Poetry Speaks to Children Author:Elise Paschen (Editor), Judy Love (Illustrator), Wendy Rasmussen (Illustrator), Paula Zinngrabe Wendland (Editor) Poetry Speaks to Children (Book & CD) — In the tradition of Poetry Speaks, the anthology named a Best Book of 2002 by School Library Journal, and praised by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer as "a volume to delight longtime lovers of poetry and to spark new love for poetry, especially among the young," Sourcebooks Medi... more »aFusion is proud to introduce the joy of the written and spoken word in Poetry Speaks to Children.
Parents, educators, librarians, and poetry enthusiasts have wondered for years how to get children really interested in poetry. Until now, there hasn't been a collection of poems and poets that spoke directly to that elusive audience. Poetry Speaks to Children cracks through that barrier by packaging the best poems by the best authors along with a CD-making the engrossing and often mischievous verses come alive in the voices of many of the creators.
Poetry Speaks to Children reaches into the world of poetry and pulls out the elements children love: rhyme, rhythm, fun and, every once in a while, a little mischief.
More than 90 poems, for children ages six and up, celebrate the written word and feature a star-studded lineup of beloved poets, including: Roald Dahl; J. R. R. Tolkien; Robert Frost; Gwendolyn Brooks; Ogden Nash; John Ciardi; Langston Hughes; Sonia Sanchez; Seamus Heaney; Canada's best-loved children's poet, Dennis Lee; Rita Dove; Billy Collins; Nikki Giovanni and X. J. Kennedy.
On the accompanying CD, 52 of the poems are brought to life-most read by the poets themselves-allow the reader to hear the words as the poets intended.
Hear Gwendolyn Brooks growl her rhyming verse poem "The Tiger Who Wore White Gloves, or, What You Are You Are" with verve and inflection-relaying the story of the striped cat who "rushed to the jungle fair for something fine to wear," much to the hoots of his jungle peers. Amid jeers, sneers and sighs, the tiger eventually learns to be comfortable in his own striped skin (or fur as it were!).
Follow Ogden Nash as he tells of the brave little Isabel, who "didn't worry, didn't scream or scurry" when confronted with a ravenous bear, a one-eyed giant or a troublesome doctor. Her clever solutions to problems ("She turned the witch into milk and drank her") will keep even the most reluctant readers interested.
Listen to James Berry, who quells a little girl's anxieties about her color by celebrating the marriage of "night and light," emphasizing how all colors are necessary in nature, in "Okay, Brown Girl, Okay."
Turn the page and tune in . . . kids won't be the only ones hooked!
First book / Rita Dove --
The quarrel / Maxine Kumin --
Letter to Bee / Emily Dickinson --
Hurt no living thing / Christina D. Rossetti --
Stopping by woods on a snowy evening / Robert Frost --
Wolf / Billy Collins --
The tiger who wore white gloves / Gwendolyn Brooks --
From "The adventures of Isabel" / Ogden Nash --
On a flimmering floom you shall ride / Carl Sandburg --
El chicle / Ana Castillo --
The dentist and the crocodile / Roald Dahl --
Bear song / Kay Ryan --
Jabberwocky / Lewis Carroll --
Sneeze / Maxine Kumin --
Mrs. Mitchell's underwear / Dennis Lee --
Okay, brown girl, okay / James Berry --
Vowel owl (Roger) / John Hollander --
Magic words / Anonymous Inuit Poet, trans. by Edward Field --
The unwritten / W.S. Merwin --
Crayons : a rainbow poem / Jane Yolen --
Gas / C.K. Williams --
Knitted things / Karla Kuskin --
From Macbeth / William Shakespeare --
Frodo's song in Bree / J.R.R. Tolkien --
Eagle poem / Joy Harjo --
The Negro speaks of rivers / Langston Hughes --
I rise, I rise / Anonymous Osage poet --
Verses from "The elephant's child" / Rudyard Kipling --
Alphabet, pt. 1 / Seamus Heaney --
John Smith and his son, John Smith / Wallace Stevens --
About the teeth of sharks / John Ciardi --
Dinosaur diets / Jane Yolen --
My sister saw a dinosaur / Mary Ann Hoberman --
Joey / Brad Leithauser --
Rabbit / Mary Ann Hoberman --
At last / James Stevenson --
Epigram engraved on the collar of a dog which I gave to His Royal Highness / Alexander Pope --
Balloons / William Jay Smith --
Hide and seek / Robert Graves --
Every time I climb a tree / David McCord --
The reason I like chocolate / Nikki Giovanni --
Trips / Nikki Giovanni --
Mommies / Nikki Giovanni --
Lineage / Margaret Walker --
Snowmen / Agha Shahid Ali --
Good luck gold / Janet S. Wong --
The secret song / Margaret Wise Brown --
Why? / James Stevenson --
The question / Karla Kuskin --
First grade / William Stafford --
Crying / Galway Kinnell --
Art class / X.J. Kennedy --
How to paint a donkey / Naomi Shihab Nye --
Daddy fell into the pond / Alfred Noyes --
Working with mother / Myra Cohn Livingston --
A faery song / W.B. Yeats --
The unicorn / Rainer Maria Rilke, translated by Paul Muldoon --
The lion and the lily / Elizabeth Spires --
hist whist / E.E. Cummings --
The ghost and Jenny Jemina / Dennis Lee --
From "The raven" / Edgar Allan Poe --
Sheep party / John Fuller --
Jamacian song / James Berry --
Halfway down / A.A. Milne --
Count to ten and we'll be there / Rita Dove --
opposite poem 4 / Richard Wilbur --
opposite poems 7 and 20 / Richard Wilbur --
From "The tale of Custard the Dragon" / Ogden Nash --
Good hot dogs / Sandra Cisneros --
Lies, all lies / William Cole --
Which is the best? / James Stevenson --
Casey at the bat / Ernest L. Thayer --
The testing tree, pt. 1 / Stanley Kunitz --
Skating in the wind / Kristine O'Connell George --
A poem for Jesse / Sonia Sanchez --
To P.J. / Sonia Sanchez --
Valentine / Donald Hall --
Summer / W.D. Snodgrass --
Winter / W.D. Snodgrass --
The sun has a tail / Emanuel di Pasquale --
Knoxville, Tennessee / Nikki Giovanni --
I am cherry alive / Delmore Schwartz --
The tyger / William Blake --
Conversation with a mouse / Robert Bly --
On turning ten / Billy Collins --
How to stay up late / X.J. Kennedy --
Flashlight / X.J. Kennedy --
Maturity / X.J. Kennedy --
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod / Eugene Field --
Little / Dorothy Aldis --
Two in bed / Abram Bunn Ross --
Brother / Mary Ann Hoberman ---
The land of counterpane / Robert Lewis Stevenson --