A Child's Garden of Verses (1885)

This was given to me in 1977 by my good friend Melanie from Pittsburgh, who was replacing one of the few books I owned in childhood. The illustrations have been seared into my memory since I was five. Robert Louis Stevenson's poems are just right for children to wonder and to love. More than forty years later, I have to say--Thanks, Melanie! ( )

Most of these poems were timeless. They were written for and about children from the 1800's, but can apply to children in 2018. Examples include poems about bed time, playing, imagination, and adventures. That being said, there are some poems that are not culturally acceptable in 2018. I think that this book of poetry can be used as a great teaching tool. It is also a great chance to show students how far we have come. ( )

Stevenson's classic endures through the decades. Famous poems in this book include "My Shadow" and "The Moon." ( )

Summary: This book is a jumble of all his poems and they are all indicating that he is lonely but finally becomes happy.

Personal Reaction: He talks about how he is sick and feels lonely without anybody their. Which I have definitely felt that way but it always gets better.

Classroom Ideas:
1.Have the children make a poem of their own.
2.Have the children tell you a moment in their life that they have felt that way.
3.Have them a coloring sheet of the cover of the book.

This is a a wonderful book full of poems. The first one is about going to bed in the summer time and how its still light out, it gives a great representation of trying to fall asleep after time change when it is light a lot later in the evening, especially for young kids. The book is filled with very short poems to a little bit of longer poems. It is perfect for children when teaching them about poetry. A good play is another cute shorter poem about two friends sailing down a stair case. My Shadow is a silly but realistic poem about a kid and his shadow. A Good Boy is a poem that I would read my daughter before bed since she has been worried about having "nightmares" before falling asleep. This is a good poem to help children prepare for bed. The Land of the Nod was another favorite poem of mine from this book. Some of these poems may be inappropriate due to language used depending on rules of the school/parents. This is a great poetry book for middle school children. A few of my other favorites are Foreign Lands, The Moon, Shadow March (this one is very realistic you can picture yourself looking at your shadow while you read the poem), Block City (shows imagination and how to build whatever you want with whatever materials you have), The Flowers, The Gardener, To My Mother ( I ended up sending this short but sweet and meaningful poem to my mom), To My Name-Child, as well as many other poems readers will enjoy.