For younger children, poetry helps boost their vocabulary and develops their sense of rhythm and language skills. Rhymes and rhyming improve reading, writing, and spelling.
For older children, poems help with memorization and teach children to look for deeper meanings within a text. They also learn patterns of speech and how words can be used in multiple combinations to create new meanings.
Poetry has value...in ANY language.
So today, I'm excited to share with you a new poetry title from author Mariana Llanos. And this one is completely in Spanish!
Poesía Alada: poesia y arte para volar (aff link) is a beautifully written and illustrated collection of Spanish poetry for children. Mariana has written many wonderful children's books, some of which I've reviewed here on MommyMaestra. But this is her first book of poetry. It is also the first book she's written originally in Spanish.
And I love them all. Because for some reason, they seem to transport me back to my own childhood, which was full of Spanish dichos, poesía, and rimas tradicionales. So, naturally, I feel this should be a must-have for bilingual family home libraries!
Here's a sample. This is the poem for which the book is named...
Poesía Alada
Poesía es cuento
y canción con alas.
Poesía es locura
que brota del alma.
Poesía es música
que ilumina al alba.
Poesía son letras
que forman baladas.
Poesía es el trinar
de aves en la mañana.
Poesía es el rayo
tierno del sol.
Poesía surge
revuelve y embala.
Poesía descansa
aprieta y arranca.
Poesía vive y respira,
despojada de toda razón.
Poesía se acurruca
en un rinconcito del corazón.
Beautiful, no?
The poems are about topics to which children can relate - the seasons, the ocean, ice cream cones, reading, animals, clouds, and many others.
Another unique feature of this book is the black-and-white illustrations. Seven artists (including the author) have created drawings to accompany each of the 27 poems. The whimsical images enrich the poems for young minds. Personally, I plan to use this like a workbook and let my children color in the images.
Mariana has also included a note at the end of the book describing her lifelong love of poetry; how it started and its impact on her life.
This book is a new release, just published this month. I highly recommend it to read to both younger and older children alike.
Poesía Alada: poesia y arte para volar can be ordered on Amazon.
And remember, Mariana is an enthusiastic educator and writer. She visits schools around the world through virtual technology to encourage children to read and write. She offers many free author-Skype opportunities for teachers . The Skype visits are designed around four different lesson plans that last about 45 minutes. Wouldn't that be a fun class to do at the end of the year with your students?