Children’s Literature in Action: A Librarian’s Guide By Sylvia M. Vardell Chapter Four Reflection

Children’s Literature in Action: A Librarian’s Guide By Sylvia M. Vardell Chapter Four Reflection 

Chapter four begins introducing some of the most noted authors in poetry such as Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky. This is because it is difficult to be a known author for libraries today lack books in this genre due to a shortage of poetry in children's literature. There are numerous types of poetry and as a librarian it is our job to select quality poetry and making sure to get several copies of them.   Poetry is a wonderful genre for its writing that expresses feelings and thoughts. There are many types of poetry as well from Mother Goose, rhymes, verse, jingles, and even songs.  

Librarians must promote poetry to children and build a positive experience. Many children as Vardell states "...have negative associations with the very word "poetry" based on prior school experiences..." (p. 135). I personally can relate to this, in my case poetry was not really emphasized in early education and by the time I got to high school it was more on decoding the meaning of a poem. It is crucial to introduce children to different types of poetry in order to spark an interest.  

There are five main categories which include general anthologies, topical collections, individual poet compilations, poem picture books, and verse novels. General anthologies include books that have different types of poems by different authors organized in a way by subthemes or subcategories. They are great as a starting point for librarians for they hold many quality poems. Topical collections are collections that revolve around a certain theme or topic. These could beneficial in aligning with curriculum and are more visual inviting for children. In individual poet compilations all poems come from one feature author which can be great in getting a sense and feeling for one type of writing. Poem picture books hold many illustrations along with one poem that is spread out through the pages. Verse novels also known as verse poetry are usually for middle school readers and tend to use some type of ancient root poetry. There are other types of poetry, but these are the most common. Poetry can be tricky to evaluate one must look into ideas, rhythm, words, sounds, and how it makes one feel. 

Vardell, Sylvia. (2014). Children’s Literature in Action: A Librarian’s Guide, 2nd Edition(2nd ed.). Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.