Poetry for Kids on HBO Family Channel
Check this out! I highly recommend the Classical Baby – The Poetry Show coming to HBO April 12 on HBO Family. Set to classical music, this collection includes classic poetry such as “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost, “The Swing” by Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams, “Grass Grass Grass” by Woodie Guthrie, “The Owl and the Pussy Cat” by Edward Lear, and many more. The part I loved most about is were the live action segments of real children expressing their thoughts about the poetry. “I like poetry because it can have a lot of different meanings to it.” “It’s like music in your head when you read it.” A group of elementary-age children candidly talk about how the poetry affects them and their comments ring so true. “Poetry is a pretty way of saying something.” “It’s like music. It has a beat, a rhythm … just like music. Obviously, these kids have thought about it a bit. “Sometimes you have to read it more than once to really get it.” “Maybe you love somebody so much that there are no words for it. You just have to write down what you feel.” And, they don’t miss a beat in terms of execution. “You don’t have to put in a period, a comma, or an exclamation point. You just put it down the way it comes out of your head. That’s the way it is.” Summary – “It’s just beautiful.” Try it, you’ll love it. HBO Family’s Peabody and Emmy Award-winning animation team has created yet another winner from the Classical Baby franchise. It’s all-star cast includes Gwyneth Paltrow, Susan Sarandon, Geoffrey Wright, Andy Garcia and John Lithgow. It’s the brainchild of director-producer Amy Schatz and animator Maciek Albrecht. Schatz produced the Emmy Award-winning HBO family specials “Through a Child’s Eyes: September 11, 2001,” “Goodnight Moon and Other Sleepytime Tales,” “How Do You Spell God?,” “Going, Going, Almost Gone! Animals in Danger,” and “Twas the Night.” Produced in association with the Poetry Foundation, it offers a vehicle to plant the seeds for a lifelong love of the music of words. It is scheduled to play April 12, 16, 20, 24, and 29. Tivo it! It’s also coming out in DVD on April 15 and at $9.98, it’s a great value for introducing your kids to poetry.
