Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart
For those who lament that young people are no longer taught to memorize poetry, here’s a handsome compendium of verse well suited to that purpose and chosen with children in mind. The Children’s Poet Laureate from 2008 to 2010, Hoberman chose 123 poems that are memorable in both senses of the word. They’re “easy to remember” (though she concedes that the longer ones will take more time) and “worth remembering.” In an appended section, she discusses an approach to learning poems by heart, making the process a game with a specific prize: owning the chosen poem and keeping it for a lifetime. The selection of verse is broad, representing 57 poets, including Alarcón, Belloc, de la Mare, Esbensen, Frost, Greenfield, Grimes, Hoberman, Lear, McCord, Milne, Sandburg, Silverstein, Stevenson, Tolkien, and Worth. Created using pencil, watercolors, and pastels, Emberley’s appealing illustrations brighten every page of this large-format book. A handsome anthology of poems that children can learn by heart. Grades 3-5. --Carolyn Phelan