An Illustrated Treasury of Read-Aloud Poems for Young People (Read Aloud Library)
Grade 2-6-This shortened and illustrated volume has half of the poems found in Read-Aloud Poems for Young People (Black Dog & Leventhal, 1997) plus one new selection. The list of authors reads like a who's who of American and European poets, such as William Blake, Lewis Carroll, Robert Louis Stevenson, Rudyard Kipling, and Alfred Lord Tennyson. The more than 100 poems are organized into the same nine topics, such as "Laughing Lyrics" and "Poems to Ponder" that appeared in the earlier version. The page introducing "Nature's People" misspells Emily Dickinson's name. A selection of lovely watercolor-and-ink drawings by early-20th-century illustrators Fanny Cory, Marguerite Davis, Kate Greenaway, and Jessie Willcox Smith create an old-fashioned, nostalgic mood. The poems are attractively typeset with plenty of white space. Occasional sidebars mention interesting facts about the selections or their authors. However, the cover states the volume contains the "World's Best Loved Poems," when there is no evidence of global representation. Likewise, all of the children depicted are white. Despite the flaws, this is a solid collection of English-language children's poems and an appealing addition to library collections.Donna Cardon, Provo City Library, UTCopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.