Brings together over 300 nursery rhymes and poems suitable for reading aloud to babies and toddlers. As well as traditional rhymes like " Jack and Jill" , the collection also includes rhymes by Christina Rosetti, and contemporary poetry by writers such as Charles Causley and Grace Nichols.

With the increased focus on children’s language in Early Years education, poetry can be a valuable tool in enhancing speaking, listening and communication. This book provides parents and practitioners with a guide on how and where to start with using poetry with children. Combined with practical suggestions on finding and using poems with children of differing ages and language ability, it also offers advice on how to encourage children to create and develop their own poems. Exploring Poetry with Young Children includes an anthology of a wide range of poems to use with children based on their everyday experiences, ensuring that adults can enhance the learning experience as it happens and enrich the language development of the children in their care. Divided into two parts, this book covers: the nature of poetry and why it can be such important part of our well-being; ways of using and sharing poetry with babies and toddlers; how to share poetry with children as they become confident users of language; the rhyming aspects of verse and ways in which these can be used to develop children’s phonic awareness; the importance of establishing a poetic awareness in young children. This will be an essential guide for all Early Years practitioners, students and parents who are interested in using poetry to develop the speaking, listening and communication skills of young children.

A collection of simple Nursery rhymes and short stories from yesteryear.

This collection is accompanied by a 45 minute CD featuring over 75 favourite nursery rhymes and songs, such as Sing a Song of Sixpence, Pat-a-cake and Simple Simon; CD also includes soothing verse and lullabies, playtime chants and action rhymes. Ages 3+.

Winner of the United Kingdom Literacy Association's Author Award 2011 for its contribution to extending children's literacy. Praise for the book: 'This book is about making readers. A compact summary of its contents would not do it justice. It is the accountof a life's work and it deserves thanks and readers. *****'. - Margaret Meek, Books for Keeps on-line, Number 185, November 2010. 'This book is a cornucopia of varied pleasures, offering something for all tastes, presented with an awareness of the complexities of the field and communicated with commitment, enthusiasm and deep knowledge'. - Eve Bearne, English 4-11, the primary school journal of The English Association, Number 42, Summer 2011. Choosing and Using Fiction and Non-Fiction 3-11 is a guide to the many kinds of text we want children to encounter, use and enjoy during their nursery and primary school years. So children’s non-fiction literature – including autobiography, biography, information and reference texts – is given equal status with fiction – nursery rhymes, picturebooks, novels, traditional tales, playscripts and poetry. The author addresses important issues and allows the voices of teachers, reviewers and children to be heard. The book supports teachers as they help children on their journey to becoming insightful and critical readers of non-fiction and sensitive and reflective readers of fiction. It also contains suggestions for practice which are in the spirit of the more flexible and creative approach to learning towards which primary schools are moving. It includes: help on using criteria to select quality texts of all kinds; annotated booklists for each kind of text for different age groups; suggestions for keeping a balance between print and screen-based texts; case studies showing teachers and children using texts in interesting and imaginative ways to support learning in English lessons and across the curriculum; advice on developing children’s visual and multimodal literacy; guidance on using the school library and embedding study skills in children’s wider purposes and learning; critiques of key theoretical perspectives and research projects. Although the main readership will be primary and student teachers, it is hoped that the book will be of interest and use to anyone concerned with the role of texts in children’s learning.