A Child's Introduction to Poetry. Listen While You Learn About the Magic Words That Have Moved Mountains, Won Battles, and Made Us Laugh and Cry

Editorial Review
Poetry can be fun-especially when we can read it, hear it, and discover its many delights with the help of cartoon character Professor Driscoll, delightful illustrations, and the poetry read aloud on CD.

This wide-ranging journey through the history and highlights of the world's poetry covers everything from epics and odes to nonsense verse and haikus, and is filled with examples of every style.

The multimedia package encourages children to listen, read, and learn-and opens the door to a lifetime of appreciation of a rich literary tradition.

It painlessly introduces kids (and parents, too) to the greatest poets in history, from Homer and Shakespeare to Robert Frost and Ogden Nash-and provides excellent examples of their work and commentary on what makes it so special. In short, this is a galloping tour through poetic history loaded with all of our most significant and beloved poems. In addition to charming illustrations on every lively page, A CHILD'S INTRODUCTION TO POETRY contains a full-length CD with wonderful renditions of the poems read by professional actors.
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Customer Reviews

A great collection

2004-12-17
My daughter's only 3, but her latest routine is to pick poems from this book to read before bed. Which is great, it's something we both can enjoy. I like the book's entertaining illustrations and helpful, down-to-earth writing style. I'd recommend it to anyone!

Could be so much better than it is!

2004-03-02
Although the book, with its illustrations, sidebars and accompanying cd, seemed so promising, in the end this is a disappointing compilation. The book and cd waste a lot of space with some of the most commonplace forms of poetry - Mother Goose rhymes and limericks - to which many parents will have already introduced their children. The book veers from nursery rhymes to multiple poems involving death to Shakespearean sonnets. The choices of poems within each form introduced could have been improved upon - many are downright uninteresting. Finally, I reached for the CD, hoping the purchase could be saved by the careful, luscious reading of selected excellent examples on it. Alas, alack. Two "professional" actors read - neither, unfortunately, possessing either the gravitas or the tonal depth to make the poems ring. And again, the cd is littered with limericks and nursery rhymes.

THE CREME DE LA CREME!

2004-01-08
This must be the ULTIMATE introduction to poetry for kids! More than a mere anthology of some of the most popular works (from spooky to silly), it includes a rundown of the features and format of several different types of poetry, along with brief bios on the poets themselves (from classic to contemporary) that will interest just about everyone. Not only that, it also includes a glossary of poetic terms and techniques, AND a box on each page with quick definitions of more difficult words or phrases (which are highlighted) at a glance, so kids (and adults!) can read and enjoy without having to flip to the back of the book constantly. Often, the poems include a short historical explanation, so when reading one can envision the verse in context. All done in a kid-friendly, fun and lighthearted way, with colorful and humorous illustrations! To top all that off, it comes with a CD so you can listen as you read; or as I do, pop it in whenever just so the kids can listen and imagine while coloring, etc. The CD is soothing and delightful at bedtime for the kids, too.
I believe my daughters, ages 10 and (almost) 6, will be entertained and inspired by this book for many years to come. Hopefully, it will spark an interest in kids to seek out further works of the poets included in this amazing introduction, discover others, and perhaps even create some poetry of their own!

Great book!

2008-06-04
This is a great book to introduce poetry to kids. My kids enjoy listening to the CD in the car. I like that the book has explanations to help explain what the poems are about. This book is interesting for adults as well as children. The illustrations are beautiful as well.

Wonderful! My 6 & 8 year old boys love this!

2007-04-22
Wow! I have been trying to introduce poetry to my boys since they were toddlers and the only feedback I ever received was blank stares - maybe it was my reading style. But, for some reason, they just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this CD. We listen to it in the car and fight over which poem we listen to first. Some of our favorites are The Pied Piper, Thomas' Do Not Go Gently into that Good Night, the limericks (I was a bit worried when it started with There was an old man from Nantucket. . . . - but it is actually the children's version, obviously) and Kit Marlowe's The Passionate Shepard to His Love. My 8 year old has several of the classics almost memorized.

Our only complaint is the reading of Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky. It is somewhat flat and not at all as exciting as it could be.

Nonetheless, it is a great, rich, collection of beautiful poetry that your kids will enjoy. It truly is one of our favorites.

Whimsically Thorough

2007-04-15
I found this book through a bookstore display, and am very pleased with it. This is a well thought out, thorough introduction to basic poetry forms, with familiar poems--a comfort to the parent who may want to read this material to the younger child. The drawings are really fun, with enough on the page for the jaded 21st century eye to look at. If that weren't enough, there's a CD of the poems, so the reader can also hear them spoken, an important element of poetry.

I think the breadth of the poetry styles chosen, including the nursery rhymes and limericks, is just right, and can be expanded on by the parent or teacher by reaching beyond the book. I plan to use this book as a basis for some directed summertime reading for my grandkids, but this book is easily enjoyed by the adult.

A nice resource for homeschoolers (or any parent who would like their children to read and enjoy poetry)

2006-11-20
I homeschool my children (ages 7 and 9), and I wanted to add poetry to their literature curriculum. I found this book at the library, and it was a perfect introduction to the many forms of poetry, with great examples for each. The biographies of famous poets in the second half of the book were also a very useful teaching tool. They were short, informative and interesting. (I learned a few things myself...)

I kept the book in the car, and my children took turns reading (aloud and to themselves). They looked forward to their poetry lessons, and even memorized a few poems on their own accord. My son read Poe's "The Raven," and commented, "I don't understand it, but it's scary, somehow." I found it fascinating that a poem writeen almost 200 years ago could frighten a modern-day child.

This book was a wonderful tool to pique my children's interest in poetry. I plan to buy or borrow other books on poetry to cultivate their budding interest.

I can't comment on the CD as it was no longer included in the library book. However, my children and I enjoyed this book so much that I will definitely purchase it soon.

Engaging for both child and parent

2006-04-15
My son is only in preschool and has a lot of fun with this book, and I think it has enough variety and range that we'll return to it for years. There is great background material for parents to read and think about, and perhaps share with their kids as they get older. The performance of the poems on the CD is lackluster, but the overall quality of the book's text and selections is superb.