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Read Me : A Poem a Day for the National Year of Reading
The National Year of Reading runs from the 8th of September 1998 until the end of August 1999. This book contains 365 rhymes, verse and poems from the likes of Patten, Wordsworth, Milne and de la Mare.
- GenresPoetry
492 pages, Paperback
First published August 21, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 2, 2020
I absolutely adored this book as a child. I bought it with my book voucher from school and read it and read it until the page were all dog eared.
October 15, 2013
After having an English lesson with the main theme being poetry I decided to go back and look at the collection of poems called Read Me. I had this book when I was eight and I remembered enjoying nearly every poem. Now I am older I enjoyed every poem, I could remember the ones I had read as child and identified with other ones.
The poems are suitable for a very wide range of ages, there are many different classifications of poem that can used to introduce new poem structures to children and the poems are separated into one for every day which can be read to children every day.
Such a brilliant book, can be group, guided or just individual reading. They can used be used within a lesson and can be pulled apart and discussed and then used to write their own in a similar style. The poems also theme with the relevant seasons and typical themes which run through them.
The poems are suitable for a very wide range of ages, there are many different classifications of poem that can used to introduce new poem structures to children and the poems are separated into one for every day which can be read to children every day.
Such a brilliant book, can be group, guided or just individual reading. They can used be used within a lesson and can be pulled apart and discussed and then used to write their own in a similar style. The poems also theme with the relevant seasons and typical themes which run through them.
November 5, 2009
Read Me is a collection of poems for parents and children to read together over the course of a year. Each poem is assigned a date and the subjects covered are on topic for their date.
The book includes well known poems like Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "How Do I Love Thee" (February 15) and "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae (August 12). It also has a large number of nursery rhymes and hymns such as "Simple Simon" (May 30) and "O Little Town" by Bishop Phillips Brooks (December 25). Mostly though the poems are playful and unusual.
Someone better versed in children's poetry will recognize more of the selections than I did. I though enjoyed finding so many surprises tucked away in this 470 page volume.
The only disappoint for me was December. Too much of the month is focused on Christmas carols. The book comes to a ho-hum close. I understand that Christmas (especially in a British book) would be the main focus for December but I would have preferred to see the same level of unusual or novelty poems as the other eleven months have.
Finally, one of the poems is mislabeled which makes me wonder about the rest of the attributed poems. November 21's poem is listed as "Daisy" and the author is listed as anonymous. The poem, best known as the song title "Bicycle Built for Two" is actually called "Daisy Bell" and was written by Harry Dacre in 1892.
The book includes well known poems like Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "How Do I Love Thee" (February 15) and "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae (August 12). It also has a large number of nursery rhymes and hymns such as "Simple Simon" (May 30) and "O Little Town" by Bishop Phillips Brooks (December 25). Mostly though the poems are playful and unusual.
Someone better versed in children's poetry will recognize more of the selections than I did. I though enjoyed finding so many surprises tucked away in this 470 page volume.
The only disappoint for me was December. Too much of the month is focused on Christmas carols. The book comes to a ho-hum close. I understand that Christmas (especially in a British book) would be the main focus for December but I would have preferred to see the same level of unusual or novelty poems as the other eleven months have.
Finally, one of the poems is mislabeled which makes me wonder about the rest of the attributed poems. November 21's poem is listed as "Daisy" and the author is listed as anonymous. The poem, best known as the song title "Bicycle Built for Two" is actually called "Daisy Bell" and was written by Harry Dacre in 1892.
June 5, 2020
Laying my feeble palm on this book, at first I thought boredom would be reincarnated. Well, I was wrong when I got to explore the content.
The distinction about this book is, it encompasses poems with both complex and reflective diction with varying themes. By extension, it is for both starters and experts in the art of poetry. Or should I say, even those who ain't poetry-oriented have a go with the content.
As a plus, I was inspired to write parodies of some of the poems here. A resounding echo is Sarah Coleridge's "The Month" that lured my pen into mimick.
Few words or oceans of syllables, this book is worth your while.
The distinction about this book is, it encompasses poems with both complex and reflective diction with varying themes. By extension, it is for both starters and experts in the art of poetry. Or should I say, even those who ain't poetry-oriented have a go with the content.
As a plus, I was inspired to write parodies of some of the poems here. A resounding echo is Sarah Coleridge's "The Month" that lured my pen into mimick.
Few words or oceans of syllables, this book is worth your while.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 15, 2017
bought this with my world book day voucher in year 3 (lol!)
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February 23, 2021Goodreads messed up and removed this from my books read for some reason and I lost the old review :(
November 22, 2012
I loved this anthology as a child. I have recently re-acquainted myself with it and still think it is lovely. The idea of having a daily dose of poetry is transferable to the classroom. I think combining the reading and listening of these poems with performance would be a great way to learn about structure, rhythm, repetition, metaphor, etc.
As an anthology it utilities a wide variety of styles and spans hundreds of years. There are repetitions of poets but I don't think this alters the potential of this book as a tool for learning or enjoyment.
As an anthology it utilities a wide variety of styles and spans hundreds of years. There are repetitions of poets but I don't think this alters the potential of this book as a tool for learning or enjoyment.
March 15, 2014
Collection of poems for everyday of the year. Nice to pick up once in a while and read that days poem.
July 30, 2014
A brilliant way to introduce a wide range of poems to children (and adults) of all ages. It certainly worked on me when I was younger!
April 1, 2011
It is a great collection of poems from classic to modern authors.
December 31, 2015
A fantastic selection of poems! I really enjoyed having a poem to read for every day of the year :)
April 16, 2017
A decent collection of poems but also feels really lazy.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews