Are you looking for a book that speaks to the child within? Or a book that speaks to your soul? Well, Poetry Speaks to Children is definitely one of those books.
After reading it, I thought the book was a great selection. And then, I listened to the accompanying CD. Let me tell you, 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 piece: "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 was listening to Joy Harjo read "Eagle Poem", a Native American song.
While the poetry selections included on the CD were wonderful, I found myself wishing that others, specifically Margaret Wise Brown's "The Secret Song" and versus from "The Elephant's Child" by Rudyard Kipling, had also been included on the CD.
Overall, however, this book is simply fantastic. And it's just as wonderful for an adult read as it is a children's read.
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