Go Play Inside: Nature Poetry in 5 Compelling Picture Books

Poetry can open a window, allowing for a fresh look at a familiar view. These books of poetry for kids all focus on nature, word play and pictures, in ways that help readers rediscover the world outside. I found all five books to be delightful, providing both a quick read and a deep experience. The lyrics and images combine to recreate forest, ocean or sky. Exploring them expanded my sense of the exterior world while strengthening the quiet of my interior self.

  • Forest Has a Song by Amy Ludwig Vanderwater – This book is simple and captivating. These poems quietly travel the woods, observing creatures and seasons, and inviting readers to listen, look and walk with care. In these words and watercolors, a forest can be found.
  • Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman – At night, the forest can be forbidding to enter, but it becomes accessible in this evocative and informative book. Here, excellent poetry is paired with factual information to illuminate forest life in the dark, and the illustrations, made by relief printing, further help to reveal many of the creatures awake in these hours.
  • In the Sea by David Elliott – This volume has a similar mission of making known the lives of animals, although it tours and conjures a different environment, using a less pensive and more lighthearted style. These short energetic poems speak for many of the ocean’s creatures, and the woodcuts help to amplify the celebration of life below the waves.
  • Water Sings Blue: Ocean Poems by Kate Coombs – In my favorite of these books, attention turns to the entire ocean environment, both above and below the waves. Through poems and watercolors both playful and powerful, I was taken to the ocean to again experience its beauty. 
  • Sky Magic: Poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins – Here, intelligent and engaging poems by various authors articulate wonder about the sky, asking readers to pause and reconsider the world above.
 Trees, waves and skies beckon on these pages. Are you ready to rediscover your world?

Comments

Thank you Laura for such a compelling list of beautiful sounding poetry books. I cannot wait to track them down an take a look!

Thanks for your reply -- my 1st! I liked Water Sings Blue the best, because it was about recreating experiences near the ocean.

Thanks for inviting us on a journey to discover new places through poetry. I will definitely be looking for these to fill a quiet moment.

Thanks for reading and commenting! I did think these books were good for adults, as a few minutes of quiet.

Have you tried Joyce Sidman's <i>Red Sings from Treetops</i>? That's not in the poetry section, but it easily could be. It's another wonderful book, just as good as Dark Emperor.

I don't know this book -- will check it out, definitely. Thanks!

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As said by the expert at an <a href="http://www.writingbunch.co.uk/">UK Essays</a> Poetry does not have an enormous industry (though the amount of poetry being released is bigger than at any time in history), most create journals are badly financed or depend on volunteers or learners, so the odds of being compensated are thin. I find it exciting the number of authors who want to be released but do not assistance those who post poetry.