Tonight we read poetry for our bedtime story. We opened up Stevenson’s “A Children’s Garden of Verses”. This is not an ordinary occupation for our bedtime ritual. Usually we read a chapter book or a picture book but tonight I wanted the children to really feel the mood of the poems we read. And I absolutely love to read poems aloud! I started with “Bed in Summer”:
To have to go to bed by day?
I felt like the experience was a total victory! Instead of being bored by poetry, Anna and William were moaning empathically as I read what it is like to have to go to bed while it is still light in the summer. (One of the things they dislike above all else.) They were totally into it! Then we shifted the mood a little and read, “Autumn Fires”:
Fires in the fall!
We discussed what the described fires in the fall represented. They concluded (on their own) that fires in the fall don’t just mean piles of leaves being burned but also the flaming color of autumn leaves. I felt a swelling of joy as they captured the beauty and depth of these sweet little rhymes. Then, they each chose a few to read aloud. It was sweet to hear them try to read with expression and feeling. What is it about verse that touches our hearts so? Perhaps because it’s cadence and rhythm is akin to music. There is a melody in poetry that breaks down barriers much like music does. Whatever the reason, I cherish the time we had tonight. I am coming to find out that moments like these become fewer and farther between as children age and before I know it the moments will be gone. Sam leaves in a year. I can hardly stand the thought of it.
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