Joseph Pearce - Poems Every Child Should Know

In today’s episode, author Joseph Pearce joins Ginny and Mary Ellen to discuss his book of particular interest to homeschooling families, Poems Every Child Should Know. Finding a more eloquent or eminently qualified author to speak on the subject would be challenging.  “Every child is called to be a poet.” So begins the book compiled by Joseph Pearce, Poems Every Child Should Know, but he is quick to insist that the book is for children of all ages and that this book allows parents to make available a robust volume of poetry that is accessible.  Please join us for what is sure to be a profound literary treasure! Show Notes: A native of England, Joseph Pearce is the internationally acclaimed author of many books, which include bestsellers such as The Quest for Shakespeare, Tolkien: Man and Myth, The Unmasking of Oscar Wilde, C. S. Lewis and The Catholic Church, Literary Converts, Wisdom and Innocence: A Life of G.K. Chesterton, Solzhenitsyn: A Soul in Exile and Old Thunder: A Life of Hilaire Belloc. His books have been published and translated into Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, Italian, Korean, Mandarin, Croatian, and Polish. He has hosted two 13-part television series about Shakespeare on EWTN. He has also written and presented documentaries on EWTN on the Catholicism of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. His verse drama, Death Comes for the War Poets, was performed off-Broadway to critical acclaim. He has participated in and lectured at a wide variety of international and literary events at major colleges and universities in the U.S., Canada, Britain, Europe, Africa, and South America. He is the editor of the St. Austin Review (https://staustinreview.org/), series editor of the Ignatius Critical Editions (www.ignatiuscriticaleditions.com), senior instructor with Homeschool Connections (www.homeschoolconnectionsonline.com), and senior contributor at the Imaginative Conservative and Crisis Magazine. In 2022, he was awarded the St. John Henry Newman Visiting Chair of Catholic Studies at Thomas More College (Merrimack, NH). His website is http://www.jpearce.co Poems Every Child Should Know is available at Seton Educational Media Among the topics in today’s show: Poetry was a standard part of every school curriculum until the 1950s. When Sesame Street and programs like it became standard fare in American homes, reading readiness and ability began to drop off.  G.K. Chesterton said, “the coming peril of civilization is the standardization by a low standard,” Sesame Street and its ilk are examples of that. They are cultural vandalism. Poetry is the music of language; reading it to children early, as infants, allows them to become familiar with language from the beginning. They will pick up the meanings later on with no difficulty. Simplicity has great beauty, and simple poems help us enter into a spirit of contemplation. Encourage your children to read and recite poetry. Read it to them regularly and have them recite it back to you. Host a poetry slam. Reading poetry is good, and writing poetry is also good.  We are meant to be “little creators” because we are made in the image of the Creator Himself. Write stories, tell stories, write poetry, recite poetry, compose music, play music, paint, and create. We are meant to do all these things and were created to do them because the Imago Dei is in us. We seek beauty because we long for heaven.