Holiday Picks: 'Twas the Night Before Christmas

With snow in the forecast, temperatures dropping, and people digging out their mittens and hats, it's officially December!  Enjoy a holiday pick each day before Christmas.

Written by Clement C. Moore.  Illustrated by Kat Whelan.  Wilton, CT: Tiger Tales, 2010.

The night before Christmas, everyone is asleep in bed, the children and parents.  Hearing noises on the front lawn, the father looks out and sees Santa riding through the air on the sled led by reindeer.  Santa lands on the roof, shimmies down the chimney, and distributes gifts.  When his work is finished, he goes back up the chimney to his sleigh and off into the air to the next house exclaiming "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

This classic Christmas poem gets a boost by the illustrations.  Instead of people, mice are the characters in this story, even Santa!  Thick pages full of glittery touches add a special feel to this timeless story.  Children will enjoy exploring the pictures for the glittery snow and looking at all the details.  Will you be reading this poem to your family this Christmas?

Twimericks: The Book of Tongue-Twisting Limericks

Written and illustrated by Lou Brooks. New York: Workman Publishing, 2009.

Did you know April is National Poetry Month? In honor of that, I thought it would be fun to go through the poetry section at my library, and pick out some gems to share with you. Poetry is great for reluctant readers - they are fun to read aloud, are generally short, and most of them rhyme!

My first choice is a winner. This book combines two of my favorite types of poetry - tongue twisters and limericks! A limerick is a short, five-line poem and they are supposed to make you laugh. A tongue twister is a bunch of similar sounding words, and when you try to read them together, you stumble on your tongue. This book contains a warning at the beginning: “The surgeon general has determined that rapid reading of this book aloud to others may lead to your tongue being twisted into a perfect over-and-underhand Bavarian pretzel knot – probably forever.” You want to read it now, don’t you? Pick up this book of silly poems, and just try not to twist up your tongue when you read them aloud! I guarantee lots of laughter!

Super-Fun Poetry Books

In celebration of National Poetry Month (yes, I realize it was last month - I'm behind on this posting), I wanted to showcase some great poetry books we've recently added to our children's collection. For those of you who think poetry is boring, dry, or a chore to read, try these out - I promise you won't have to count out the meters!

Orangutan Tongs: Poems to Tickle Your Tongue


By Jon Agee

(ages 5 and up)



If you like tongue twisters, then this is the book for you! I stumbled my way through several of these, such as "Walter Witter called a waiter: "Waiter, over here! I want some water, waiter. Water, waiter! Is that clear?" Each poem is silly and the illustrations with their bold outlines perfectly match them. You're guaranteed a silly read with this one!

The Underwear Salesman: And Other Jobs for Better or Verse

By J. Patrick Lewis

(ages 7 and up)

Have you ever thought about what you'd like to be when you grow up? Maybe you haven't made your mind up yet. If so, check out this book of poems for some interesting job possibilities. There's jobs you've heard of like an auto mechanic and butcher. And then there are some wacky jobs, like a dictionary maker and banana picker. There's even a poem about me, the Librarian (well, not me, specifically, but it could be about me) and it says "No one has more fun than I!" So true! One of my favorite silly poems is about the Exterminator - "I come to de-bug what's under de rug." There's a job poem in this book for everyone!

A Whiff of Pine, a Hint of Skunk: A Forest of Poems

By Deborah Ruddell; Illustrated by Joan Rankin

(ages 4 and up)

Aaahhh...nature. Nothing smells quite as good as when you go outside and take in a deep breath of fresh air. Let's hope Pepe LePew isn't out and about stinking up the air! As the title states, these poems celebrate all the different aspects of nature and the animals that inhabit the forest. What's really fun about the format of the poems is they start at spring with everything waking up and finish with winter. One of my favorites is "Biography of a Beaver" - "Bucktoothed Cleaver/Tree Retriever/Building Conceiver/True Believer/Waterproof Weaver/Overachiever/Roll-Up-Her-Sleever-/Hooray for the Beaver!" If you enjoy the outdoors, you'll really like these poems!