POETRY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE: CARL SANDBURG

This is another addition to one of the best literary projects to come along in quite some time…Poetry for Children. This particular work of course deals with the works of Carl Sandburg (wiki). It is illustrated by Steven Arcella whose semi-surrealistic art work is worth the price of the book alone.

This book, as with the others in this series, starts with an introduction to the poet. This is good stuff. It is good to know something about the author of the work you are reading, and children, probably more so than adults, need this information.

This volume includes Sandburg’s Fog, From the Shore, Young Sea, Last Answers, A Sphinx, Little Girl… Be Careful What You Say, Margaret, Arithmetic, Plowboy, Monotone, Phizzog, Mask, Summer Grass, Summer Stars, Sky Talk, October Paint, Old Woman, Buffalo Dust, a Coin and Doors.

I certainly am not going to remark on the quality of Sandburg’s work. Those who read him will be well aware of this. This collection though, is upbeat, delightful and gives a pretty good view of the poet’s range.

The art work which accompanies the poems is very appealing and relaxing and very well executed. Like the poetry, it has a dream like quality and is a delight.

This is a book which is perfect to read to your child or to an entire class. Poetry has fallen out of fashion in many of our schools now, which is not only a shame, but I feel almost a crime. Our kids are missing so very, very much. This little edition is an ideal start. It, and the rest of this series, should be in ever school library, in every class room and indeed, on your kid’s book shelf. This work is recommended for children ages 9-12, but to be quite frank, age has little to do with this poets work. A child under the age of nine may have problems reading the book on their own, but this is why parents and teachers exist! Reading poetry with a child is a wonderful experience for both the child and the reader. This particular collection of poem is idea for this activity. I do highly recommend this one.

Considerations:::
Full Accelerated Reading numbers are not available for this book. The general number "5" has been assigned which means that the book is on the 5th Grade level. But whether that is 5.0 or 5.9 has not been determined.