April is National Poetry Month! Share a Poem With Your Child!

When Mother Reads Aloud

When Mother reads aloud, the past
Seems real as every day;
I hear the tramp of armies vast,
I see the spears and lances cast,
I join the thrilling fray;
Brave knights and ladies fair and proud
I meet when Mother reads aloud.

When Mother reads aloud, far lands
Seem very near and true;
I cross the deserts’ gleaming sands,
Or hunt the jungle’s prowling bands,
Or sail the ocean blue.
Far heights, whose peaks the cold mists shroud,
I scale, when Mother reads aloud.

When Mother reads aloud, I long
For noble deeds to do...
To help the right, redress the wrong;
It seems so easy to be strong,
So simple to be true.
Oh, thick and fast the visions crowd
My eyes, when Mother reads aloud.

- Author Unknown

The above oil painting, Jungle Tales, was done by American artist James Jebusa Shannon in  1895. You and your children can see it at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. 

For more information on  James Jebusa Shannon go to : http://jssgallery.org/Other_Artists/James_Jebusa_Shannon/James_Jebusa_Shannon.html