Review: Poetry Speaks to Children

I recently finished reading Poetry Speaks to Children. After reading it, I thought the book was a great selection. And then, I listened to the accompanying CD. Ahh...the CD. 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 like Chocolate" and then listening to her read three of her other poetry selections included in this text: "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 for me was listening to Joy Harjo read "Eagle Poem", which is based off a Native American song.

More important than my enjoyment of the text, however, was my 7 year-old son's fascination with it. His eyes light up as they scanned the paged, taking in the rhythm of the words and the illustrations. He smiled at the timbre of Langston Hughe's voice drifting from the speakers. He giggled at Nikki Giovanni's reasons for liking chocolate. And who wouldn't appreciate those reasons or the depth and playful lilt of her voice as she recited them?

I know a children's book is good when it sparks in my own child's eyes that love for language--the dance and the rhythm and the play of words--that has for so long been a love of my own.

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

Overall, however, this book is simply fantastic.