Dear Match Book: Poems for Young Readers

The Lives of the Poets

Poets were kids once, too. In “The Invisible Ladder,” Liz Rosenberg’s thoughtfully edited anthology of contemporary American poetry for children, she makes sweetly explicit the profound connection between grown writers and young readers. At the start of each section, then-and-now snapshots of each writer featured — from Robert Creeley and Cornelius Eady to Rita Dove and Li-Young Lee — reveal the poet as both child and adult. But it’s the inclusion of these writers’ sophisticated work — about teenage jobs, music, nature and parents, not written expressly for children — that honors young readers’ abilities to parse complex ideas.

Another ingenious mix of biography and verse, “Out of Wonder,” will appeal to the teacher in you. In this picture book, vividly illustrated by Ekua Holmes, the authors Kwame Alexander, Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth craft poems in the styles of 20 poets from around the world — Robert Frost, Terrance Hayes, Rumi and Maya Angelou among them. The lovely, imitative lines offer evocative introductions to the work by these celebrated poets, and function as writing prompts, too.

To Take Us Lands Away

“Out of Wonder,” which includes a tribute to Emily Dickinson, would pair well with “Poetry for Kids: Emily Dickinson,” edited by Susan Snively and delicately illustrated by Christine Davenier. Some of the poet’s darting, playful, exuberant lines can be found in four seasonal sections, which include some of her most beloved poems (like “There’s a certain slant of light” and “There is no frigate like a book”) as well as less familiar ones on several of her favorite subjects: botany, faith and language. Italicized notes at the bottoms of the pages define unfamiliar vocabulary, and a section at the back titled “What Emily Was Thinking” provides enlightening context. (Both explanatory features appear in the series’s other books, on Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman.)

Literary Samplers

Carefully curated anthologies, each with a narrow focus, would make fine resources for your project. In “Beastly Verse,” JooHee Yoon’s riotous illustrations make even old favorites about animals (both real and imagined) new. The wildest of the bunch, including “The Tiger,” by William Blake, “Eletelephony,” by Laura E. Richards, and “Humming-bird,” by D. H. Lawrence, can’t be tamed by a single spread; page flaps open to allow animals to prowl, make mischief and fly.

For times when your notebook isn’t close at hand, you’ll want to introduce your granddaughter to the singular delights of memorization. “Forget-Me-Nots,” a sizable treasury selected by Mary Ann Hoberman and joyfully illustrated by Michael Emberley, starts short. Even the longest poem on the first spread after the introduction — “Primer Lesson” by Carl Sandburg — could be learned in an afternoon. The challenge to commit verse to memory grows in later sections, though rhyming and silliness give the longer poems a mnemonic boost.