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Western Washington University to host exhibit featuring historical children’s poetry

Western Libraries Archives & Special Collections will host a new exhibition entitled “Listen to Children: The Jack Prelutsky Antiquarian Children’s Poetry Collection.” The exhibit opens on April 1 and will be available for viewing Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. or by appointment (closed weekends and holidays) in Special Collections, (Wilson 6th floor), through Dec. 13.

The exhibit is free and open to the public.

Selected from nearly 1,200 rare books donated by award-winning author and inaugural U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate Jack Prelutsky to the Children’s Poetry Collections at Western Libraries, the material in this exhibition spans two hundred and fifty years in the history of poetry for the young and young at heart. Topical themes include didactic poetry, Mother Goose, nature, nonsense verse for children and adults, imaginary voyages, illustration, and moveable books. The exhibit also looks at how poetry has been used to introduce children to history and current events.

In honor of National Poetry Month in April, and in conjunction with the opening of the Prelutsky exhibit, Western Libraries will also be co-hosting an event with Village Books featuring poet, educator, and bestselling author Kwame Alexander, on Wednesday, April 10, from 7-8 p.m. in the Sehome High School auditorium. Advanced registration for this event is required and registration details are online on Village Books’ website at: https://www.villagebooks.com/event/litlive-kwame-alexander-041024.

For more information or to schedule class or group visits to the exhibit, please contact Michael Taylor, Special Collections librarian, taylo213@wwu.edu, (360) 650-3097, or Sylvia Tag, youth literature librarian, stag@wwu.edu, (360) 650-7992.