In honor of National Poetry Month, which is coming up in April, I offer this recommendation for a mother-daughter book club meeting. Instead of everyone reading a book to discuss, you can designate a meeting dedicated to poetry

Everyone can choose their own poets to read, and here are some ideas for you to start with:

• Emily Dickinson - multiple collections of her poems, many of which are about flowers and nature
• Robert Louis Stevenson - who wrote A Child's Garden of Verse, which was popular with both children and their parents when it came out.
• Shel Silverstein - best known for Where the Sidewalk Ends, but other collections are worth a read too.
• Jack Prelutsky - author of more than 50 poetry collections, including the laugh-out-loud It's Raining Pigs and Noodles, and A Pizza the Size of the Sun.
• Alan Katz - a former writer for the Rosie O'Donnell Show, whose new collection is titled Oops!

You can also have everyone try their hand at writing a poem or two to read aloud at your next meeting. Any form will do: haiku, limericks, free verse, sonnets, tanka, odes...the list offers lots of flexibility.

One of the most interesting assignments I've ever had for book club was a poetry month. Everyone in the family got into it. My husband, two daughters and I made a trip to the library together and checked out different books of poetry. At dinner every night, we would each read aloud a poem from one of the books that had special appeal to us. Sometimes they were thoughtful, sometimes they were funny, but they all made us think about something differently.

And writing the poems wasn't as difficult as we thought when we first got the assignment. In fact, it was probably more challenging for the adults than the kids, who get practice writing poetry in school. And it was a blast to read what we had written out loud at the meeting.

For more ideas, check out the Scholastic, Inc. Web site, which lists activities appropriate for different age groups.

तब कैसा मौसम ठंडा जी

आया फिर जाड़े का मौसम

लगता सबको ठंडा जी

खुले बदन फिर भी बैठे हैं

नदी किनारे पण्डा जी

मास्टर जी के हाथ कोट में

कहां गए वो डंडा जी

कहता है हर साल यही

गणतंत्र दिवस का झण्डा जी

हो सबके पास गरम कपड़े

तब कैसा मौसम ठंडा जी !

राजेन्द्र राजन

मानव मानव एक समान

मानव मानव एक समान

निर्धन हों चाहे धनवान

मानव मानव एक समान

चाहे गोरे हों या काले

मानव मानव एक समान

बनाएंगे हम ऐसी दुनिया

ऐसा सुंदर एक समाज

जिसमें न हों ऊंच नीच के

भेदभाव के रस्म-रिवाज

हम चाहेंगे मानव के सब

गल जाएं झूठे अभियान

मानवता का अर्थ यही है

मानव मानव एक समान ।

राजेन्द्र राजन

[ रेखाचित्र कांजीलाल का बनाया है। सुधेन्दु पटेल द्वारा लिखी पुस्तक 'एक कलाकार की दृष्टि में काशी में' से लिया है। ]

She's learning to touch type. Ten minutes a day. And she's very disciplined and puts all the practice in. I'm very proud of Leah. Her parents have done a good job I think..... 

When she grows up she wants to be a vet.