Poetry By Heart - Hardcover

Attenborough, Liz

3.74

31 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0439296579 ISBN 13: 9780439296571

Publisher: Chicken House, 2001

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About the Author:

Sir Andrew Motion was UK Poet Laureate from 1999 till 2009, and is Professor of Creative Writing at Royal Holloway College, London. Jean Sprackland's Tilt won the Costa Poetry award in 2008. She is a Reader in Poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University. Julie Blake is co-Founder and Director of The Full English, an organization based in Bristol which provides support to teachers of English Literature. Mike Dixon is an educational consultant specializing in English in the classroom.

Review:

First published in Britain, this collection of over 100 poems features art by nine different illustrators, each handling a different thematic sections Though included poets come from various places, there's a definite British slant to the anthology, with contributions from contemporary writers such as Phillip Larkin and Wendy Cope, poets past such as John Clare and John Dryden, and stalwarts such as Edward Lear and Robert Louis Stevenson; even Anonymous has an Anglo-Saxon flavor here. While some terms will seem arcane to U.S. readers (and 'Chinese Counting' for a nonsense rhyme will raise a few eyebrows), they'll relish the pleasing exoticism thereby lent to the most domestic of scenes. Difficulty levels of the poems range widely, making this useful for employment with a group varied in age, and there's plenty of opportunity for readalouds. On the whole, the poems are more sophisticated than the art, a discrepancy that may need to be tactfully handled (readers skilled enough for Siegfried Sassoon may find the picture-book appearance rather babyish). The illustrations vary in quality and suitability as well as style: Polly Dunbar's sharp, squiggly-lined watercolors are energetically appropriate for the "Stuff and Nonsense" section, for instance, but Ian Andrew's blurry colored-pencil work lends an unfortunate stodginess to "Uplifting and Brave." Nonetheless, this is an intriguing gallery of poetic possibilities that will be new to many readers. Indices of titles, authors, and first lines are included.
--Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, February 2002

An engaging anthology that encourages children to learn their favorite poems by heart.” In his foreword, Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate, UK, sets the tone: If we say we know something 'by heart,' we mean we keep it in our closed and most inward and important place, because it matters so much to us.” The more than 100 poems are arranged thematically into sections, and each one is ably illustrated by a different artist. Rose Fyleman's Singing Time” opens the volume on a happy note: I wake in the morning early/And always, the very first thing/ I poke out my head and I sit up in bed/ And I sing and I sing and I sing.” Beatrice Schenk de Regniers's Keep a Poem Your Pocket” closes it: Keep a poem in your pocket/ and a picture in your head/ and you'll never feel lonely/ at night when you're in bed.” In between is a delightful assortment of classic selections by famous poets, including John Masefield's Sea Fever,” William Blake's The Tiger,” Emily Dickinson's Morning,” and William Shakespeare's Full Fathom Five.” Much-loved children's poets are also represented, including Roald Dahl, Edward Lear, Mary Ann Hoberman, and Judith Viorst. Each carefully selected poem has the potential to connect selected with children, to encourage them to learn the verse and store it in what Dennis Lee calls The Secret Place”: There's a place I know inside myself,/Where nobody else can be,/And none of my friends can tell it's there/Nobody knows but me.” The pages are uncrowded, beautifully illustrated, and very inviting.
--School Library Journal, February 2002, starred review

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