New York Times Bestseller!
In the tradition of Poetry Speaks, the anthology named a Best Book of 2002 by School Library Journal, and praised by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer as "a volume to delight longtime lovers of poetry and to spark new love for poetry, especially among the young," Sourcebooks MediaFusion is proud to introduce the joy of the written and spoken word in Poetry Speaks to Children.
Parents, educators, librarians, and poetry enthusiasts have wondered for years how to get children really interested in poetry. Until now, there hasn't been a collection of poems and poets that spoke directly to that elusive audience. Poetry Speaks to Children cracks through that barrier by packaging the best poems by the best authors along with a CD-making the engrossing and often mischievous verses come alive in the voices of many of the creators.
Poetry Speaks to Children reaches into the world of poetry and pulls out the elements children love: rhyme, rhythm, fun and, every once in a while, a little mischief.
More than 90 poems, for children ages six and up, celebrate the written word and feature a star-studded lineup of beloved poets, including: Roald Dahl; J. R. R. Tolkien; Robert Frost; Gwendolyn Brooks; Ogden Nash; John Ciardi; Langston Hughes; Sonia Sanchez; Seamus Heaney; Canada's best-loved children's poet, Dennis Lee; Rita Dove; Billy Collins; Nikki Giovanni and X. J. Kennedy.
On the accompanying CD, 50 of the poems are brought to life--most read by the poets themselves--allow the reader to hear the words as the poets intended.
Hear Gwendolyn Brooks growl her rhyming verse poem "The Tiger Who Wore White Gloves, or, What You Are You Are" with verve and inflection-relaying the story of the striped cat who "rushed to the jungle fair for something fine to wear," much to the hoots of his jungle peers. Amid jeers, sneers and sighs, the tiger eventually learns to be comfortable in his own striped skin (or fur as it were!).
Follow Ogden Nash as he tells of the brave little Isabel, who "didn't worry, didn't scream or scurry" when confronted with a ravenous bear, a one-eyed giant or a troublesome doctor. Her clever solutions to problems ("She turned the witch into milk and drank her") will keep even the most reluctant readers interested.
Listen to James Berry, who quells a little girl's anxieties about her color by celebrating the marriage of "night and light," emphasizing how all colors are necessary in nature, in "Okay, Brown Girl, Okay."
Turn the page and tune in . . . kids won't be the only ones hooked!
Poetry Speaks to Children is an imaginative
treasury of the spoken and written word
for kids of all ages.?
52 Wonderful Performances by the poets and a few close friends, featuring:
Rita Dove Reads The First Book
---ROBERT FROST Reads Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
--GWENDOLYN BROOKS Growls The Tiger Who Wore White Gloves
--Galway Kinnell Tells Why Crying (Lots) Is a Must
--OGDEN NASH Reads from The Adventures of Isabel
--MARY ANN HOBERMAN Reads Brother
(Can You Read It Faster?)
--X. J. Kennedy Reveals the Secrets of How to Stay Up Late
--Carl Sandburg Reads On a Flimmering Floom You Shall Ride
--Emma Fielding Performs LEWIS CARROLL?S JABBERWOCKY
--James Berry Reads Okay, Brown Girl, Okay
(and Tells You for Whom He Wrote It)
--J. R. R. TOLKIEN READS FRODO?S SONG IN BREE from the Lord of the Rings trilogy
--LANGSTON HUGHES Takes You on the Train Where He Wrote The Negro Speaks of Rivers
--Janet S. Wong Reads Good Luck Gold
(and Tells You What a Red Egg and Ginger Party Is)
--Paul Muldoon Reads from W. B. YEATS and Rainer Maria Rilke
--Basil Rathbone (Best Known as Sherlock Holmes)
Reads from THE RAVEN
--Brad Leithauser Reads Joey
--Poetry Alive! Takes You Out to the Ball Game with
CASEY AT THE BAT
--Sonia Sanchez Reads A Poem for Jesse
--Robert Bly Has a Conversation with a Mouse
--NIKKI GIOVANNI Tells You the Reason She Likes Chocolate
--Eddie Douglas Performs Dennis Lee's The Ghost and Jenny Jemima
--Joy Harjo Sings an Eagle Poem
--ROALD DAHL Reads The Dentist and the Crocodile
--BILLY COLLINS Remembers On Turning Ten
