First Verse

by Libby Ellis

This fun collection of Poetry and colorful cut paper illustrations will make you giggle with glee. May this bright book of verse be only your first!

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Brianna Jensen]

This poetry book is for very young readers! I went back and forth over whether or not it would be appropriate to have in a kindergarten classroom, just because it is a younger book with flaps to lift and cardboard pages. Definitely intended for pre-k, although I decided in the end it could also be used in the kindergarten classroom, because poetry is always appropriate, and no level of poetry is "too simple" for a kid or adult. This book of short rhyming poems has brightly colored pictures and engaging lift flaps so students can interact with the book and not be "bored" by poetry.

Reading level: pre-K--second grade. There are some harder words like "bonnet" "butterfly" "wiggles" and etc.

Possible mentor writing traits: Sentence fluency. All of the short poems on these pages rhyme, verse by verse, and they flow quite nicely when read aloud.
Also could be presentation, as the pictures are so bright, fun, and engaging, and the lift-flaps make the book interactive and fun.

Possible themes to incorporate in the classroom: Poetry, sentence fluency. Since the book is so short, it would be hard to use it for more than just that. However, extension activities could include students writing their own short poems about something meaningful to them, and practice rhyming and drawing their own picture, modeled after these brightly colored, engaging pictures.