April is National Poetry Month

Can you remember a poem from childhood...or even part of a poem? Little poems that we memorized long ago stay in our memories.

In April we take time to recognize poetry and the affect it has on our lives. Clever poems can make a point well. Poems are used to commemorate special occasions...from weddings to funerals to Presidential inaugurations.

The libraries have many books on poetry for children and adults. For poetry in English see the 811 and 821 non-fiction section. Here you will find poems of all types. Children especially like humorous poems...Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky are two who write funny poems for children.

Adults might remember limericks...Ogden Nash and Edward Lear are two authors who are known for their limericks.

There are many online sites that feature poetry. One of the best known and most reliable is www.poets.org. This site is sponsored by the American Academy of Poets which sponsors National Poetry Month. The site includes thousands of poems, audio recordings of poems, and biographies of poets. You can search for a specific poem and even search by occasion. If you need a poems for an anniversary or a graduation, this is a place to look.

Another poetry source is a new database that has been added to an already large collection available through the State Library of Florida. Log into www.flelibrary.org and choose LitFinder. (There are many good databases on this site, but LitFinder is a new one.)

LitFinder includes poems, short stories, essays, speeches and plays...a wealth of information all indexed and searchable. It is international in scope and updated frequently.

This database and others are available through www.flelibrary.org at your library or from home using your public library card.