One Book, Every Young Child is a statewide initiative that promotes the importance of early literacy development for children ages three to six. Each April, Pennsylvania celebrates a book whose story and illustrations encourage children’s imaginations and love of reading.

The beauty of the natural world can be found all around us if only we take the time to look. Many people acknowledge that beauty with words and illustrations. This year’s One Book, Every Young Child selection is Daniel Finds a Poem by Micha Archer. We follow a boy each day of the week as he tries to find answers to the question “What is poetry?” The answer leads to a beautifully written poem about nature.

Poetry is an excellent tool for promoting a child’s language development skills: rhythm, vocabulary, phonemic awareness and memorization.

There are many great books that explore the wonders of nature, seasons, and animals, while many more include poetry and nursery rhymes for children. Reading any of these books aloud will help children take those important steps in developing a life-long pleasure for reading.