Read Aloud Thursday - Poetry

Well, we've been looking on our own home bookshelves in honor of National Poetry Month. This is what we've read this week (well, if you don't to define them as poetry, at least they all contain rhythmic language patterns!):

About a year or so ago I was ecstatic to find a Merrigold Miniature copy of Fun at the Beach, by Gloria Trachtenberg. I remember having a copy of this book when I was a little girl and the illustrations by Dagmar Wilson are still fresh in my memory. Bookworm1 hadn't really connected to this title until we pulled it out this week and he noticed that the older brother in this book is wearing a shirt with an anchor on it.

In this book a family of four is headed to the beach to spend the day playing and relaxing with one another.

"Summertime is here at last,
The sun shines every day,
And Mother says, "We'll pack a lunch,
Then off to the beach to play!"

The illustrations are so classically 1950's and I adore it. I still remember the giant yellow duck flotation device and I remember staring at this book for hours on end. It's so cool to find books that you had when you were little, don't you agree? Now just to preserve it throughout my children's childhood! I don't want to lose this book again!

I've talked about Baa-Choo! before but it's worth a mention again because it's such a repeat read around these parts. And since we acquired this book as a gift from our local library - I think it's worth mentioning around here! At a children's party event at our library, each child was given the opportunity to choose a free book to take home. Bookworm1 selected Baa-Choo! by Sarah Weeks and I have to admit I was rather speculative. However, it has stood the test of time and we have read it over and over and over again! Turns out it was an excellent pick!

Baa-Choo! is the story of a little sheep who cannot get his sneeze out. He has all of the animals on the farm trying to help him in various forms and fashions. Sam the Lamb has got the "ah" but not the "choo" and so this sneeze will never do.

"Can someone help me, help me please,
to find the ending of my sneeze?"

It's really quite a cute book.

Lastly, we pulled out Seven Little Rabbits which I had forgotten that we had and that we had never read before. In this book by John Becker we meet seven little rabbits who are going on a walk to toad's house. Only they never quite make it, each becoming too tired and so they end up hunkering down at mole's house. I love the patterns in this book and it's really a great read-aloud.

The running refrain is as follows:

Seven little rabbits
Walkin' down the road
Walkin' down the road
Seven little rabbits
Walkin' down the road
to call on old friend toad.

It's just a very interesting read because of the sounds and rhythms it produces. It also makes quite the excellent spring-time read! We've enjoyed it.

Those are our rhyming reads for this week. What have you been reading?

Do share over at Hope is in the Word!

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I wrote about another poetry book we're reading through over at Reading to Know. To hear what we thought about Mother Osprey, follow the link trail! ;)