Good Night, Sleep Tight : A Poem for Every Night of the Year!

Contains poems selected for every day of the year, including season and holiday verses.

PreS-Gr 3-This anthology offers 366 poems, one for each night of the year, illustrated with spot art by a dozen different artists (each is given a month). The majority of the selections are on common topics-bath time, bedtime, dreams, staying up late, the moon, etc. The quality varies widely. The poems include selections by Robert Louis Stevenson, William Blake, W. H. Auden, and William Shakespeare; children's classics from Eugene Field, Eve Merriam, and Walter de la Mare; and poems by children (with the poet's age indicated). There is no introduction to explain criteria for inclusion or any additional thematic structure. The compilers acknowledge a wide range of holidays, but there is no consistency in their choices and no explanations are provided. Chinese New Year, which moves with the lunar calendar, is fixed on January 24 (which is correct for 2001, but not necessarily other years). Similarly, Passover and Yom Kippur are acknowledged, but not Rosh Hashanah or Hanukkah. The Yom Kippur poem, "Holy Day," is illustrated with a lighted menorah. The book's British roots are reflected in the acknowledgement of Burns Night, St. David's Day, St. George's Day, and Guy Fawkes Day (not by name, but the poem for November 5th is "Bonfire Night"). All in all, a complete mishmash.-Ellen A. Greever, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Ages 3-8. First published in Britain, this large, illustrated anthology of 366 poems will introduce young children to all kinds of verse, from nonsense and folk rhymes to Shakespeare, Stevenson, and de la Mare. Most poems are British, but there are several by Americans (including Hoberman, Hughes, and Prelutsky). There are also a few poems in translation, and a few by children. Each month is illustrated by the work of a different artist, and the style and quality of the pictures vary; certainly, the garish illustration adds little to Blake's "Tyger." There's occasionally some attempt to fit a poem to a holiday date ("Seder Night," Christmas and Boxing Day, Valentine's Day, Chinese New Year, etc.), but mostly this is lively poetry to dip into, read aloud, and recite together. Hazel Rochman
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