Jan Carr

Four skilled children's book editors, nine Caldecott Medal-winning illustrators and sixty-one authors—some world famous and some more obscure—come together in this wonderful anthology of poetry for children. The 128 poems presented here are divided into nine thematic sections, each illustrated by a different artist: Fun With Rhymes illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman / Mostly Weather illustrated by Marcia Brown / Spooky Poems illustrated by Margot Zemach / Story Poems illustrated by show more Maurice Sendak / Mostly Animals illustrated by Arnold Lobel / Mostly People illustrated by Marc Simont / Mostly Nonsense illustrated by Richard Egielski / Seeing, Feeling, Thinking illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon / In a Few Word illustrated by Marcia Brown. The poems themselves vary in structure, subject matter and length. There are haikus from such masters as Issa and Buson, and longer story poems like The Jumblies from Edward Lear. There are authors who are most famous in the world of adult letters—Robert Frost, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Langston Hughes—and others known for their children's poetry—Shel Silverstein, Jack Prelutsky. The book closes with an index of titles, an index of first lines, an index of authors, and a series of brief biographical notes about the illustrators...

Published in 1988, Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child's Book of Poems is an expansion of an earlier anthology, Poems Children Will Sit Still for: A Selection for the Primary Grades, which was published in 1969, and which contained 106 poems. That earlier collection was edited by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, Eva Moore and Mary Michaels White, who were the staff of Scholastic's "Lucky Book Club," a paperback book program for grade schoolers, and it was designed for use by teachers in the classroom. Jan Carr came on as a fourth editor in the 1980s, working with Eva Moore to add additional poems for this expanded version, and commissioning artwork from the nine Caldecott medalists. Sing a Song of Popcorn wasn't just an expansion of the content and presentation of the original however, but was also envisioned as a title for an expanded audience. It would still be presented as an anthology for use in the classroom, but would also be aimed at individual children and their families, for enjoyment at home, in the personal and family circle. I think it would work admirably in both contexts, with its mix of poems and illustrative styles. I enjoy the work of all of these artists—Trina Schart Hyman and Margot Zemach are particular favorites—and I enjoyed seeing how their different styles matched up with the different themes. Although I read many, many children's books, I don't read enough poetry, so this was a welcome diversion, and I particularly enjoyed reading the selections aloud, as recommended by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers in her introduction. Recommended to anyone looking for a good general poetry anthology, one with a mix of styles and themes, for younger children. show less

For those of us, including me and [a:Lynne Truss|5571|Lynne Truss|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1215628380p2/5571.jpg], who abhor the greengrocer's' apostrophe," this is an enjoyable and important book. But if it doesn't bother you to see signs that read "Fresh Apple's $1" then you might not want to read this - though for you it's probably even more important. ;)

But the main thing about this is that it's fun and lively, and clear, and can be used to help cement the understanding of the show more 'easier' punctuation marks.

The illustrations remind me of the style of [a:Jan Thomas|871172|Jan Thomas|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-F-50x66-2a9d702c2a0f483c9f7dd119cc28a9a7.jpg], for example [bc:Rhyming Dust Bunnies|10152896|Rhyming Dust Bunnies|Jan Thomas|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344661891s/10152896.jpg|5836824]." show less

An updated collection of the originally-titled “Poems Children Will Sit Still For: a Selection for the Primary Grades” with Caldecott Medal winning-artists illustrating each section:

“Fun with Rhymes” illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman
“Mostly Weather” illustrated by Marcia Brown
“Spooky Poems” illustrated by Margot Zemach
“Story Poems” illustrated by Maurice Sendak
“Mostly Animals” illustrated by Arnold Lobel
“Mostly People” illustrated by Marc Simont
“Mostly show more Nonsense” illustrated by Richard Egielski
“Seeing, Feeling, Thinking” illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon
“In a Few Words” illustrated by Marcia Brown

The poems run the gamut from silly to intriguing; Pauline Clarke’s “My Name Is . . .” is sure to delight young readers with its silly names like Sluggery-wuggery, Jiggery-pokery, and Riddle-me-re while Robert Frost’s classic “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” will evoke thoughts of snowy days and winter woods. Some, like Langston Hughes’s “Winter Moon” or Carl Sandberg’s “Arithmetic” will be instantly recognizable to readers; others, like Karla Kuskin’s “I Have a Lion” or Richard Armour’s “Pachycephalosaurus” are sure to become a young reader’s new-found favorites.

Read it [aloud, please] for the words and the rhymes, explore the pictures . . . this is a book to return to again and again and again.

Several indexes follow the poems: Index of Titles, Index of First Lines, Index of Authors; a brief piece about each of the illustrators is also included.

Highly recommended. show less

Updated and illustrated for use by families from the teacher's collection "Poems Children Will Sit Still For."
A broad enough selection that most readers will find something to love. I admire the editors for trying to avoid the commonplace but instead going back to the source to find each poet's other best poem.... But since these were collected, others have done the same, and also collected from here, and so now many of these are all too familiar, too. And of course many newer poets have show more published verses worth collecting.

In any case, if you're still looking for a collection for ages 3-9 or so, you could do worse than this.

The illustrations are captivating. And fans of Trina Schart Hyman will want to view a copy just for her contributions. I like how each illustrator got a section. For example Hyman got "Fun With Rhymes" and Marc Simont got "Mostly People."

One of my favorite new to me poems that I do think children would like is "Necks."

The swan has a neck that is curly and long.
The camel has one that is shaggy and strong.
But the spotted giraffe
Has a neck and a half.

It's by Rowena Bennett, of whom I've never heard... I'll investigate.

Ditto A.R. Ammons, for "Mirrorment"

Birds are flowers flying
and flowers perched birds.
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Reread. Comments and ratings hold. I'll add that this time I thought a lot about which poems would be easy and fun to memorize, to "put in your pocket." Let's try Langston Hughes'

Winter Moon

How thin and sharp is the moon tonight!
How thin and sharp and ghostly white
Is the slim curved crook of the moon tonight!

Btw, upon this reread I read the preface more carefully and noted that the editors remind us to read aloud. In this collection that is especially important.

Also, I read this for Picture-Book club. While longer than traditional picture-books, there is an illustration for (almost?) every poem, and one could think of the book as an omnibus of 9 different short collections. Iow, it's totally suitable for rug rats on up. show less