A WORLD FULL OF POEMS: Sneak Peek

I hope you’ll indulge me in a bit more promotion of my forthcoming poetry anthology, A World Full of Poems, to be published by DK Books on October 6, 2020. It was such a privilege to have this project come my way at the beginning of the year and once the pandemic hit in March, it became such a therapeutic outlet. I read and read and read and pored over piles and piles of poetry books—and probably recommended five times as many poems as they were finally able to include in this anthology. Then I learned a TON working through the permission process—wishing we could afford to include a poem by Langston Hughes or Pablo Neruda, for example, but not able to afford them within the DK budget. But I learned HOW to get permission! And I lobbied hard for diverse voices and was fairly successful, although I would have loved to include even more. And it was fascinating to work with people in the London office and alert them to some of our new U.S. poets and also be educated about some of their most distinguished voices in the U.K.

In the end, A World Full of Poems features the work of 110 poets, including voices from the U.S., the U.K., and beyond, as well as a handful of classic poets from the past—all interpreted in clever ways by London illustrator Sonny Ross. Not only are there more than 80 wonderful poets from the US in this collection, but another 30+ poets from Canada, England, Ireland, Wales, Australia and the Netherlands are also represented, including: James Aitchison, Ros Asquith, Celia Berrell, Clare Bevan, Lewis Carroll, James Carter, Paul Cookson, Nicole Davies, Carol Ann Duffy, John Foster, Chrissie Gittins, Avis Harley, Steven Herrick, Tony Langham, JonArno Lawson, Tony Mitton, Cheryl Moskowitz, Sally Murphy, Julie O’Callaghan, Andrew Fusek Peters, J. R. Poulter, Christina Rossetti, Coral Rumble, Robert Louis Stevenson, Toon Tellegen, William Makepeace Thackeray, Philip Waddell, Celia Warren, Colin West, Brenda Williams, and Kate Williams.

The poems are gathered together in eight major sections:

1. Family and Friends
2. Feelings
3. Animals and Nature
4. Cities, Towns, and Travel
5. Fun and Games
6. Science and Art
7. Body and Health
8. A World of Learning

And the book closes with a variety of fun poetry activities for children and families that I created (and have used many, many times). 

Here is a sneak peek inside the book with sample poems for each section from these lovely poets: Virginia Euwer Wolff, Margarita Engle, Michelle Heidenrich Barnes, Christina Rossetti, Allan DeFina, Rachel Field, Peter Cole, James Carter, Steven Herrick, Irene Latham, Colin West, Tony Mitton, and JonArno Lawson. Thanks, y'all!

I’ll be sharing a few more wonderful sample poems as we countdown to the release date: October 6. 

Hope you’ll share A World Full of Poems with the children you care about! 

And be sure to join the gathering of Poetry Friday posts over at Kiesha's place, Whispers from the Ridge.