National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry: 200 Poems with Photographs That Squeak, Soar, and Roar!

The National Geographic Book of Poetry is a very colorful and visual book of animals. Each animal has a section about it along with poems to describe them. The author has geared this towards animal lovers.

This book intrigued me because I have two small children that are animal lovers. They love to learn about all animals. I believe this could be a great addition to my library in the classroom. This would be a great book during an animal themed month.

An extension idea would be to select a certain animal, have the children color a color sheet of that animal, and then write the poem at the bottom. This could help with writing skills also.
Another idea would be to have the children pick a small poem of their favorite animal and memorize it show more to say to the class. This will help them to work on their memorization skills show less

Have you ever tried to imagine the secret lives of animals? National Geographic is no stranger to open our eyes to the life of animals via photography and film. Now, imagine bringing this wonderful photography to life with poetry. This giant book is sectioned by large, small, winged, noisy, quiet and wet animals and so many more that live and thrive on our planet. One example is with an Orangutan and her baby. The pictures show the two hugging and the little one giving his momma a kiss. The poem reads:

Dear Orangutan:
Three cheers to you,
man of the forest.
You arrived here long before us.
You paved the way; you saw it through.
How nice to have someone like you sitting in our family tree.
Sincerely, from your cousin me.

The category of strange show more animals has an up close and personal image of an Ostrich. It's poem reads:

The Ostrich roams the great Sahara.
Its mouth is wide, its neck is narra.
It has such long and lofty legs,
I'm glad it sits to lay its eggs.

United States Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis brings together poets from all over to share and inspire young readers with their words. Poets such as Georgia Heard, Paul Janeczko, John Ciardi, Lord Alfred Douglas and so many more. The back pages host tons of resources and readers can even learn to write poems about animals. This book is a treasure any classroom or family would enjoy and share for many years. show less

This book is full of hundreds of poems about different animals and includes works by Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson. Overall, I like this book for three reasons. First, this oversized book is full of beautiful photographs of the animals in the poems. One of my favorite examples of this is the poem The Eagle by Lord Alfred Tennyson which is accompanied by a two page photograph of a bald eagle flying low over the water, with a mountain base in the background. I also like the imaginative way that some of the poems express the writers’ feelings about certain animals. A specific example is a poem entitled The Scorpion, by Hilaire Belloc, which simply reads, “The scorpion is as black as soot. He dearly loves to bite; He is a most show more unpleasant brute To find in bed, at night.” To finish, I really like how the poems help readers view animals in different ways, from poems that describe animals in the wild, such as Penguins, by Charles Ghigna, to A Promise, by Bobbi Katz, that vows to free captive zebras. show less

1. This book is a collection of poetry from a variety of poets in a variety of forms. The pages are filled with creative poems about animals. The poems are accompanied by National Geographic photography of animals in nature.

2. I really enjoyed this book because I love animals and nature and I think the author does a great job in the intro describing that the point is to see animals and their similarities to us. Children can explore different animals that they haven't heard of yet and see actual photography while reading terrific poems.

3. I feel younger children would enjoy the pictures and hearing the poems but as for the reading, it's a little more advanced. I'd say it would be best for children ages 6-8 or so. And this poetry book show more would be a great way to pull literature into your science unit or area. Children will enjoy learning about animals as well as explore the creativity of poetry. show less

Amazing animal poetry book that is sorted into nine chapters and has around 200 poems. The poems are nicely written and includes photos for almost every poem. The range of animals is very diverse, so everyone will be able to enjoy a poem about their favorite animal. The poems are about insects, sharks, birds, quiet animals (like a panther), noisy animals (like a frog), and big animals (like a moose). Students from kindergarten and on will be impressed with this poetry book.

Yes, this book has great animal poems but what I really love about it are the BIG pictures of animals! Kids are naturally curious about animals and love to see pictures of them and ask questions. I can't wait to show this book to the kids that I nanny! They will love it!

One week this term we read about how a teacher used a book about pond wildlife to teach both a science and writing lesson at the same time. I think this collection of poetry would work similarly! It's a great "poetry introduction" book as well, because it contains so many bright, bold and fun images.