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Did you know that April is National Poetry Month!?

I am thrilled to be co-hosting a poetry celebration and poetry writing contest with many wonderful bloggers at the 2014 Children’s Poetry Celebration & Contest. Today I am sharing a free printable which includes beloved poems from some of the world’s most renowned poets.

Children are sponges, and they will soak up beautiful words, if you would just read to them! I was pleasantly surprised by this when I began reading poetry to my son from our favorite volumes (listed below). He kept wanting me to read more. He loved the sequencing and rhyme and beauty of the words put together. I try to spend time each day to read poetry to him — this builds language skills through listening and speaking and memorizing!

I hope these recitation cards will help your child enjoy the beauty of words and the English language.

Our free poetry for children printable includes poems by: Gerard Manley Hopkins, Emily Dickinson, William Shakespeare, John Keats, William Blake, Kate Greenaway, Robert Louis Stevenson, Louis Imogen Guiney, George MacDonald, Christina Rossetti

{Link to download this printable is at the end of this post!!}

Our Favorite Poetry Books

Our favorite poetry volumes are: A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson, Give Yourself to the Rain by Margaret Wise Brown, 20th Century Children’s Poetry Treasury by Jack Prelutsky, Original Mother Goose by Blanche Fisher Wright, Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein, and Children’s Classic Poetry Collection by Nicola Baxter.

Poetry Writing Contest

{Contest closed.}

You can enter any of your child’s poetry (ages 4-12) into the contest for a chance to win fabulous prizes! My son is only 3 1/2, so we won’t be able to enter until next year! Please go to the below co-hosts blogs for poetry writing tips and for simple ways to make poetry more accessible to little ones. What an amazing and fun learning experience for your child!! For all of the details on prizes and how to enter the poetry contest, check out the 2014 Children’s Poetry Celebration & Contest.

Enter to Win

We are also sponsoring a giveaway — enter below to win!! Here are the prizes: MetroMags, fun, magnetic tiles that can be combined in thousands of 2- and 3- dimensional ways, Poetry Copywork E-books to practice handwriting and learn about poets like Robert Frost, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Emily Dickenson, and Robert Browning, and a Poetry Curriculum to introduce your students to poetry and expand their poetic lessons.

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