Discussion Questions for Favorite Poems of Childhood

Pages 1-43

The Land of Nod by Robert Louis Stevenson

Where do you think dreams come from?

The Cat of Cats by William Brighty Rands

Why does he cat call itself the "everlasting cat"? (p. 2)

Trees by Joyce Kilmer

What do you think the poet means when she says, "I think that I shall never see/A poem lovely as a tree"? (p. 10)

Nurse's Song by William Blake

What does the poet mean when he says, "My heart is at rest within my breast,/And everything else is still"?

Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll

What happens in this poem? (pp. 16-17)

Why do you think Carroll made up so many words for this poem?

Do you like this poem even though you don't know what the words mean?

The Little Elf by John Kendrick Bangs

What does the little Elfman mean when he says, "I'm quite as big for me . . ./As you are big for you!"?

Pages 44-84

Laughing Song by William Blake

Why do you think Blake uses the word "laugh" so much? (p. 44)

What do you think this poem means?

The Rhyme of Dorothy Rose by Pauline Frances Camp

Why does Dorothy Rose end up being a "charming child"? (p. 53)

Mr. Coggs, Watchmaker by Edward Verrall Lucas

Why do you think Mr. Coggs pretends to dislike it when the children bring him their watches for him to fix? (p. 57)

Little Boy Blue by Eugene Field

The poem ends with this: "What has become of our Little Boy Blue/Since he kissed them [the toys] and put them there." What is your answer to that question? (p. 58)

The Quangle Wangle's Hat by Edward Lear

What do you think the Quangle Wangle looks like? What do you think it is? (pp. 59-61)

The Raggedy Man by James Whitcomb Riley

Why does the boy in the poem want to like the Raggedy Man when he grows up? (p. 65)

Great Fleas Have Little Fleas by A. De Morgan

What do you think this poem is saying about the world we live in? Does it remind you of anything you have learned in science or biology? If so, what? (p. 65)

The Peppery Man by Arthur Macy

Why do you think the Peppery Man is so angry all the time? (p. 67)

The Tyger by William Blake

Why does the poet wonder if "he who made the lamb" also made the Tyger (Tiger)? (p. 71)

In the beginning of the poem the poet asks what immortal "could frame" or make the Tyger (Tiger). At the end of the poem the poet asks what immortal would "dare frame" or make the Tyger. Why do you think the poet changes his question at the end of the poem? (p. 71)

Windy Nights by Robert Louis Stevenson

Why does the man "gallop and gallop about?" (p. 74)

I'm Nobody! Who Are You? by Emily Dickinson

Why do you think the poet calls herself "Nobody"? (p. 83)

Why do you think "they" would "banish" a "Nobody"? (p. 83)

Why do you think the poet thinks it would be "dreary" to be "Somebody"? (p. 83)

Eldorado by Edgar Allan Poe

Why do you think a shadow has come over the knight's heart? (p. 84)

Do you think the shade (the ghost) gives the knight good advice ("Ride, boldly ride")? (p. 84)