Best way to read a book I've found
Is have a little boy around
And take him up upon your knee;
Then talk about the tale, till he
Lives it and feels it, just as you,
And shares the great adventure, too.
Books have a deep and lasting joy
For him who reads them to his boy.


Here is a poem that was used by the Missouri NEA for Read Across America
this year.  It is written by Debra Angstead.

My Oath Of Reading

I promise to read
each day and each night
I know its the key
to growing up right.

I'll read to myself
I'll read to a crowd
It makes no difference
If silent or loud.

I'll read at my desk
at home and at school
on my bean bag or bed,
by the fire or pool.

Each book that I read
puts smarts in my head
'cause brains grow more thoughts
the more they are fed.

Come rain or come shine,
snow, wind or sleet,
each day of the week
reading's a treat.

So I take this oath
to make reading my way
of feeding my brain
what it needs everyday.



The story "The Tale of Thomas Meade" is really in the form of poetry.  It
really drives home the importance of reading in a humorous way.



What about Books Fall Open -- McCord

Books fall open,
you fall in,
delighted where
you've never been;
hear voices not once
heard before,
reach world on world
through door on door;
find unexpected
keys to things
locked up beyond
imaginings.
What might you be,
perhaps become,
because one book
is somewhere? Some
wise delver into
wisdom, wit,
and wherewithal
has written it.
True books will venture,
dare you out,
whisper secrets,
maybe shout
across the gloom
to you in need,
who hanker for
a book to read.

D A V I D  M C C O R D



Read-In '71

Be quiet
Or
Make all the noise you want

I control my whole world
when I need
it
when I read
it

for myself

June Jordan


Twenty Minutes a Day by Richard Peck

Read to your children
Twenty minutes a day;
You have the time,
And so do they.

Read while the laundry is in the machine;
Read while the dinner cooks;
Tuck a child in the crook of your arm
And reach for the library books.

Hide the remote,
Let the computer games cool,
For one day your children will be off to school;
"Remedial?" "Gifted?" You have the choice;
Let them hear their first tales
In the sound of your voice.

Read in the morning;
Read over noon;
Read by the light of
Goodnight Moon.

Turn the pages together,
Sitting close as you"ll fit,
Till a small voice beside you says,
"Hey, don't quit."


Reader's Pledge
By Doris Prieskorn

I will read and never lose sight
     Of all the picture clues.
Many words will be found
     If I use the letter sounds.
Chunking words will help me find
     Words already in my mind.
Making sense of all I read
     Is more important than my speed.
Reading will become a breeze
     When I use all of these.

Judy Seck             jseck@lsd.k12.mi.us
Teacher & Librarian
Willow Elementary School
Lansing  MI  48915

V & F   517 325 7348

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