A Poem To Read Aloud Every Day

Everyone benefits from reading aloud, whether it’s a bedtime story with Dad or Granny, an intimate moment with a loved one, or a performance to a group of people. Both the reader and the listener gain a far greater understanding of the poem, its subject matter, and the mood the poet wants to convey—the words hit us more powerfully and meaningfully. And what’s more, it’s good for our health: mindfully reading aloud has been proven to help with relaxation, alongside improvements in working memory, vocabulary acquisition, and communication skills.

With a wide and diverse range of poets including the fourteenth-century Persian poet Hafiz and Mary Oliver in the twenty-first century, old favorites such as Emily Dickinson and more recent voices such as Lemn Sissay, the obvious classics such as Wordsworthand slightly more offbeat fare like Spike Milligan, there’s something for everyone in this book: poems that are funny, sad, consoling, uplifting, and everything in between.