From collections directed at small children to anthologies for teenagers, publishers have begun to focus on young readers of poetry as a very real segment of the book-buying population. Jack Prelutsky has done a wonderfully subtle job of editing. While there are no thematic divisions, the poems build upon one another amazingly well.
Connections inferred by such clusters are inevitable and get to the root of what poetry is about.
In this way, Meilo So's illustrations also work nicely. And while The Songs of Birds boasts more stories than it does poetry, Steve Palin's lovely illustrations make up for that difference. Beautiful birds make this a collection superbly suited to parents of children interested in our aviary companions. I actually wanted to buy some seed, a pair of binoculars, and proceed to the nearest wood. In place of that, however, the book does just fine.