During the month of April, we celebrate National Poetry Month. While I’m not personally good at writing poetry I do enjoy reading it with all its various rhythms, sounds, and meanings. One of the reasons I find poetry so captivating is its ability to tell a story or convey an emotion in such a contained burst of words.
Poetry is an essential building block for young readers, in my option, because the rhythm that poems often have especially for younger ages, make practicing reading aloud easier; and using that practice to learn how tone of voice can affect an audience’s emotional reaction to a piece can only benefit students for those future speeches/oral reports they’ll have to give.
Recently, I read a young adult book that tells the character’s story through a series of poems. It entirely captured my attention and wouldn’t let me go until I had finished the journey along with the main character, Will. Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds tells a story of boy growing up in a community and life I have never experienced, and yet I was able to relate and draw parallels in my own upbringing simply based on the emotions evoked through the words I was reading. Beyond the usefulness of poetry in an academic, or other, it can unite us in shared emotions or at least offer a glimpse of something we may never experience ourselves, be that good or bad. I hope you will take a minute or two this April to enjoy a poem, a book of verse, or a song.
And now I leave you with this fun fact: Shel Silverstein, well-known poet and author of The Giving Tree, also wrote song lyrics. One of my favorites of his is Marie Laveau sung by Bobby Bare – if you’ve never heard it, I highly recommend a listen. It is true to the author’s style.
Reminder: All locations will be closed on Friday, April 19 and Sunday, April 21 for Good Friday and Easter.
Coming Up:
- Aulds, 742-2337 — Tuesday, Apr. 23 @ 10:00am – Preschool Storytime, ages 0-5
- Benton, 965-2751 — Saturday, Apr. 20 @ 10:00am – Saturday Storytime, ages 0-5
- Bossier Central , 746-1693 — Thursday, Apr. 18 @ 6:00pm – Goodnight with Grandma K, ages 0-5; Monday, Apr. 22 (all day) – Earth Day Craft, all ages; Monday, Apr. 22 @ 3:00pm – Marvel Movie Monday: Thor: The Dark World, ages 13-17
- East 80, 949-2665 — Saturday, Apr. 20 @ 11:00am – Side-by-Side Storytime, all ages
- Haughton , 949-0196 — Thursday, Apr. 19 @ 3:30pm & Saturday, Apr. 20 @ 1:00pm – Pictures with an Easter Bunny, all ages
- History Center, 746-7717 — Saturday, Apr. 20 – Saturday, Apr. 27 – EARLY VOTING LOCATION
- Plain Dealing, 326-4233 — Saturday, Apr. 20 @ 2:30pm – Dance Class, ages 6-12
- Tooke, 987-3915 — Thursday, Apr. 18 @ 4:30pm – YA Bingo!, ages 13-17
- Community Engagement — Saturday, Apr. 27 @ 11:00am – Gingerbread House Food Truck Rally @ Flying Heart Brewery, all ages
New Materials:
- Doctor Strange Beard: Winston Brothers, Book #5 by Penny Reid (Fiction; Book)r
- National Geographic’s 100 Parks; 5000 Ideas by Joe Yogerst (Non-Fiction; Book)
- Healing Herbs Handbook: Recipes for Natural Living by Barbara Brownell Grogan (Non-Fiction; Book)
- Lost and Wanted by Nell Freudenberger (Fiction; Book)
- The Red Scrolls of Magic: The Eldest Curses, Book 1 (a Shadowhunter Novel) by Cassandra Clare & Wesley Chu (YA Fiction; Book, Audiobook)
- The Savior by J.R. Ward (Fiction; Book)
- Upgrade Soul: A Graphic Novel by Ezra Claytan Daniels (Graphic Novel; Book)
- Water Snakes by Tony Sandoval (Graphic Novel; Book)
- Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan (YA Fiction; Book)
- A Woman is No Man: a novel by Etaf Rum (Fiction; Book)
Annie Gilmer, Community Engagement Librarian for Bossier Parish Libraries
