Poetry always remembers that it was an oral art before it was a written art. It remembers that it was first song.
There are several places to find audio adaptations of poetry for young people. Many are available as CDs (formerly cassettes) accompanying print books or as downloadable audio files. If you want to hear how poetry should sound, there is no better resource than hearing the poets themselves read their poems aloud or professional narrators bring poetry to life. And we’re fortunate to have more and more access to recorded poetry through iTunes, audioclips, CDs and tapes, downloadable audio from web sites, audio stores, and more.
Audio Poetry Activities
1. Children can tape record themselves reading a favorite poem aloud, copy the poem in their best handwriting, illustrate it, and present their poem performance as a gift to a loved one.
2. Children can collect examples of favorite poems on audio- or videotape and explore neighborhood, cultural, and linguistic variations. They can translate their English favorites into other languages represented in their community.
3. If audio or public address announcements are made on a regular basis, include the oral reading of a poem (by a child or other volunteer) on a daily or weekly basis. Challenge children to work with a partner to incorporate multiple voices, sound effects, or musical instruments.
4. Books and poems in the public domain can be read and recorded by anyone at Librivox.org and then made available world-wide. Tools like SoundCloud enable children to create their own audio anthologies or podcast recordings of favorite poems.
Audio/Video Poetry Online
Multimedia area includes audio, video, podcasts, slideshows
Audio and video clips of individual poems and poets
Videos of average citizens reading favorite poems
Archive of audio recordings of poets reading their work, including a children’s poetry area
Poet biographies, sample poems, audio archives, National Poetry Month celebrations
Info about the Poet Laureates of the U.S., national prizes in poetry, special poetry events, and audio archives
The Poetry Foundation offers a dedicated area for “Children’s Poetry” featuring several hundred poems for children searchable and organized by topic, some with audio links
*No Water River.com (by Renée M. LaTulippe)
Video of children’s poets reading from their work along with extensive teaching connections, plus features on each of the NCTE Poetry Award winners
My own sites (with Janet Wong) featuring the Poetry Friday teaching anthologies with downloadables and audio and video poetry
*Poet Websites
Some poets feature video and audio on their personal websites. Michael Rosen, for example, has 49 videos of himself reciting poems from an out of print book. Others with audio links include Kristine O’Connell George, Janet Wong, Nikki Grimes, Joyce Sidman.
Audio Awards
*Odyssey Audiobook Award
*ALSC Notable Children’s Recordings
*YALSA Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults
*Grammy Awards for Spoken Word
*Audio Publishers Association’s Audie Awards
Poetry Apps
iF Poems (Clickworks Ltd., 2011) Read, listen to, record and share your favorite poems from a collection of more than 200 classic (largely British) poems narrated by actors Helena Bonham Carter and Bill Nighy.
The Grim Granary: Poems for Kids Big and Small (Tusitala Pte. Ltd., 2011), a collection of darkly humorous illustrated poems with audio renditions of each poem available in three languages”
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star: The Experience (FlyingWord, 2011), the classic poem features the illustrations of Michael Hague, accessible in 9 languages.
Audio Poetry for Young People: A Select Bibliography
Alexander, Kwame. The Crossover (Recorded Books, 2014)
Andrews, Julie and Hamilton, Emma Walton. Julie Andrews’ Collection of Poems, Songs, and Lullabies (Hachette Audio, 2009)
Brown, Calef. Flamingos on the Roof (Recorded Books, 2009)
Creech, Sharon. Hate that Cat (Harper Children’s Audio, 2008)
Creech, Sharon. Heartbeat (Recorded Books, 2004)
Creech, Sharon. Love that Dog (Harper Children’s Audio, 2002)
Dakos, Kalli. If You’re Not Here, Please Raise Your Hand (Recorded Books, 2009)
Engle, Margarita. The Poet Slave of Cuba (Listening Library, 2009)
Engle, Margarita. The Surrender Tree (Listening Library, 2009)
Engle, Margarita. Tropical Secrets (Listening Library, 2009)
Fleischman, Paul. Joyful Noise/I Am Phoenix (Audio Bookshelf, 2001)
Franco, Betsy. Metamorphosis: Junior Year (Brilliance, 2010)
Frost, Helen. Crossing Stones (Recorded Books, 2010)
Frost, Helen. Keesha’s House (Recorded Books, 2004)
Giovanni, Nikki. Hip Hop Speaks to Children (Sourcebooks, 2008)
Grimes, Nikki. Bronx Masquerade (Recorded Books, 2006)
Grimes, Nikki. Dark Sons (Zondervan, 2010)
Grimes, Nikki. Jazmin’s Notebook (Penguin, 2008)
Hemphill, Stephanie. Your Own, Sylvia (Listening Library, 2009)
Hesse, Karen. Aleutian Sparrow (Listening Library, 2003)
Hesse, Karen. Out of the Dust (Listening Library, 2006)
Hesse, Karen. Witness (Listening Library, 2006)
Hoberman, Mary Ann and Wilson, Linda. The Tree That Time Built: A Celebration of Nature, Science, and Imagination (Sourcebooks, 2009)
Lewis, J. Patrick. The Brothers’ War: Civil War Voices in Verse (Recorded Books, 2007)
Lithgow, John. The Poets' Corner: The One-and-Only Poetry Book for the Whole Family (Hachette, 2007)
Milne, A.A. When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six (Harper Children’s Audio, 2004)
Myers, Walter Dean. Blues Journey (Live Oak Media, 2003)
Myers, Walter Dean. Harlem: A Poem (Spoken Arts, 1998)
Myers, Walter Dean. Here in Harlem (Live Oak Media, 2010)
Myers, Walter Dean. Jazz (Live Oak Media, 2007)
Myers, Walter Dean. Looking Like Me (Live Oak Media, 2010)
Nesbitt, Kenn. My Hippo Has the Hiccups and Other Poems I Totally Made Up (Sourcebooks, 2009)
Paschen, Elise and Raccah, Dominque. Poetry Speaks to Children (Sourcebooks, 2005)
Paschen, Elise and Raccah, Dominque. Poetry Speaks; Who I Am (Sourcebooks, 2010)
Prelutsky, Jac. A Pizza the Size of the Sun (Harper Audio, 2007)
Prelutsky, Jack. Be Glad Your Nose Is on Your Face: And Other Poems: Some of the Best of Jack Prelutsky (Greenwillow, 2008)
Prelutsky, Jack. Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant (Harper Audio, 2006)
Prelutsky, Jack. In Aunt Giraffe’s Green Garden (Harper Audio, 2007)
Prelutsky, Jack. It’s Raining Pigs and Noodles (Harper Audio, 2008)
Prelutsky, Jack. Monday’s Troll (Listening Library, 1996)
Prelutsky, Jack. My Dog May Be a Genius (Harper Audio, 2008)
Prelutsky, Jack. Scranimals (Harper Audio, 2007)
Prelutsky, Jack. Something Big Has Been Here (Harper Audio, 2007)
Prelutsky, Jack. The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders (Harper Audio, 2005)
Prelutsky, Jack. The Jack Prelutsky Holiday CD Audio Collection (Greenwillow, 2005)
Prelutsky, Jack. The New Kid on the Block (Harper Audio, 2007)
Raschka, Chris. Charlie Parker Played Be Bop (Live Oak Media, 2003)
Sidman, Joyce. Dark Emperor. (Recorded Books, 2010)
Silverstein, Shel. A Light in the Attic (20th Anniversary Edition) (HarperCollins, 2001)
Silverstein, Shel. Where the Sidewalk Ends (25th Anniversary Edition) (HarperCollins, 2000)
Singer, Marilyn. Mirror, Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse (Live Oak Media, 2011)
Singer, Marilyn. A Full Moon Is Rising (Live Oak Media, 2013)
Singer, Marilyn. Follow Follow (Live Oak Media, 2014)
Sones, Sonya. What My Mother Doesn’t Know (Brilliance, 2008)
Singer, Marilyn. Follow Follow (Live Oak Media, 2014)
Sones, Sonya. What My Mother Doesn’t Know (Brilliance, 2008)
Steptoe, Javaka. In Daddy’s Arms I am Tall (Live Oak Media, 2003)
The Caedmon Poetry Collection: A Century of Poets Reading their Work (Caedmon, 2000)
Thomas, Joyce Carol. Brown Honey in Broomwheat Tea (Spoken Arts, 1998)
Weatherford, Carole Boston. Birmingham 1963 (Recorded Books, 2007)
Williams, Vera B. Amber was Brave, Essie was Smart (Live Oak Media, 2003)
Wolf, Allan. The Watch that Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic (Candlewick, 2011)
Woodson, Jacqueline. Locomotion (Recorded Books, 2012)
Woodson, Jacqueline. Brown Girl Dreaming (Listening Library, 2014)
Yolen, Jane. How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night (Weston Woods, 2005)
From: Vardell, S. The Poetry Teacher’s Book of Lists (2012)
Thank you! This is great. I love listening to poetry when I go for walks.
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