A poetry guide for parents

What is it?

Television channel Disney Junior and the Poetry Society have produced an online poetry guide to help develop young children’s interest in rhyme. The guide accompanies Disney Junior’s A Poem Is . series, which showcases short poems.

What they say about it

Poet Roger McGough is president of the Poetry Society and a driving force for children’s literacy in the UK. He said: “I was bought up on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Sleeping Beauty. It was just magical and enchanting. Just like I did, my grandchildren now find that same thrill. Animation, like the best children’s poetry, relates to the audience and really gets inside their minds. I love it when I’m asked to judge school poetry competitions and the children handwrite their own poems. They also do their own drawings to bring their poetry to life. I think Disney Junior’s A Poem is . series achieves that very thing, bringing poetry to life with animation, sound and movement.”

Who is it for?

Young children and their parents or guardians. The guide offers tips on the sound, sight and movement within the poems.

What else?

Watch A Poem Is . every day from 23 July to 5 August at 6.40pm on Disney Junior. Download the guide at www.disneyjunior.co.uk and find out more about the Poetry Society at www.poetrysociety.org.uk.