Casey at the Bat by Ernest L. Thayer, illustrated by Joe Morse

Teachers looking for a narrative poem to illustrate the genre, as well as poetry lovers searching for a read-aloud poem to serve as an invitation to a story may wish consider this contemporary issue of Thayer’s classic.  I shared Casey this week at the commencement of baseball season and its confluence with the start of National Poetry Month.  This particular version initially grabbed students’ attention with its urban illustrations, though the poem itself seduces the reader using the traditional elements of poetry.  The poem’s pacing and suspense are enhanced by this publication’s layout.  This selection proved perfect for a shared reading and librarians will want to have multiple copies on hand so that students eager to study the images can do so without interrupting the rhythm and rhymes of the poem as it builds the momentum to its final anti-climax, leaving students hankering for more.  --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Kids Can Press provides a pdf containing lesson plan ideas on their website.  Click here for the website and then scroll down for the pdf labeled “teaching.”

Thayer, Ernest L. Casey at the Bat.  Toronto: Kids Can Press, 2010.  Print.