Poetry Speaks to Children, Read & Hear [book & CD]

After reading it, I thought the book was a great selection. And then, I listened to the accompanying CD. Let me tell you, the CD makes the book a true gem of a find.

Overall, the book is filled with wonderful poems by a variety of poets, including J.R.R. Tolkien, Nikki Giovanni, Margaret Walker, Lewis Carroll, Agha Shahid Ali, W.B. Yeats, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Rita Dove, and X. J. Kennedy, among others. The poems range from the whimsical and the funny to the more serious.

While the book itself is wonderful, the CD truly does make this a fantastic read/listen. There is simply something wonderful about listening to Robert Frost read his "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" or listening to Nikki Giovanni tell us "Reasons Why I show more like Chocolate" and then listening to her read three of her other poetry selections included in this piece: "Trips", "Mommies", and "Knoxville, Tennessee". Equally fantastic is listening to Langston Hughes explain when and why he wrote "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" and then go on to read the poem.

Of the selections included on the CD, my absolute favorite was hearing J.R.R. Tolkien read "Frodo's Song in Bree", which was from The Fellowship of the Ring. Another favorite was listening to Joy Harjo read "Eagle Poem", a Native American song.

While the poetry selections included on the CD were wonderful, I found myself wishing that others, specifically Margaret Wise Brown's "The Secret Song" and versus from "The Elephant's Child" by Rudyard Kipling, had been included on the CD.

Overall, however, this book is simply fantastic. show less

After reading it, I thought the book was a great selection. And then, I listened to the accompanying CD. Let me tell you, the CD makes the book a true gem of a find.

Overall, the book is filled with wonderful poems by a variety of poets, including J.R.R. Tolkien, Nikki Giovanni, Margaret Walker, Lewis Carroll, Agha Shahid Ali, W.B. Yeats, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Rita Dove, and X. J. Kennedy, among others. The poems range from the whimsical and the funny to the more serious.

While the book itself is wonderful, the CD truly does make this a fantastic read/listen. There is simply something wonderful about listening to Robert Frost read his "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" or listening to Nikki Giovanni tell us "Reasons Why I show more like Chocolate" and then listening to her read three of her other poetry selections included in this piece: "Trips", "Mommies", and "Knoxville, Tennessee". Equally fantastic is listening to Langston Hughes explain when and why he wrote "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" and then go on to read the poem.

Of the selections included on the CD, my absolute favorite was hearing J.R.R. Tolkien read "Frodo's Song in Bree", which was from The Fellowship of the Ring. Another favorite was listening to Joy Harjo read "Eagle Poem", a Native American song.

While the poetry selections included on the CD were wonderful, I found myself wishing that others, specifically Margaret Wise Brown's "The Secret Song" and versus from "The Elephant's Child" by Rudyard Kipling, had been included on the CD.

Overall, however, this book is simply fantastic. show less

This was one of the best poetry compilation books I have had the pleasure of reading. Specifically geared towards lower elementary students, this book contains poems that caters towards younger children's interest while still allowing for "big thinking" about poetry. This anthology spans various types of poetry, subject matter and characters. The bonus: included is a CD with each poem read aloud by poets, mainly by the authors themselves.

All of my children love this book. I like that it has some of the actual poets reading their work on the CD. I do wish they hadn't abbreviated some works, for example, The Raven.

This book of poetry has a little of everything for children! There are poems of almost all topics, making this an excellent introduction of poetry. And the best part of this book is that there is a CD available so that you can listen to most of these poems, read by the authors themselves! The beautiful illustrations give a uniqueness to each poem.

A wonderful collection of poetry for children covering all topics and grade levels. The book also includes a cd that provides an audio for each written pieces. This book was given to me my teacher mentor upon the completion of my student teaching. I use many poems in class.

Gr K Up—This colorfully illustrated collection of 95 poems includes an audio CD of poets reading their own work. Some poets change the words while reading, suggesting that poetry “lives and evolves” (v). Others, such as Langston Hughes, preface their poems with introductions. Some poems [John Hollander’s “Vowel Owl (Roger)”] provide opportunities for phoneme awareness. This is a unique and invaluable resource.