Friday, April 12, 2013

Blast from the Poetry Past: 1959


Louis Untermeyer compiled and published the landmark comprehensive anthology for children, The Golden Treasury of Poetry with Golden Press in 1959. In his seminal work, Poetry's Playground: The Culture of Contemporary American Children's Poetry, Joseph Thomas identified eight key anthologies he suggested are children’s poetry essentials beginning with this one compiled by Untermeyer.


Contemporary Connections
Unfortunately, anthologies seem to be “out of fashion” at the moment and not as many are being published. Of course, one exception (if I may be so bold) is my own collaboration with poet Janet Wong and with 70+ other poets—The Poetry Friday Anthology (one edition for K-5 and one edition for grades 6-8).

I think the Sourcebooks anthologies that include CDs of poet readings are also noteworthy. Look for these selections:

Paschen, Elise and Raccah, Dominique. Eds. 2005. Poetry Speaks to Children. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks.
Paschen, Elise and Raccah, Dominique. Eds. 2010. Poetry Speaks; Who I Am. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks.
Giovanni, Nikki. Comp. 2008. Hip Hop Speaks to Children. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks.
Hoberman, Mary Ann and Wilson, Linda. Eds. 2009. The Tree That Time Built: A Celebration of Nature, Science, and Imagination. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks.
Nesbitt, Kenn. 2009. My Hippo Has the Hiccups with CD: And Other Poems I Totally Made Up. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks.




 
Posting by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2013. All rights reserved.

Image credits: theartofchildrenspicturebooks;barnesandnoble;pomelobooks
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5 comments:

  1. Janet Wong1:19 AM

    What I'm especially proud of with our editions of The Poetry Friday Anthology is the fact that these hundreds of poems are all original, previously unpublished poems by a Who's Who of poets writing today. I think that makes our books quite special.

    Another recent anthology (and one that makes a great gift) is The National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry by J. Patrick Lewis. It is the DEFINITIVE book of animal poetry. One neat feature of that book is the way contemporary and classic poems on the same theme (such as horses) are grouped together.

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  2. Anonymous12:51 PM

    Mark your calendars for August l3 when my new collection ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE appears, illustrated by Guy Billout (Creative Editions). This YA anthology features an eclectic look at the Seven Ages of Man based on Shakespeare's monologue from AS YOU LIKE IT. Poems include work by Lewis Carroll, Ralph Fletcher, Elizabeth Barrett Browning -- and Janet Wong. www.leebennetthopkins

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  3. Janet Wong11:50 AM

    Looking forward to your new anthology, Lee!

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  4. Robyn Hood Black3:36 PM

    I've been on the road lately (as you KNOW!) ;0) and enjoyed popping in my CD from "Poetry Speaks to Children" on my journeys.

    I'm so thankful you and Janet have poured so much TLC and wisdom and experience into your new anthologies.

    And I can't wait to read ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE a few months hence!

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  5. Sylvia Vardell10:52 PM

    Woo hoo! A new anthology from Lee Bennett Hopkins! ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE has been on my "sneak peek" list and I can't wait to see it! Thanks for the advance info, Lee.

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