Poetry for Young Reader Series

Today, the Home Forum begins a series that offers a fresh slant on poetry - the writing and reading of it - in both homes and schoolrooms. This opening essay is designed for parents and teachers, and describes one poet's successful journey into the classroom. The poems and stories that follow were written especially for the young people the poet worked with in schools. They explore a `kids-eye' view of poetry, play, and the life of the classroom. The series will appear on the first Wednesday of each month during the school year. The next article on Oct. 4 is titled, `The Poet's Coat.'

Steven Ratiner, the author, is a poet and freelance writer who, for a decade, has taught in the Massachusetts artists-in-residence program, conducting poetry-writing workshops for kindergarten through high school.