book excerptise:   a book unexamined is wasting trees

The Random House Book of Poetry for Children

Jack Prelutsky and Arnold Lobel (ill.)

Prelutsky, Jack; Arnold Lobel (ill.);

The Random House Book of Poetry for Children

Random House Books for Young Readers 1983-09-12 (hardcover, 248 pages $19.95)

ISBN 9780394850108 / 0394850106

topics: |  poetry | anthology | children


Book Review

Flipping through these pages, one thought strikes me again and again. Somehow, childrens' poets don't seem to get the recognition that serious poets get...

Much of the poetry in this volume is excellent poetry, by any standard. Yes, kids can also understand it, but that does not make it poorer quality poetry by any means.

Of course, some of the poets - Langston Hughes, Carl Sandburg, Ted Hughes are also well-known for their adult poetry. but those who rarely venture out of the children's genre are often under-recognized. Poets like Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky have become quite well-known on childrens' poetry, but too many others - Karla Kuskin, Dennis Lee, Judith Viorst, are somehow set apart.

see Crossing Over:Authors Who Write Both Children's and Adults' Fiction by David Galef (1995) for some discussion on this theme.

The poems : delightful!

in any event, this compilation is an utter delight, both in terms of the text, and the pictures. stick-it-marked, pencil-indexed, heavily tagged, this is definitely one of the most well-thumbed books in my collection.

in terms of density of great poems, this book is hard to beat.  It has been
endlessly praised ever since it came out 15 years back.  Get a
copy!  Read it to your little friends!! share the pictures with them...

since the landmark publication, there have been other kids books, including
Prelutzky / So's 20th c. treasury, and while the new anthologies add lesser
known poeme, this volume remains the unsurpassed classic collection.
so popular is this book, that all the 557 poems are probably available
online.

of course, the poems are either old or american, but they still work.

the colourful and imaginative illustrations are by Arnold Lobel.

Excerpts


Mountain Wind: Barbara Kunz Loots (p.26)


	Windrush down the timber chutes
	  between the mountain's knees --
	    a hiss of distant breathing,
	      a shouting in the trees
	        a recklessness of branches
	          a wilderness a-sway,
	            when suddenly
	a silence
	takes your breath away.


Nature: Time of day ; Seasons


Flint : Christina Rossetti 23


		An emerald is as green as grass,
		   A ruby red as blood;
		A sapphire shines as blue as heaven;
		   A flint lies in the mud.

		A diamond is a brilliant stone,
		   To catch the world’s desire;
		An opal holds a fiery spark;
		   But a flint holds fire.


Mud : Polly Chase Boyden 28


	Mud is very nice to feel
	All squishy-squash between the toes!
	I'd rather wade in wiggly mud
	Than smell a yellow rose.

	Nobody else but the rosebush knows
	How nice mud feels
	Between the toes.

The Muddy Puddle : Dennis Lee 28


	I am sitting
	In the middle
	Of a rather Muddy
	Puddle,
	With my bottom
	Full of bubbles
	And my rubbers
	Full of Mud,

	While my jacket
	And my sweater
	Go on slowly
	Getting wetter
	As I very
	Slowly settle
	To the bottom
	Of the Mud.

	And I find that
	What a person
	With a puddle
	Round his middle
	Thinks of mostly
	In the muddle
	Is the muddi-
	ness of Mud.


The rain has silver sandals : May Justus 29


	The rain has silver sandals
	  For dancing in the spring,
	And shoes with golden tassels
	  For summer's frolicking.
	Her winter boots have hobnails
	  Of ice from heel to toe,
	Which now and then she changes
	  For moccasins of snow.


To walk in warm rain : David McCord 30


	To walk in warm rain
	   And get wetter and wetter!
	To do it again--
	To walk in warm rain
	   Till you drip like a drain
	To walk in warm rain
	   And get wetter and wetter!


The more it snows : A. A. Milne p.30


The more it snows
(Tiddly Pom)
The more it goes
(Tiddly Pom)
The more it goes
(Tiddly Pom)
On snowing.

And nobody knows
(Tiddly Pom)
How cold my toes
(Tiddly Pom)
How cold my toes
(Tiddly Pom)
Are growing.


Night comes : Beatrice Schenk de Regniers (p.33)


	Night comes
	looking
	out of the sky

	Stars come
	peeking.

	Moon comes
	sneaking
	silvery-sly.

	Who is
	shaking,
	shivery,
	quaking?

	Who is afraid of
	the night?

	Not I.


Night : Mary Ann Hoberman (33)


	The night is coming softly, slowly;
	Look, it's getting hard to see,
	      Through the windows,
	      Through the door,
	      Pussyfooting
	      On the floor,
	      Dragging shadows,
	      Crawling,
	      Creeping,
	      Soon it will be time for sleeping.
	Pull down the shades.
	Turn on the light.
	Let's pretend it isn't night.


The night is a big black cat : G. Orr Clark 33


	The night is a big black cat
	    The moon is her topaz eye,
	The stars are the mice she hunts at night
	    In the field of the sultry sky.


January : John Updike 36


The days are short
   The sun a spark
Hung thin between
   The Dark and dark

Fat snowy footsteps
   Track the floor,
And parkas pile up
    Near the door.

The river is
  A frozen place
Held still beneath
  The trees’ black lace.

The sky is low.
  The wind is gray.
The radiator
  Purrs all day.


Smells : Kathryn Worth (p.39)


	Through all the frozen winter
	My nose has grown most lonely
	For lovely, lovely, coloured smells
	That come in springtime only.

	The purple smell of lilacs,
	The yellow smell that blows
	Across the air of meadows
	Where bright forsythia grows.

	The tall pink smell of peach trees,
	The low white smell of clover,
	And everywhere the great green smell
	Of grass the whole world over.


--Spring : Karla Kuskin 43
I’m shouting
I’m singing
I’m swinging through trees
I’m winging skyhigh
With the buzzing black bees.
I’m the sun
I’m the moon
I’m the dew on the rose.
I’m a rabbit
Whose habit
Is twitching his nose.
I’m lively
I’m lovely
I’m kicking my heels.
I’m crying “Come Dance”
To the fresh water eels.
I’m racing through meadows
Without any coat
I’m a gamboling lamb
I’m a light leaping goat
I’m a bud
I’m a bloom
I’m a dove on the wing.
I’m running on rooftops
And welcoming spring!
	    	1958,  


Maytime Magic : Mabel Watts (p. 44)


	A little seed
	For me to sow
	A little earth
	to make it grow
	A little hole,
	a little pat,
	A little wish,
	and that is that,

	A little sun,
	a little shower.
	A little while -
	And then -- a flower!


Summer : Frank Asch (p. 44)


	When it's hot
	I take my shoes off,
	I take my shirt off,
	I take my pants off,
	I take my underwear off,
	I take my whole body off,
	and throw it
	in the river.


Lazy witch : Myra Cohn Livingston (p. 46)


	Lazy witch,
	What's wrong with you?
	    Get up and stir your magic brew.
	    Here's candlelight to chase the gloom.
	    Jump up and mount your flying broom
	    And muster up your charms and spells
	    And wicked grins and piercing yells.
	    It's Halloween! There's work to do!
	Lazy witch!
	What's wrong with you?

Animals


Dogs and cats and bears and bats : Jack Prelutsky 53

	[every section starts with a specially-composed poem by prelutsky;
	 this opens the section on animals. ]

Mammals are a varied lot;
some are furry, some are not;
many come equipped with tails;
some have quills, a few have scales.

Some are large, and others small;
some are quick, while others crawl;
they prance on land, they swing from trees;
they're underground and in the seas.
[...]

Dogs and cats and bears and bats,
all are mammals, so are rats;
whales are mammals, camels too;
I'm a mammal... so are YOU!


Mice : Rose Fyleman (p. 54)


	I think mice
	Are rather nice.

	  Their tails are long,
	  Their faces small,
	  They haven't any
	  Chins at all.
	  Their ears are pink,
	  Their teeth are whole,
	  They run about
	  The house at night,
	  They nibble things
	  They shouldn't touch
	  And no one seems
	  To like them much.

	But I think mice
	Are nice.

To a Squirrel at Kyle-Na-No : William Butler Yeats (p. 55)


	Come play with me
	Why should you run
	Through the shaking tree
	As though I’d a gun
	To strike you dead?
	When all I would do
	Is to scratch your head
	And let you go.

Four little foxes : Lew Sarett (p. 60)


	Speak gently, Spring, and make no sudden sound
	for in my windy valley yesterday I found
	New-born foxes squirming on the ground --
		Speak gently.

	Walk softly, March, forbear the bitter blow,
	Her feet within a trap, her blood upon the snow,
	The four little foxes saw their mother go,
		Walk softly.

	Go lightly, Spring, oh give them no alarm;
	When I covered them with boughs to shelter them from harm
	The thin blue foxes suckled at my arm,
		Go lightly.

	Step softly, March, with your rampant hurricane
	Nuzzling one another and whimp'ring with pain,
	The new little foxes are shiv'ring in the rain,
		Step softly.


Grandpa Bear's lullaby : Jane Yolen (p. 60)


	The night is long
	But fur is deep.
	You will be warm
	In winter sleep.

	The food is gone
	But dreams are sweet
	And they will be
	Your winter meat.

	The cave is dark
	But dreams are bright
	And they will serve
	As winter light.

	Sleep, my little cubs, Sleep.


Hey, Bug! : Lilian Moore (p. 72)


	Hey, bug, stay!
	Don't run away.
	I know a game that we can play.

	I'll hold my fingers very still
	And you can climb a finger-hill.

	No, no.
	Don't go.

	Here's a wall - a tower, too,
	A tiny bug town, just for you.
	I've a cookie. You have some.
	Take this oatmeal cookie crumb.
	Hey, bug, stay!
	Hey, bug!
	Hey!

Praying Mantis : Mary Ann Hoberman (p. 73)


	That praying mantis over there
	Is really not engaged in prayer.
	That praying mantis that you see
	Is really preying (with an “e”).
	It preys upon the garter snake.
	It preys upon the bumblebee.
	It preys upon the cabbage worm,
	The wasp, the fly, the moth, the flea.
	(And sometimes, if its need is great,
	It even preys upon its mate.)

	With prey and preying both so endless,
	It tends to end up rather friendless
	And seldom is commended much
	Except by gardeners and such.


CRICKETS : Valerie Worth (p. 73)


	Crickets
	talk
	in the tall
	grass
	All
	Late summer
	Long.
	When
	summer
	Is gone,
	The dry
	Grass
	Whispers
	Alone.

Wasps : Dorothy Aldis (p. 74)


	Wasps like coffee.
	Syrup.
	Tea.
	Coca-Cola.
	Butter
	Me.


Flea : Roland Young [English actor, 1887-1953] (p. 74)


	And here's the happy bounding flea—
	You cannot tell the he from she.
	The sexes look alike, you see.
	But she can tell and so can he.


A wee little worm : James Whitcomb Riley (p. 77)


	A wee little worm in a hickory-nut
	  Sang, happy as he could be,
	"O I live in the heart of the whole round world,
	  And it all belongs to me!"

The Codfish : anonymous (p. 77)


	The codfish lays a thousand eggs.
	The homely hen lays one.
	The codfish never cackles
	To tell you when she's done.
	And so we scorn the codfish
	While the humble hen we prize
	Which only goes to show
	That it pays to advertise.

The Hen : Lord Alfred Douglas (p. 85)


	The Hen is a ferocious fowl,
	She pecks you till she makes you howl.

	And all the time she flaps her wings,
	And says the most insulting things.

	And when you try to take her eggs,
	She bites pieces from your legs.

	The only safe way to get these,
	Is to creep on your hands and knees.

	In the meanwhile a friend must hide,
	And jump out on the other side.

	And then you snatch the eggs and run,
	While she pursues the other one.

	The difficulty is to find
	A trusty friend who will not mind.

	  [Lord Alfred Douglas or Bosie was Oscar Wilde's lover]


Flowers are a silly bunch: Arnold Spilka 92


Flowers are a silly bunch
While trees are sort of bossy.
Lakes are shy
The earth is calm
And rivers do seem saucy.
Hills are good
But mountains mean
While weeds all ask for pity.
I guess the country can be nice
But I prefer the city.

Don’t Tell Me That I Talk Too Much

Don’t tell me that I talk too much!
Don’t say it!
Don’t you dare!

I only say important things
Like why it’s raining where.
Or when or how or why or what
Might happen here or there.
And why a thing is this or that
And who is bound to care.
So don’t tell me I talk too much!
Don’t say it!
DON’T YOU DARE!


People upstairs | Ogden Nash (p. 93)


	The people upstairs all practice ballet.
	Their living room is a bowling alley.
	Their bedroom is full of conducted tours.
	Their radio is louder than yours.
	They celebrate week ends all the week.
	When they take a shower, your ceilings leak.
	They try to get their parties to mix
	By supplying their guests with Pogo sticks,
	And when their party at last abates,
	They go to the bathroom on roller skates.
	I might love he people upstairs wondrous
	If instead of above us, they lived just under us.

Fog : Carl Sandburg (p. 96)


	The fog comes
	on little cat feet.

	It sits looking
	over harbor and city
	on silent haunches
	and then moves on.


Where Are You Now? : Mary Britton Miller 98


When the night begins to fall
And the sky begins to glow
You look up and see the tall
City of lights begin to grow –
In rows and little golden squares
The lights come out. First here, then there
Behind the windowpanes as though
A million billion bees had built
Their golden hives and honeycombs
Above you in the air.


Foghorns : Lilian Moore (p. 98)


	The foghorns moaned
	   in the bay last night
	  so sad
	  so deep
	I thought I heard the city
	     crying in its sleep.

Question : anonymous (p. 103)


	Do you love me
	Or do you not?
	You told me once
	But I forgot


Hug O'War : Shel Silverstein 102


I will not play at tug o’ war.
I’d rather play at hug o’ war,
Where everyone hugs
Instead of tugs,
Where everyone giggles
And rolls on the rug,
Where everyone kisses,
And everyone grins,
And everyone cuddles,
And everyone wins.


Me : Karla Kuskin 119


	“My nose is blue,
	My teeth are green,
	My face is like a soup tureen.
	I look just like a lima bean.
	I’m very, very lovely.
	My feet are far too short
	And long.
	My hands are left and right
	And wrong.
	My voice is like the hippo’s song.
	I’m very, very,
	Very, very,
	Very, very
	Lovely?”


Every Time I Climb a Tree : David McCord 119


Every time I climb a tree
Every time I climb a tree
Every time I climb a tree
I scrape a leg
Or skin a knee
And every time I climb a tree
I find some ants
Or dodge a bee
And get the ants
All over me

And every time I climb a tree
Where have you been?
They say to me
But don't they know that I am free
Every time I climb a tree?
I like it best
To spot a nest
That has an egg
Or maybe three
And then I skin
The other leg

But every time I climb a tree
I see a lot of things to see
Swallows rooftops and TV
And all the fields and farms there be
Every time I climb a tree
Though climbing may be good for ants
It isn't awfully good for pants
But still it's pretty good for me
Every time I climb a tree


Marrog : R. C. Scriven (p. 125)


	My desk's at the back of the class
	And nobody, nobody knows
	I'm a Marrog from Mars
	With a body of brass
	And seventeen fingers and toes.

	Wouldn't they shriek if they knew
	I've three eyes at the back of my head
	And my hair is bright purple
	My nose is deep blue
	And my teeth are half-yellow, half-red?

	My five arms are silver and spiked
	With knives on them sharper than spears.
	I could go back right now, if I liked-
	And return in a million light years.
	I could gobble them all

	For I am seven foot tall
	And I'm breathing green flames from my ears.
	Wouldn't they yell if they knew,
	If they guessed a Marrog was here?
	Ha ha they haven't a clue-
	Or wouldn't they tremble with fear!

	'Look, look, A Marrog'
	They'd all scream - and SMACK
	The blackboard would fall and the ceiling would crack
	And the teacher would faint, I suppose.
	But I grin to myself, sitting right at the back
	And nobody, nobody knows


I'm nobody! Who are you? : Emily Dickinson (p. 128)


	I'm nobody! Who are you?
	Are you nobody, too?
	Then there's a pair of us -don't tell!
	They'd banish us, you know.

	How dreary to be somebody!
	How public, like a frog
	To tell your name the livelong day
	To an admiring bog!

Mother Doesn't Want A Dog : Judith Viorst (b. Newark 1931) p. 133


	Mother doesn't want a dog.
	Mother says they smell,
	And never sit when you say sit,
	Or even when you yell.
	And when you come home late at night
	And there is ice and snow,
	You have to go back out because
	The dumb dog has to go.

	Mother doesn't want a dog.
	Mother says they shed,
	And always let the strangers in

	And do disgraceful things on rugs,
	And track mud on the floor,
	And flop upon your bed at night
	And snore their doggy snore.

	Mother doesn't want a dog.
	She's making a mistake.
	Because, more than a dog, I think
	She will not want this snake.

I wish I could meet the man that knows : John Ciardi 134


	I wish I could meet the man that knows
	Who put the fly on my daddy’s nose
	When my daddy was taking a nap today.
	I tried to slap that fly away
	So Daddy could sleep.  But just as my hand
	Came down to slap him, the fly jumped AND

	I hit with a bang – where do you suppose? –
	SMACK ON THE END OF DADDY’S
	            NOSE!

	“Ow!” cried Daddy, and up he jumped.
	He jumped so hard that he THUMP-
	            BUMPED
	His head on the wall.
	            Well, I tried to say,
	“See, Daddy, I slapped the fly away.”
	And I should think he would have thanked me.
	But what do you think he did?  He
	            SPANKED me!

	“I was just trying to help!” I said.
	But Daddy was looking very red.
	“For trying to help, I have to thank you.
	But for that smack on the nose, I’ll spank you!”
	And up in the air went his great big hand
	As he said, “I hope you understand
	It’s my nose I’m spanking for, not the fly.
	For the fly I thank you.”

	                 And that is why
	I wish I could meet the man that knows
	Who put the fly on my daddy’s nose.
	For when I find him, I want to thank him.
	And as I do, I want to spank him.


The first tooth : Charles and Mary Lamb 135

Though the house what busy joy,
Just because the infant boy
Has a tiny tooth to show!

I have got a double row,
All as white and all as small;
Yet no one cares for mine at all.

He can say but half a word,
Yet that single sound's preferred
To all the words that I can say
In the longest summer day.

He cannot walk, yet if he put
With mimic motion out his foot,
As if he thought he were advancing,
It's prized more than my best dancing.


My Brother : Marci Ridlon 136

My brother’s worth about two cents,
As far as I can see.
I simply cannot understand
Why they would want a “he.”

He spends a good part of his day
Asleep inside the crib,
And when he eats, he has to wear
A stupid baby bib.

He cannot walk and cannot talk
And cannot throw a ball.
In fact, he can’t do anything—
He’s just no fun at all.

It would have been more sensible,
As far as I can see,
Instead of getting one like him
To get one just like me.


Help! : X. J. Kennedy 136

Firemen, firemen!
State police!
Victor's locked in Pop's valise!
Robert's eating kitty litter!
Doctor!
    Lawyer!
	Baby-sitter!


Leave Me Alone : Felice Holman 136


Loving care!
Too much to bear.
Leave me alone!

	Don't brush my hair,
	Don't pat my head,
	Don't tuck me in
	Tonight in bed,
	Don't ask me if I want a sweet,
	Don't fix my favorite things to eat,
	Don't give me lots of good advice,
	And most of all just don't be nice.

But when I've wallowed well in sorrow,
Be nice to me again tomorrow.


Rules : Karla Kuskin 137

Do not jump on ancient uncles.

Do not yell at average mice.

Do not wear a broom to breakfast.

Do not ask a snake's advice.

Do not bathe in chocolate pudding.

Do not talk to bearded bears.

Do not smoke cigars on sofas.

Do not dance on velvet chairs.

Do not take a whale to visit
Russell's mother's cousin's yacht.

And whatever else you do do
It is better you
Do not.


I'm really not lazy : Arnold Spilka 127


	I'm really not lazy --
	I'm not!
	I'm not!
	It's just that I'm thinking
	And thinking
	And thinking
	A lot!
	It's true I don't work
	But I can't!
	I just can't!
	When I'm thinking
	And thinking
	And thinking
	A lot!


Soap : Martin Gardner 138

Just look at those feet!
Did you actually think
           That dirt would come off, my daughter,
By wiggling your toes
Around in the sink
And slapping the top of the water?

Just look at your face!
Did you really suppose
Those smudges would all disappear
With a dab at your chin
And the tip of your nose
And a rub on the back of one ear?

You tell me your face
And your feet are clean?
Do you think your old Dad is a dope?
Let's try it again
With a different routine.
This time we'll make use of the soap!


The Sugar Lady : Frank Asch 166


There is an old lady who lives down the hall,
Wrinkled and gray and toothless and small.
At seven already she’s up,
Going from door to door with a cup.
“Do you have any sugar?” she asks,
Although she’s got more than you.
“Do you have any sugar?” she asks,
Hoping you’ll talk for a minute or two.


sir smasham uppe - amidst the ruins of a queen anne chair... (illustration by Arnold Lobel)

Sir Smasham Uppe : E.V. Rieu 167


Good afternoon, Sir Smasham Uppe!
We're having tea: do take a cup!
Sugar and milk? Now let me see-
Two lumps, I think?...Good gracious me!
The silly thing slipped off your knee!
Pray don't apologise, old chap;
A very trivial mishap!
So clumsy of you? How absurd!
My dear Sir Smasham, not a word!
Now do sit down and have another,
And tell us all about your brother-
You know, the one who broke his head.
Is that poor fellow still in bed?-
A chair - allow me, sir!...Great Scott!
That was a nasty smash! Eh, what?
Oh, not at all: the chair was old-
Queen Anne, or so we have been told.
We've got at least a dozen more:
Just leave the pieces on the floor.
I want you to admire our view:
Come nearer to the window, do;
And look how beautiful...Tut, tut!
You didn't see that it was shut?
I hope you are not badly cut!
Not hurt? A fortunate escape!
Amazing! Not a single scrape!
And now, if you have finished tea,
I fancy you might like to see
A little thing or two I've got.
That china plate? Yes, worth a lot:
A beauty too...Ah, there it goes!
I trust it didn't hurt your toes?
Your elbow brushed it off the shelf?
Of course: I've done the same myself.
And now, my dear Sir Smasham - Oh,
You surely don't intend to go?
You must be off? Well, come again.
So glad you're fond of porcelain!


Alligator pie : Dennis Lee 180


Alligator pie, alligator pie,
If I don't get some I think I'm gonna die.
Give away the green grass, give away the sky,
But don't give away my alligator pie.

Alligator stew, alligator stew,
If I don't get some I don't know what I'll do.
Give away my furry hat, give away my shoe,
But don't give away my alligator stew.

Alligator soup, alligator soup,
If I don't get some I think I'm gonna droop.
Give away my hockey stick, give away my hoop,
But don't give away my alligator soup.


Jimmy Jet and his TV set : Shel Silverstein 187


I'll tell you the story of Jimmy Jet –
And you know what I tell you is true.
He loved to watch his TV set
Almost as much as you.

He watched all day,he watched all night
Till he grew pale and lean,
From "The Early Show" to “The Late Late Show”
And all the shows between.

He watched till his eyes were frozen wide,
And his bottom grew into his chair.
And his chin turned into a tuning dial,
And antennae grew out of his hair.

And his brains turned into TV tubes,
And his face to a TV screen.
And two knobs saying “VERT.” and “HORIZ.”
Grew where his ears had been.

And he grew a plug that looked like a tail
So we plugged in little Jim.
And now instead of him watching TV
We all sit around and watch him.


Poetry : Eleanor Farjeon 196

What is poetry? Who knows?
Not a rose, but the scent of a rose;
Not the sky, but the light in the sky;
Not the fly, but the gleam of the fly;
Not the sea, but the sound of the sea;
Not myself, but what makes me
See, hear, and feel something that prose
Cannot: and what it is, who knows?


Something is There : Lilian Moore 200


Something is there
  there on the stair
    coming down
      coming down
        stepping with care.
          Coming down
            coming down
    	      slinkety-sly.

Something is coming and wants to get by.


Three Ghostesses : Anonymous 205


Three little ghostesses,
Sitting on postesses,
Eating buttered toastesses,
Greasing their fistesses,
Up to their wristesses,
Oh, what beastesses
To make such feastesses!


What is Orange? : Mary O'Neill 218


Orange is a tiger lily,
A carrot,
A feather from
A parrot,
A flame,
The wildest color you can name.
Saying good-bye
In a sunset that
Shocks the sky .
Orange is brave
Orange is bold
It's bittersweet
And marigold.
Orange is zip
Orange is dash
The brightest stripe
In a Roman sash.
Orange is an orange
Also a mango.
Orange is the music
Of the tango.
Orange is the fur
Of the fiery fox,
The brightest crayon
In the box.
And in the fall
When the leaves are tuming
Orange is the smell
Of a bonfire burning.


The Library : Barbara A. Huff 220


It looks like any building
When you pass it on the street,
Made of stone and glass and marble,
Made of iron and concrete.

But once inside you can ride
A camel or a train,
Visit Rome, Siam or Nome,
Feel a hurricane.
Meet a king, learn to sing,
How to bake a pie,
Go to sea, plant a tree,
Find how airplanes fly.
Train a horse, and of course,
Have all the dogs you like,
See the moon, a sandy dune,
Or catch a whopping pike.
Everything that books can bring
You'll find inside those walls.
A world is there for you to share
When adventure calls.

You cannot tell its magic
By the way the building looks,
But there's wonderment within it,
The wonderment of books.


A Football Game : Alice Van Eck 221


It’s the might, it’s the fight
Of two teams who won’t give in—
It’s the roar of the crowd
And the “Go, fight, win!”

It’s the bands, it’s the stands,
It’s the color everywhere.
It’s the whiff, it’s the sniff
Of popcorn on the air.

It’s a thrill, it’s a chill,
It’s a cheer and then a sigh;
It’s that deep, breathless hush
When the ball soars high.

Yes, it’s more than a score,
Or a desperate grasp at fame;
Fun is King, win or lose—
That’s a football game.


If once you have slept on an island : Rachel Field 221


If once you have slept on an Island,
You’ll never be quite the same;
You may look as you looked
And go by the same old name
You may hustle about in street and shop
You may sit at home and sew,
But you’ll see blue water and wheeling gulls
Wherever your feet may go,
You may chat with neighbors of this and that
And close to the fire keep,
But you’ll hear ship whistle and lighthouse bell
And tides beat through your sleep,
And you won’t know why and you can’t say how
Such a change upon you came,
But once you have slept on an island
You’ll never be quite the same !


Contents


what surprised me is how many of the poems are by well known poets... to
help emphasize the poet, I have moved the poets name to the start in this
listing...

btw, i couldn't find any online contents - so i had to create these contents
by hand...

Nature is...: 21-34

William Blake : Auguries of innocence                       22
      To see the world in a grain of sand
      And a Heaven in a flower
      Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
      And Eternity in an hour.

Cecil Frances Alexander : All things bright and beautiful   22
Anonymous : I'm glad the sky is painted blue                22
Mary Britton Miller : The Universe                          22
A.M. Sullivan : Measurement                                 23
Kate Greenaway : On the bridge                              23
Christina Rossetti : Flint                                  23
Lew Sarett : The Wolf cry                                   24
Margaret Wise Brown : The Secret song                       24
Christina Rossetti : Last rites                             24
Sara Coleridge : Trees                                      24
Walter Crane : The Crocus                                   25
Hilda Conkling : Dandelion                                  25
Gene Baro : The Ferns                                       25
John Richard Moreland : Birch trees                         25
William D. Sargent : Wind-wolves                            26
James Reeves : The Wind                                     26
Barbara Kunz Loots : Mountain wind                          26
Robert Louis Stevenson : Windy nights                       27
Christina Rossetti : Who has seen the wind?                 27
Elizabeth Coatsworth : Mountain Brook                       28
Charlotte Zolotow : River winding                           28
Lillian Morrison : Water's edge                             28
Polly Chase Boyden : Mud                                    28
Dennis Lee : The Muddy puddle                               28
Amy Lowell : Sea shell                                      29
Anonymous : The Sea                                         29
Lilian Moore : Until I saw the sea                          29
May Justus : The Rain has silver sandals                    29
Elizabeth-Ellen Long : Rain clouds                          30
David McCord : To walk in warm rain                         30
Elizabeth Coatsworth : Rhyme                                30
A.A. Milne : The More it snows                              30
Marie Louise Allen : First snow                             31
	Snow makes whiteness where it falls.
	The bushes look like popcorn balls.
	And places where I always play,
	Look like somewhere else today.

N.M. Bodecker : When all the world is full of snow          31
Robert Frost : Stopping by woods on a snowy evening         31
Walter de la Mare : The Snowflake                           32
James Stephens : Check                                      32
Vachel Lindsay : The Moon's the North Wind's cooky          32
Jane Taylor : The Star                                      33
Beatrice Schenk de Regniers : Night comes                   33
Mary Ann Hoberman : Night                                   33
Walter de la Mare : Silver                                  33
G. Orr Clark : The Night is a big black cat                 33

Four Seasons 35-51

Sara Coleridge : The Months                                 36
Anonymous : Four seasons                                    36
John Updike : January                                       36
Myra Cohn Livingston : Martin Luther King                   37
Nancy Byrd Turner : Lincoln                                 37
Lilian Moore : Ground hog day                               37
Ralph Waldo Emerson : Beyond Winter                         38
Shel Silverstein : Valentine                                38
Charles G.D. Roberts : Ice                                  38
Nancy Byrd Turner : Washington                              39
Kathryn Worth : Smells                                      39
Sara Teasdale : February Twilight                           39
Susan M. Schmeltz : Paper dragons                           40
Frances Frost : Maple feast                                 40
Dorothy Aldis : When                                        40
Phyllis McGinley : Daylight saving time                     41
Elizabeth Coatsworth : March                                41
Anonymous : The March wind                                  41
Aileen Fisher : Wearing of the Green                        41
Marchette Chute : Spring rain                               42
Walter R. Brooks : Ode to Spring                            42
Joyce Kilmer : Easter                                       42
Bobbi Katz : Spring is                                      42
Aileen Fisher : On Mother's Day                             43
Karla Kuskin : Spring                                       43
N.M. Bodecker : Good-by my Winter suite                     43
Charlotte Zolotow : A Moment in Summer                      44
Anonymous : A Rocket in my pocket                           44
Mabel Watts : Maytime magic                                 44
Frank Asch : Summer                                         44
Rose Burgunder : Joyful                                     44
	A summer day is full of ease,
	a bank is full of money,
	our lilac bush is full of bees,
	And I am full of honey.
Thoams Bailey Aldrich : October                             45
Maurice Sendak : October                                    45
John Updike : August                                        45
Arthur Guiterman : Harvest home                             45
Dorothy Brown Thompson : This is Halloween                  46
Myra Cohn Livingston : Lazy witch                           46
Rowena Bastin Bennett : Thanksgiving magic                  46
Myra Cohn Livingston : 12 October                           46
Ivy O. Eastwick : Thanksgiving                              47
L. Maria Child : Thanksgiving Day                           47
Aileen Fisher : Light the festive candles                   48
Eleanor Farjeon : The Children's carol                      48
Langston Hughes : Winter moon                               48
Oliver Herford : I heard a bird sing                        49
Aileen Fisher : Merry Christmas                             49
David McCord : From: a Christmas package                    49
Clement Clarke Moore : A Visit from St. Nicholas            50

Dogs and cats and bears and bats p.52-70

Stanley Kunitz : The Waltzer in the house                   54
Rose Fyleman : Mice                                         54
Randall Jarrell : The Chipmunk's song                       55
William Butler Yeats : To a squirrel at Kyle-Na-No          55
Elizabeth Madox Roberts : The Rabbit                        55
J.J. Bell : The Hedgehog                                    56
Theodore Roethke : The Bat                                  56
Frank Jacobs : The Bat                                      56
Theodore Roethke : The Sloth                                56
Alan Brownjohn : Camel                                      57
Charles Edward Carryl : The Camel's complaint               57
Carl Sandburg : Buffalo dusk                                58
Jack Prelutsky : The Hippopotamus                           58
Lenore M. Link : Holding hands                              58
J.R.R. Tolkien : Oliphaunt                                  59
Georgia Roberts Durston : The Wolf                          59
Edna Becker : Beside the line of elephants                  59
Lew Sarett : Four little foxes                              60
Jane Yolen : Grandpa Bear's lullaby                         60
E.V. Rieu : The Lesser lynx                                 60
Gail Kredenser : Polar Bear                                 60
Jack Prelutsky : The Lion                                   61
William Jay Smith : Lion                                    61
Gretchen Kreps : Leopard                                    61
William Jay Smith : Seal                                    62
Rachel Field : The Performing seal                          63
Anonymous : The Donkey                                      63
Lord Byron : The Wild, the free                             63
Conrad Aiken : The Mandrill                                 63
Walter R. Brooks : Ode to the pig: his tail                 64
Roland Young : The Pig                                      64
Herbert Asquith : The Hairy dog                             64
Babette Deutsch : A Pig is never blamed                     64
Ogden Nash : The Cow                                        64
Ted Hughes : Roger the dog                                  65
Irene McLeod : Lone dog                                     65
James S. Tippett : Sunning                                  66
Eleanor Farjeon : Bliss                                     66
	Let me fetch sticks,
	Let me fetch stones,
	Throw me your bones,
	Teach me your tricks.

Anonymous : I've got a dog                                  66
Anonymous : His highness's dog                              66
William Brighty Rands : The Cat of cats                     67
Anonymous : A cat in despondency                            67
Anonymous : The Cats of Kilkenny                            67
Elizabeth Coatsworth : Country barnyard                     68
Eleanor Farjeon : Cats                                      68
Mary Britton Miller : Cat                                   68
James Stephens : Little things                              69
John Becker : Feather of fur                                69
Richard Shaw : Cat's menu                                   69

The ways of Living Things 71-88

Lilian Moore : Hey, Bug!                                    72
Christina Rossetti : Hurt no living thing                   72
Margaret Wise Brown : Green stems                           72
Karla Kuskin : A Bug sat in a silver flower                 73
Valerie Worth : Crickets                                    73
Mary Ann Hoberman : Praying mantis                          73
Walter R. Brooks :
      Ants, although admirable, are awfully aggravating     74
Dorothy Aldis : Wasps                                       74
Roland Young : The Flea                                     74
Anonymous : Bug in a jug                                    74
Marjorie Barrows : The Bug                                  74
Norma Farber : Oh the toe-tester!                           74
Else Holmelund Minarik : When mosquitoes make a meal        74
Kaye Starbird : Cockroaches                                 75
Eleanor Farjeon : A Dragonfly                               75
Robert Frost : Fireflies in the garden                      76
Christina Rossetti : Caterpillar                            76
Ian Serraillier : The Tickle Rhyme                          76
Joan Walsh Anglund : Ladybug                                76
Anonymous : The Codfish                                     77
James Whitcomb Riley : A Wee little worm                    77
E.V. Rieu : The Flattered flying fish                       77
Jack Prelutsky : Long gone                                  78
Lord Alfred Douglas : The Shark                             78
Dahlov Ipcar : Fishes' evening song                         78
Alice B. Campbell : Sally and Manda                         79
John Gardner : The Lizard                                   79
J.J. Bell : The Boa                                         79
Gail Kredenser : Brontosaurus                               79
Byrd Baylor : Desert Tortoise                               80
Hilaire Belloc : The Frog                                   81
Lewis Carroll : The Crocodile                               81
Bobbi Katz : Samuel                                         81
John Travers Moore : The Tree frog                          82
Michael Flanders : The Hummingbird                          82
Arthur Guiterman : The Polliwog                             82
Anna Bird Stewart : Baby talk                               82
Ogden nash : The Canary                                     83
Kenneth Grahame : Ducks' ditty                              83
Richard Digance : The Duck                                  83
Humbert Wolfe : The Blackbird                               83
Elizabeth Coatsworth : Sea Gull                             84
Frances Frost : The Sandpiper                               84
Witter Bynner : The Sandpiper                               84
Rachel Field : Something told the wild geese                85
Lord Alfred Douglas : The Hen                               85
Frances Frost : Night heron                                 86
Hilaire Belloc : The Vulture                                86
Russell Hoban : The Sparrow hawk                            87
Alfred Tennyson : The Eagle                                 87

City, oh City! p.89-101

Lillian Morrison : Just for one day                         90
Mabel Watts : The Riveter                                   90
Mary Elizabeth Counselman : Gift with the wrappings off     90
Marci Ridlon : City, city                                   91
Eve Merriam : Sing a song of subways                        92
Bobbi Katz : Things to do if you are a subway               92
Arnold Spilka : Flowers are a silly bunch                   92
Gwendolyn Brooks : Rudolph is tired of the city             92
Leland B. Jacobs : That May morning                         93
Eve Merriam : Umbilical                                     93
Frank Asch : Sunrise                                        93
Elizabeth Madox Roberts : The People                        93
Ogden Nash : The People upstairs                            93
Judith Thurman : Zebra                                      93
Virginia Schonborg : Crowds                                 94
Patricia Hubbell : Concrete mixers                          94
Mary Britton Miller : They've al gone South                 95
Lilian Moore : Pigeons                                      95
Lois Lenski : Sing a song of people                         95
Virginia Schonborg : Stickball                              96
Frances Park : A Sad song about Greenwich Village           96
Carl Sandburg : Fog                                         96
Frank Asch : Alley cat school                               96
Marci Ridlon : Open hydrant                                 96
Langston Hughes : April rain song                           97
Rachel Field : City lights                                  97
Irene Thompson : Rainy nights                               97
Langston Hughes : City                                      98
Claudia Lewis : Frightening                                 98
Mary Britton Miller : Where are you now?                    98
Lilian Moore : Foghorns                                     98
Felice Holman : The City dump                               98
Dick Dorrance : Cockpit in the clouds                       99

Children, Children everywhere p.101-117

Shel Silverstein : Hug 0'War                                102
Edward Anthony : Advice to small children                   102
Anonymous : The Joke                                        102
Mary Ann Hoberman : Changing                                102
Anonymous : Somebody                                        102
	Somebody loves you deep and true
	If I weren't so bashful, I'd tell you who.

Arnold Spilka : I saw a little girl I hate                  103
Clyde Watson : Huckleberry, Gooseberry, Raspberry           103
William Jay Smith : Love                                    103
Anonymous : I love you                                      103
Anonymous : Question                                        103
Miriam Chaikin : I hate Harry                               104
Arnold Spilka : Puzzle                                      104
Charles Henry Ross : John, Tom, and James                   104
Dennis Lee : Double-barreled ding-dong-bat                  104
Clyde Watson : Yip-yap rattletrap                           105
Nina Payne : Tag along                                      105
Mary Mapes Dodge : Ten kinds                                105
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : There was a little girl        105
E.V. Rieu : Two people                                      105
John Ciardi : Read this with gestures                       105
Gelett Burgess : Table manners                              106
Charles Henry Ross : Jack                                   106
Nina Payne : Bubble gum                                     106
William Cole : Did you?                                     106
Norah Smaridge : Why run?                                   106
Heinrich Hoffmann :
      The Story of Augustus who would not have any soup     107
Kaye Starbird : Eat-it-all Elaine                           108
Walter de la Mare : Tired Tim                               109
Kaye Starbird : Wendy in Winter                             109
Dennis Lee : Tony Baloney                                   109
Marci Ridlon : Fernando                                     109
Leland B. Jacobs : Queenie                                  109
May Justus : Jessica Jane                                   110
Kathleen Fraser : Follow the leader                         110
Dennis Lee : Freddy                                         110
Lee Bennett Hopkins : Girls can, too!                       111
Jack Prelutsky : No girls allowed                           111
Anonymous : Little Clotilda                                 111
Phyllis McGinley : We're racing, racing down the walk       111
E.E. Cummings : maggie and milly and molly and may          112
Kathleen Fraser : Wrestling                                 112
Kaye Starbird : Measles                                     113
Martin Gardner : Barbershop                                 113
Stacy Jo Crossen and Natalie Anne Covell : Wiggly giggles   113
Judith Viorst : Since Hanna moved away                      114
Lewis Carroll : A lullaby                                   114
Eve Merriam : What in the world?                            114

Me I am 117-130

Pauline Clarke : My name is ...                             118
Walter de la Mare : Me                                      118
Anonymous : My Father owns the butcher shop                 118
Gertrude Stein : I am Rose                                  118
Karla Kuskin : Me                                           119
David McCord : Every time I climb a tree                    119
Nikki Giovanni : The Reason I like chocolate                119
Mary O'Neill : Mark's fingers                               120
Dorothy Aldis : When I was lost                             120
Gwendolyn Brooks : Keziah                                   120
Margaret Hillert : Just me                                  120
Bonnie Nims : How to get there                              121
Osage Indian : A wolf ...                                   121
Robert Frost : Dust of snow                                 121
Felice Holman : Sulk                                        121
Laurence Alma-Tadema : If no one ever marries me            121
Kathleen Fraser : Broom balancing                           122
Margaret Hiller : About feet                                122
Lillian Morrison : On the skateboard                        122
Felice Holman : I can fly                                   123
Nikki Giovanni : Basketball                                 123
Karama Fufuka : Basketball star                             123
Ruth Krauss : Song                                          124
Harry Behn : Growing up                                     124
R.C. Scriven : The Marrog                                   125
Dorothy Aldis : Everybody says                              125
Russell Hoban : Stupid old myself                           125
Arnold Spilka : Don't tell me that I talk to much!          126
Jean Conder Soule : Surprises                               126
Dr. Seuss : If we didn't have birthdays                     126
Myra Cohn Livingston : History                              127
Delmore Schwartz : I am Cherry alive                        127
Arnold Spilka : I'm really not lazy                         127
Karla Kuskin : Winter clothes                               128
Emily Dickinson : I'm nobody! Who are you?                  128
Eleanor Farjeon : Yawning                                   128
Michael Patrick Hearn : Rhinos purple, Hippos green         129
Valine Hobbs : One day when we went walking                 129

Home! You're where it's warm inside 131

Marchette Chute : The Wrong start                           132
X.J. Kennedy : Mother's nerves                              132
N.M. Bodecker : John                                        132
Lilian Moore : Waking                                       133
Judith Viorst : Mother doesn't want a dog                   133
A.E. Housman : Amelia mixed the mustard                     133
John Ciardi : I wish I could meet the man that knows        134
Judith Viorst : Some things don't make any sense at all     135
Charles and Mary Lamb : The First tooth                     135
Roy Fuller : Bring up babies                                135
Christopher Morley : Six weeks old                          135
X.J. Kennedy : Help!                                        136
Karama Fufuka : Lil' Bro'                                   136
Marci Ridlon : [my brother|My brother]                                   136
Felice Holman : Leave me alone                              136
John Ciardi : The Myra Song                                 137
Edward Anthony : Let others share                           137
X.J. Kennedy : In the motel                                 137
Karla Kuskin : Rules                                        137
Bobbi Katz : The Runaway                                    138
Martin Gardner : Soap                                       138
John Ciardi : What someone said wehn he was spanked
      on the day before his birthday                        139
Felice Holman : They're calling                             139
John Travers Moore : Going up                               140
Nancy Dingman Watson : Up in the pine                       140
Jane Yolen : Homework                                       141
Russell Hoban : Homework                                    141
Louella Dunann : Hot line                                   141
Michael Rosen : I'm alone in the evening                    142
John T. Alexander : The Winning of the TV West              142
Karla Kuskin : The Middle of the night                      143
Dorothy Brown Thompson : Our house                          143
Eve Merriam : Two people                                    143

I'm hungry! 145

Arnold Adoff : My mouth                                     146
William Carlos Williams : This is just to say               146
Anonymous : Tommorrow's the fair                            146
Lewis Carroll : Turtle soup                                 146
Lucia M. and James L. Hymes, Jr. : Oodles of noodles        147
	I love noodles. Give me oodles.
	Make a mound up to the sun.
	Noodles are my favorite foodles.
	I eat noodles by the ton.

John Ciardi : Mummy slept late and daddy fixed breakfast    147
Russell Hoban : Egg thoughts                                147
Shel Silverstein : Pie problem                              148
Mary Ann Hoberman : Meg's egg                               148
Ogden Nash : Celery                                         148
Leland B. Jacobs : Taste of purple                          148
Nina Payne : Chocolate cake                                 148
Bobbi Katz : Patience                                       149
William Wise : My little sister                             149
Fay Maschler : Little bits of soft-boiled egg               149
Arnold Adoff : Chocolate, chocolate                         149
Spike Milligan : A Thousand hairy savages                   150
Anonymous : I eat my peas with honey                        150
Maxine W. Kumin : Accidentally                              150
Anonymous : I raised a great hullabaloo                     150
Jack Prelutsky : Twickham tweer                             151
Ralph Bergengren : The Worm                                 151
Ogden Nash : The Pizza                                      152
E.V. Rieu : Soliloquoy of a tortoise ...                    152
Myra Cohn Livingston : Mr. Pratt                            152
William Cole : Sneaky Bill                                  153

Some people I know 155

Rachel Field : Some people                                  156
Charlotte Zolotow : People                                  156
Arthur Guiterman : Routine                                  156
Alfred Noyes : Daddy fell into the pond                     156
Shel Silverstein : Smart                                    157
Anonymous : One misty, moisty morning                       157
Walter R. Brooks : Thoughts on talkers                      157
Ted Hughes : My brother Bert                                158
Harry Graham : Grandpapa                                    159
Rose Henderson : Growing old                                159
Leroy F. Jackson : Grandpa dropped his glasses              159
Mariana Griswold, Van Ren Rensselaer : Manners              159
Harry Graham : Uncle                                        159
Mary O'Neill : Miss Norma Jean Pugh                         160
Phyllis B. Morden : Godmother                               161
Dr. Seuss : Too many Daves                                  161
Shel Silverstein : The Little boy and the old man           161
Lucia M. and James L. Hymes, Jr. : Tombstone                162
Lillian Morrison : Air traveler                             162
Leonard Clark : House for sale                              162
William Jay Smith : Jittery Jim                             162
Samuel Taylor Coleridge : On a bad singer                   162
James Reeves : Doctor Emmanuel                              162
Morris Bishop : Hog-calling competition                     163
Nancy Byrd Turner : Old Quin Queeribus                      163
Edward Lear : There was an old man with a beard             163
Beatrice Curtis Brown : Jonathan Bing                       163
Anonymous : Poor old lady                                   164
Anonymous : Fatty, fatty, boom-a-latty                      165
Anonymous : Solomon Grundy                                  165
James Reeves : Mr. Kartoffel                                165
Roald Dahl : Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker                    166
Frank Asch : The Sugar lady                                 166
Edward Gorey : Lord Cray                                    167
Paul Engle : Together                                       167
Richard Wilbur : The Opposite of two                        167
E.V. Rieu : Sir Smasham Uppe                                167

Nonsense! Nonsense p.168--187

Lewis Carroll : Jabberwocky                                 170
Anonymous : Toot! Toot!                                     170
Samuel Goodrich : Higglety, pigglety, pop!                  170
        Higglety, Pigglety, Pop!
        The dog has eaten the mop;
            The pig’s in a hurry,
            The cat’s in a flurry,
        Higglety, Pigglety, Pop!

Spike Milligan : On the ning nang nong                      171
Christopher Isherwood : The Common cormorant                171
Steven Kroll : McIntosh apple                               171
Frederick J. Forster : The Lobsters and the fiddler crab    171
William Roscoe : The Butterfly's ball                       172
Edgar Parker : The Contrary waiter                          173
Anonymous : Whoops!                                         173
Anonymous : Way down South                                  173
Eugene Field : The Duel                                     174
Edward Lear : The Owl and the Pussy-cat                     175
L.J. Bridgman : The Hare and the pig                        176
	The alligator chased his tail
	Which hit him in the snout;
	He nibbled, gobbled, swallowed it,
	And turned right inside-out.

Mary Macdonald : The Alligator                              176
Theodore Roethke : The Lizard                               176
Theodore Roethke : The Serpent                              176
J.J. Bell : The Shark                                       177
Anonymous : I had a little pig                              177
Richard Digance : The Ants at the Olympics                  177
Anonymous : The Animal fair                                 178
Gelett Burgess : The Purple cow                             178
Anonymous : I asked my mother                               178
Anonymous : Algy met a bear                                 178
Michael Flanders : The Walrus                               178
Ogden Nash : Adventures of Isabel                           179
Dennis Lee : Alligator pie                                  180
Leroy F. Jackson : Beela by the sea                         180
Spike Milligan : You must never bath in an Irish stew       180
Anonymous : Did you ever go fishing?                        180
Mervyn Peake : Sensitive, seldom and sad                    181
Alexander Resnikoff : Josephine                             181
Mary Ann Hoberman : The Folk who live in backward town      181
Lewis Carroll : Father William                              182
Dylan Thomas : Johnnie Crack and Flossie Snail              183
Oliver Herford : The Snail's dream                          183
Henry S. Leigh : The Twins                                  183
Edward Lear : The New vestments                             184
Jack Prelutsky : Pumberly Pott's unpredictable niece        186
Anonymous : Don't worry if your job is small                186
Edward Gorey : Number Nine, Penwiper Mews                   186
Harry Graham : Tender-heartedness                           186
Shel Silverstein : Jimmy Jet and his TV set                 187
Anonymous : A Young lady of Lynn                            187
Jack Prelutsky : Herbert Glerbett                           187

Alphabet Stew 188

Anonymous : A Fly and a flea in a flue                      190
Jack Prelutsky : The Cow                                    190
Carolyn Wells : The Tutor                                   190
Anonymous : Weather                                         190
Alexander Resnikoff : Two witches                           190
Laura E. Richards : Antonio                                 191
Arthur Guiterman : Habits of the Hippopotamus               191
Jane Yolen : The Buffalo                                    191
Anonymous : Moses                                           191
Robert Williams Wood : The Puffin                           192
Laura E. Richards : Eletelephony                            192
David McCord : Mr. Bidery's spidery garden                  192
Anonymous : The Ptarmigan                                   193
William Cole : Banananananananana                           193
Mary Ann Hoberman : Clickbeetle                             193
N.M. Bodecker : Sing me a song of teapots and trumpets      193
George A. Strong : The Modern Hiawatha                      194
Eve Merriam : Misnomer                                      194
Anonymous : To Be or not to be                              194
Jack Prelutsky : Don't ever seize a weasel by the tail      195
Anonymous : Have you ever seen?                             195
Mary Ann Hoberman : Waiters                                 195
Anonymous : An Atrocious pun                                195
Peter Newell : Wild flowers                                 195
Phyllis McGinley : J's the jumping Jay-Walker               196
Eleanor Farjeon : Poetry                                    196
Judith Thurman : Lumps                                      196
Emily Dickinson : A Word                                    196
Jack Prelutsky : The Yak                                    197
Mary O'Neill : Feelings about words                         197

Where goblins dwell

Walter de la Mare : Some one                                200
Harry Behn : Ghosts                                         200
Lilian Moore : Something is there                           200
Walter de la Mare : The Horseman                            200
e.e. cummings : hist   whist                                201
Florence Parry Heide : What's that?                         201
Humbert Wolfe : Green candles                               201
Eleanor Farjeon : The Witch! The Witch!                     202
William Shakespeare : Song of the witches                   202
Sylvia Read : Owl                                           202
Shelagh McGee : Wanted--A witch's cat                       202
B.J. Lee : Eight witches                                    203
Sonja Nikolay : Witches' menu                               203
Anonymous : Queen Nefertiti                                 203
Charles Causley : Colonel Fazackerley                       204
W.H. Auden : Song of the Ogres                              205
Anonymous : Three ghostesses                                205
Jack Prelutsky : The Darkling elves                         205
Oliver Herford : The Elf and the Dormouse                   206
Jack Prelutsky : The Bogeyman                               206
Jack Prelutsky : The Troll                                  206
Ogden Nash : The Wendigo                                    207
X.J. Kennedy : Father and Mother                            207
William Allingham : The Fairies                             207
Ralph Hodgson : The Great Auk's ghost                       208
Robert Graves : The Pumpkin                                 208
Rachel Field : The Seven ages of elf-hood                   208
William Jay Smith : Unicorn                                 209
Monica Shannon : How to tell goblins from elves             209
Hughes Mearns : The Little man                              209
Michael Dugan : Gumble                                      209
Shel Silverstein : Slithergadee                             209
James Reeves : The Bogus-boo                                210
Jack Prelutsky : Wrimples                                   210
Miriam Chaikin : Ms. Whatchamacallit thingamajig            211
Palmer Brown : The Spangled pandemonium                     211
Jack Prelutsky : The Creature in the classroom              212
Theodore Roethke : Dinky                                    212
Christopher Morley : The Plumpuppets                        213
Monica Shannon : Could it have been a shadow?               213

Land of Potpourri 215-226

Robert Louis Stevenson : Happy thought                      216
Patricia Hubbell : Our washing machine                      216
William Blake : Introduction to Songs of Innocence          216
Suzanne Douglass : No holes marred                          216
Charles Malam : Steam shovel                                216
William Jay Smith : The Toaster                             217
Russell Hoban : The Tin frog                                217
Joanna Cole : Driving to the beach                          217
Dorothy Aldis : My nose                                     217
Sylvia Plath : From: the bed book                           217
Carl Sandburg : Arithmetic                                  218
Christina Rossetti : What is pink?                          218
Mary O'Neill : What is orange?                              218
Anonymous : To be answered in our next issue                219
Robert Francis : The Base stealer                           219
Mary O'Neill : What is red?                                 219
Elizabeth Fleming : Who's in                                219
Barbara A. Huff : The Library                               220
Lillian Morrison : The Knockout                             220
Edwin A. Hoey : Foul shot                                   220
David McCord : Yellow                                       220
Alice Van Eck : A Football game                             221
Dorothy Brown Thompson : Maps                               221
Rachel Field : If once you have slept on an island          221
Diane Siebert : Train song                                  222
Edna St. Vincent Millay : Travel                            223
Jane Merchant : Flight plan                                 223
Daniel Whitehead Hicky : To an aviator                      223
Patricia Hubbell :
      Message from a mouse, ascending in a rocket           224
Robert Louis Stevenson : From a railway carriage            224
Robert S. Oliver : The Toad                                 224
Frederick Winsor : This little pig built a spaceship        225
Langston Hughes : Dreams                                    225
June Brady : Far trek                                       225
Claudia Lewis : How strange it is                           225
E.V. Rieu : The Paint box                                   226
Beatrice Schenk de Regniers : Keep a poem in your pocket    226
Zilpha Keatley Snyder : To dark eyes dreaming               226



most popular poets

Prelutsky tends to have more modern american poets, though british voices
are also represented, but from an earlier era (Milne, Tolkien, Stevenson).

Here are the poets who have more than five poems in the selection, with
brief biographies and links.


#poems   poet

5 Arnold Spilka (1917- ; U Schildren's illustrator / author) (wiki) 5 Bobbi Katz (US children's author and historian) (bio) 5 David McCord (1897-1997, US poet (Boston), Harvard fundraiser) (bio) 5 Dennis Lee (1939- ; canadian poet 5 Dorothy Aldis 5 Elizabeth Coatsworth 5 Eve Merriam (1916-1992 US poet) bio/31 poems poemhunter 5 Felice Holman (1919- ; US children's author) 5 John Ciardi (1916-1986; US poet / etymologist) (bio) 5 Lewis Carroll 5 Lillian Morrison (1917- ; US poet, NYC) (archive bio) 5 Mary O'Neill (1905-1990, US poet, children's author) [raised in "a wonderful barn of a Victorian house in Berea, Ohio", even as a child she wrote and directed plays for her siblings. She attended Case Western and University of Michigan. Started as an advertising copywriter in Cleveland, and gradually had stories published in various magazines. Eventually became a partner in her own advertising agency. Subsequently, devoted time to the Peace Corps, her family and to her books. She taught journalism and writing for several years in Ghana and Costa Rica. Her 1961 book Hailstones and Halibut Bones (ill. Leonard Weisgard) - a series of twenty poems on the sensibility of colours - became widely popular and was translated into several languages including braille.] E.V. Rieu Karla Kuskin Mary Ann Hoberman 6 E. V. Rieu (1887-1972, UK classicist; Greek translator; poet) (wiki) 6 Karla Kuskin (1932-2009, US children's author and editor) [among my personal favourites] 6 Rachel Field (1894-1942, US children's author) 6 Walter de la Mare 6 William Jay Smith (1918-, US poet, noted also for small comic poems) http://poetryfoundation.org 71 poems 7 Eleanor Farjeon (1881-1865, UK; children's books) wiki 7 Lilian Moore (1909-2004, US children's author, publisher w Scholastic) (nyt obit) 7 Mary Ann Hoberman (1930-, US children's poet) (bio, poems) (authorsite bio) 7 Shel Silverstein (1930-1999, US children's poet / songwriter) (wiki) 15 Jack Prelutsky (1940-, US children's poet) (wiki) 45 Anonymous

amitabha mukerjee (mukerjee [at-symbol] gmail) 2012 Aug 11