My children have been asking lots of questions recently about their family history, which is in part closely connected with Uruguay and Argentina – this has led to reminiscences of a wonderful trip to the waterfalls at Iguazu and, naturally, led me to go and pull Francisco X. Alarcón’s book of Animal Poems of the Iguazú/ Animalario del Iguazú (Children’s Book Press, 2008) off the shelf. This is a vibrant book of poems, many of them quick, witty epigrams about individual rainforest species. Maya Christina Gonzalez‘ vibrant illustrations fairly zing off the page too! Here’s part of the English version of one of the longer poems, the last in the book, that brings all the animals together. It’s called “Same Green Fate”:

let’s listen to
the green voice
of the rainforest[...]

let’s learn
the distinct
living alphabets

of so many species
so many insects
and butterflies[...]

let’s make the world
a true Ybirá Retá -
a Land of the Trees

And that touch of Guaraní is echoed in the Spanish version too. Wonderful! If I close my eyes, I can relive one magical, wildlife-and-waterfall-filled early morning walk… Well, if you can’t actually be there, these poems are the next best thing!

This week’s Poetry Friday is hosted by Anastasia Suen at Picture Book of the Day – head on over!

Following on from my post on Friday, about Danielle Wright’s My Village, I’d like to draw your attention to another website which is a treasure-trove for anyone wanting to know about rhymes and nursery songs from all over the world: Mama Lisa’s World, written by Lisa Yannucci, who has contributed a Personal View to our current issue of PaperTigers, “Opening up the World (and the Web) to Children through Songs and Nursery Rhymes“.

On Mama Lisa’s World, the vast collection of songs and rhymes is organised by continent and country – and if you have a favorite from your childhood, or one that you sing with your children or class, which is not already featured, Lisa would love to hear from you. Or, if you can’t quite remember that favorite, you can send out a call for it via Lisa’s blog - like this latest one about a rhyme from Latvia.

The blog provides a wonderful exploration of different cultures through children’s rhyme – I loved this recent post about Japanese lullabies and this one with gorgeous photos of children in Indonesia! And serendipitously, her latest post ties in perfectly with what I was saying on Friday about our new kitten and puppy – an old English poem about “How Kids Should Treat Pets”…

Linking in with our current music theme on PaperTigers, our featured book on the Tiger’s Bookshelf at the moment is the beautifully produced My Village: Rhymes from Around the World, collected by Danielle Wright, illustrated by Mique Moriuchi and introduced by Michael Rosen (Gecko Press, 2008). Aline has already blogged about it (and it’s well worth reading her post if you missed it first time round, as well as her full review on the PaperTigers website) – so I won’t say more about the book itself except that it is a delight.

Since we have just had our lives turned topsy-turvy by the arrival in our midst of both a kitten and a puppy, we have been looking for poems about cats and dogs. Funnily enough, we haven’t so far found any with both animals together (so do let us know of any suggestions…) but here in My Village, both get a mention. “Little Friends, Hand in Hand/ Xiao Peng You, Gou Gou Shou” from China is about a Puppy, a Piglet and a Monkey and would be a fun action rhyme to share with a little one; and “Hush You Mice” is a catchy verse from Russia about a cat:

Hush you mice! a cat is near us,
He can see us, he can hear us.
- What if he is on a diet? -
Even then you should be quiet!

I really like it that the original languages are also provided, both in their original and Western script where appropriate. This integrity of language is very much a reflection of the It’s A Small World website, set up by Danielle. It’s great news that they are now working on a second book – and the call has gone out that they “would love to hear from anyone with rhymes – particularly USA, Spain, Korea, Sweden, England, Mexico, Poland and Finland.”

And why not join their Book Crossing Experiment – a great idea for parents and teachers to do with their children: “a cross between a treasure hunt and a message in a bottle!”?

This week’s Poetry Friday is hosted by Kyle at The Boy Reader…