Part I: Recent Poetry Books for Choral Reading in Grades 2-8

In this post I provide a list of recent poetry books that can be used as text sources for choral reading. In Part II. Sample Arrangements for Choral Reading, I provide a slideshare explaining how to conduct choral reading and sample arrangements of poems taken from the list of books below.

Grades 2-5

Bochard, David. (2014). Voices From the Wild: An Animal Sensagoria. Illustrated by Ron Parker. Markham, ON: Fitzhenry & Whiteside.

Elliott, David. (2014). On the Wing. Illustrated by Becca Stadtlander. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

Frank, John. (2014). Lend a Hand: Poems About Giving. Illustrated by London Ladd. New York: Lee & Low Books.

Greenfield, Eloise. (2010). The Great Migration: Journey to the North. Illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist. New York: Amistad.

Iyengar, Malathi. (2009). Tan to Tamarind: Poems About the Color Brown. Illustrated by Jamel Akib. New York: Lee & Low Books.

Janeczko, Paul. (2014). Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems. Illustrated by Melissa Sweet. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

Jiang, Emily. (2014). Summoning the Phoenix: Poems and Prose About Chinese Musical Instruments. Illustrated by April Chu. New York: Lee & Low Books.

Johnston, Tony. (2014). Sequoia. Paintings by Wendell Minor. New York: Roaring Brook Press.

Mora, Pat. (2014). Water Rolls, Water Rises: El agua rueda, el agua sube. Illustrated by Meilo So. New York: Lee & Low Books. 

Rogé. (2014 ). Haiti My Country. Illustrated by Rogé. Markham, ON: Fitzhenry & Whiteside.

Rogé. (2013 ). Mingan My Village. Illustrated by Rogé. Markham, ON: Fitzhenry & Whiteside.

Sidman, Joyce. (2014). Winter Bees and Other Poems of the Cold.  Illustrated by Rick Allen, San Diego, CA: Houghton Mifflin. 

Sidman, Joyce. (2010). Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature’s Survivors. Illustrated by Beckie Prange. San Diego, CA: Houghton Mifflin.

Singer, Marilyn.  (2011). A Full Moon Rising. Illustrated by Julia Cairns. New York: Lee & Low Books.

Wood block from Etched in Clay.

Grades 5-8

Cheng, Andrea. (2013). Etched in Clay: The Life of Dave, Enslaved Potter and Poet. New York: Lee & Low Books.

Lewis, J. Patrick & George Ella Lyons. (2014). Voices from the March on Washington. Honesdale, PA: WordSong.

Nelson, Marilyn. (2014). How I Discovered Poetry. Illustrated by Hadley  Hooper. New York: Dial.

Shange, Ntozake. (2012). Freedom's a-Callin Me. Illustrated by Rod Brown. New York: Amistad.

Smith, Hope Anita. (2011). The Way a Door Closes. Illustrated by Shane W. Evans. New York: Square Fish.

Smith, Hope Anita. (2009). Mother Poems. New York: Henry Holt.

Woodson, Jacqueline. (2014). Brown Girl Dreaming. New York: Nancy Paulsen Books.

Recent Books about War & Civil Unrest: Grades 5-8

Novels
Agosín, Marjorie. (2014). I Lived on Butterfly Hill. Illustrated by Lee White. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. (Pinochet’s takeover of Chile)
Avi. (2012). Sophia's War. New York: Beach Lane Books.
Bradman, Tony. (Ed.). (2014). Stories of WWI. London, UK: Orchard Books. (WWI)
Dallas, Sandra. (2014). Red Berries, White Clouds, Blue Sky. Ann Arbor, MI: Sleeping Bear Press. (Japanese Interment, WWII)
Faulkner, Matt. (2014). Gaijin: American Prisoner of War. New York: Hyperion. (Japanese Interment, WWII)
Fleming, David. (2013). The Saturday Boy. Viking Children's (US-Afghanistan)
Foreman, Michael. (2014). War Game: Village Green to No-Man's-Land. London, UK: Pavillion. (WWI)
Gonzalez, Christina Diaz. (2012). A Thunderous Whisper. New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers. (Spanish Civil War/WWII)
Gonzalez, Christina Diaz. (2010). The Red Umbrella. New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers. (Castro's Revolution, Cuba, 1961)
Matti, Truus. (2013). Mister Orange. Brooklyn, NY: Enchanted Lion Books. (WWII - Set in Manhattan)
Morpurg, Michael. (2012/2015). A Medal for Leroy. New York: Square Fish. (WWI)
Myers, Walter Dean. (2013). Invasion. New York: Scholastic. (WWII) (Grade 8 and higher)

Pellegrino, Marge. (2014). Journey of Dreams. London, UK: Frances Lincoln Children's Books. (Guatemala, 1980s)
Voorhoeve, Anne C. (2012). My Family for the War. New York: Penguin. (Kindertransport, WWII)
Whelan, Gerard. (2013). The Guns of Easter. Dublin, Ireland: The O'Brien Press. (Dublin, 1916)

Novels in Verse/Poetry
Brown, Skilla. (2014). Caminar. Somerville, MA: Candlewick. (Guatemala, 1980s)
Frost, Helen. (2013). Salt: A Story of Friendship in a Time of War. New York:  Farrar, Straus and Giroux. (War of 1812)
Lewis, J. Patrick. (2014). Harlem Hellfighters. Illustrated by Gary Kelley. Mankato, MN: Creative Editions.  (World War I)

Lewis, J. Patrick. (2012). And the Soldiers Sang. Illustrated by Gary Kelley. Mankato, MN: Creative Editions.  (World War I)
Lewis, J. Patrick. (2009). The House. Illustrated by Robert Innocenti. Mankato, MN: Creative Editions.  (World War II to Present)
Nagai, Mariko. (2014). Dust of Eden: A Novel.  Park Ridge, IL: Albert Whitman & Company. (Japanese Interment, WWII)

Nonfiction

Arato, Rona. (2013). The Last Train: A Holocaust Story. Toronto, ON: Owlkids Books. (WWII/Holocaust)

Ellis, Deborah. (2010). Children of War: Voices of Iraqi Refugees. Toronto: Groundwood Books. (US-Iraq War)

Farrell, Mary Cronk & First Lieutenant Diane Carlson Evans. (2014). Pure Grit: How American World War II Nurses Survived Battle and Prison Camp in the Pacific. New York:  Abrams Books.

Marrin, Albert. (2104). A Volcano Beneath the Snow: John Brown's War Against Slavery. New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers. (1800-1859)

Matthews, Jenny. (2014). Children Growing Up with War. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.  (Refugee Camps, Contemporary)

Moss, Marissa. (2013). Barbed Wire Baseball. Illustrated by Yuko Shimizu. New York: Abrams Books. (Japanese Interment/WWII)

Stone,Tanya Lee. (2013). Courage Has No Color, The True Story of the Triple Nickles. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press. (WWII)

Walker, NIki. (2013). Why Do We Fight?: Conflict, War, and Peace. Toronto, ON: Owlkids Books.

Wilkes, Sybella.  (2010). Out of Iraq: Refugees' Stories in Words, Paintings and Music. Evans Brothers. (US-Iraq War)