ABSTRACT
Children are fortunate if they enjoy hearing rhymes and jingles read or recited from an early age. Without the voices of more experienced language users, young children’s poetry experiences would be limited by their inability to read. Listening to others read or recite poetry frees our imagination to focus on enjoying the experience, comprehending what is being said without the need to decode. Some rhymes do not necessarily need to be fully understood. For example, consider this playground chant:
Eena meena macka racka rare ra dominnacker chickerbocker lollypopper om pom PUSH.
