Lush and evocative, this treasury of Walt Whitman's classic poetry will be a household favorite for generations. Bound and curated, this full-color collage illustrated beauty will educate young readers while delighting the senses.

Whitman is considered one of the most influential poets in American history. Incorporating both transendentalism and realism earned him the much lauded title of father of free verse, a form beloved among poets and students today. Whitman's influence remains strong in modern day poetry. Art historian Mary Berenson wrote, You cannot really understand America without Walt Whitman. And modernist poet Ezra Pound called Whitman America's poet...he is America.

Hand selected classics included in this collection include O Captain! My Captain!, I Hear America Singing, and many other essentials. Brief commentary and helpful definitions accompany each poem, making The Illustrated Walt Whitman among the most accessible--and beautiful--introductions to Walt Whitman available.

Excerpts from the Introduction:

1: Enjoy the poems. This seems far more important than trying to puzzle out what the author meant (or what other people believe the author meant).

2: Engage with the poems by asking questions....

3: Be your own boss. Read the poems in order or jump around as you see fit. Share them or savor them all by yourself. Say them aloud or whisper their words in your heart.

Poetry makes life better. There is NO wrong way to experience a poem. So, read on, dear friend. And thank you for choosing poetry.

Eve Merriam's beloved poetry tenderly holds our hearts in this timeless collection of bedtime poetry. Gorgeous illustrations and dreamy stanzas lull even the liveliest little one off to sleep.

You be the tree, I'll be the pears, carry me, carry me, up the stairs.

Starry Blankets: Poems for Bedtime is perfect for lap reading or snuggling under the covers, includes more than twenty of Merriam's most known and most loved poems. Selected from across her long career, this collection is a great introduction to this icon in children's poetry.

Nice and Tight

You be saucer,

I'll be cup,

piggyback, piggyback,

pick me up

You be tree,

I'll be pears,

carry me, carry me

up the stairs.

You be Good,

I'll be Night,

tuck me in, tuck me in

nice and tight.

Twenty-six poets, from Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple to Charles Waters and Marilyn Singer, cheer, wail, and salute the classroom in this silly tribute to school.

Calculators and erasers, school buses and pop quizzes, recess and a school vacation countdown--nothing about the school day (or school year) is out of bounds in this poetry collection from today's best children's poets.

The Poets

Micha Archer

Cate Berry

Cynthia Cotton

Audrey Day-Williams

Rebecca Kai Dotlich

Matt Forrest Esenwine

David Griswold

Alexandra S. D. Hinrichs

Jarret Keene

Alethea Kontis

Jane Kurtz

Irene Latham

Lynn Marie

Linda Elovitz Marshall

Eileen Meyer

Diane Ochiltree

Casey Robinson

Michelle Schaub

Marilyn Singer

Ruth Spiro

Heidi E.Y. Stemple

C. M Surrisi

Ryan G. Van Cleave

Charles Waters

Kay Winters

Jane Yolen

In this gorgeous collection, twenty-five of Poe's most beloved works are each illustrated with stunning, full-color collage artwork.

Poems include The Raven, The Bells, and many others. Brief commentary and helpful definitions accompany each poem, making The Illustrated Edgar Allan Poe among the most accessible--and beautiful--introductions to Edgar Allan Poe available.

From the Introduction:

SUGGESTION 1: Enjoy the poems. This seems far more important than trying to puzzle out what the author meant (or what other people believe the author meant).

SUGGESTION 2: Engage with the poems by asking questions....

SUGGESTION 3: Be your own boss. Read the poems in order or jump around as you see fit. Share them or savor them all by yourself. Say them aloud or whisper their words in your heart.

Poetry makes life better. There is NO wrong way to experience a poem.

So, read on, dear friend. And thank you for choosing poetry.

The most curious museum on Earth isn't on the earth at all; it's on the moon.

A 2024 Notable Poetry Book, National Council of Teachers of English

Honor Award, 2024 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award (Pennsylvania State University Libraries and the Pennsylvania Center for the Book)

Nominee, Intermediate Division, 2024-2025 Keystone to Reading Elementary Book Awards

The poetry and facts complement each other and make for a nice flow of information and fun, resulting in sometimes goofy poetry....A lovely picture book that mixes poetry and history about the moon.--School Library Journal?

A provocative tally of treasures and trash. --Kirkus Reviews

Footprints forever etched in time. A commemorative patch from a tragic flight. Two golf balls, still lodged in frozen dust 238,900 miles away. From the amusing to the poignant, The Museum on the Moon introduces readers to the mysterious objects left on the lunar surface since humans arrived in 1969. Part history, part poetry, heartwarming and haunting, and illustrated with breathtaking graphite drawings, The Museum on the Moon is a moving exhibit of humankind's most famous quest for knowledge and our place in the universe.

From the book:

The primary goals of the United States' NASA Apollo program (1961-1972) were to establish space technology, carry out scientific exploration of the moon, and to develop ways for humans to work in the lunar environment. Six missions--Apollos 11, 12, 14, 15, and 17--landed American astronauts on the moon. The astronauts carried with them a variety of items that are now artifacts--some personal mementos, some tools and equipment for the purpose of moon transport and experimentation, and other things, like human waste products, unavoidable. Because the moon has virtually no atmosphere, these things remain on the moon, just as they were, and will presumably continue to be there for years to come. The moon truly is a museum!

They burp. They fart. They creak. They crack. Bodies make MUSIC!

A 2024 CBC Children's Favorites Winner

A 2024 CBC Teacher Favorites Winner

A 2024 CBC Librarian Favorites Winner

Yolen and Van Cleave give voice to bodily noises--from butts that BOOM to giggles and gasps--in a riotously silly poetry collection perfectly tuned to a toilet humor-loving audience.--Publishers Weekly

Funny, fact-filled, and succinct, this title will have broad appeal beyond the elementary aged audience it is intended for. A recommended first purchase.--School Library Journal

And let's face it: kids love every note! In Body Music, bestselling authors Jane Yolen and Ryan G. Van Cleave bring their trademark wit to fifteen hilarious poems that celebrate the sounds of the human body, from sniffles to snaps, sneezes to wheezes, hiccups to yawns, and more! Each poem is illustrated with bright, lively artwork and is accompanied by scientific facts that answer questions like: What is a knuckle crack? Why do we sneeze? and What makes a tummy rumble? Funny and secretly educational, Body Music has it all: science, history, language arts, and farts!

From the book:

What Is Body Music?:

It can be accidental sounds, responses to pain, surprise, fear. But there are also folk traditions of many different countries that use body percussion, which is the art of using the body to create vibrations and sounds. Examples of body percussion include West Africa's hambone, Ethiopian armpit music, and the hand clapping in Spanish Flamenco.

From the pen of world-renowned poet, author, and nana, Jane Yolen, come nineteen poems about grandmothers from around the world.

This sweet collection features nanas who dream and those that sing crying babies to sleep; nanas who hold hands crossing the street and some who learn hopscotch; nanas who color with you and some who go to zoos; and other nanas spending precious time with their precious little ones.

From Spanish to Japanese, Swahilli to Yiddish, Scottish to Vietnamese, one thing is clear - No matter what language you say it in...grandma means love.

Excerpt

When Nana Jane Sleeps

Sometimes she snores.

Sometimes she whistles.

Sometimes she is so quiet,

I tiptoe into her room

to make sure she is all right.

She always is.

Dazzling and vivid, this collection includes twenty-five of William Shakespeare's most beloved poems, each illustrated with stunning, full-color collage artwork.

One of history's most prolific playwrights and poets, William Shakespeare is known throughout the globe for such masterpieces as Shall I compare thee to a summer's day All the world's a stage and many other famous poems that are included in this collection. Though his works are often intimidating to analyze and understand, this particular volume helps young readers, with brief commentary and helpful definitions, gain better insights with each poem. The Illustrated William Shakespeare is among the most accessible--and beautiful--introductions to William Shakespeare available.

Excerpt rom the Introduction:

1: Enjoy the poems. This seems far more important than trying to puzzle out what the author meant (or what other people believe the author meant).

2: Engage with the poems by asking questions....

3: Be your own boss. Read the poems in order or jump around as you see fit. Share them or savor them all by yourself. Say them aloud or whisper their words in your heart.

Poetry makes life better. There is NO wrong way to experience a poem. So, read on, dear friend. And thank you for choosing poetry.

Eve Merriam's beloved poetry tenderly holds our hearts in this timeless collection of funny poems designed to tease out your senses through verse.

From 'I, ' says the poem to Weather, How to Eat a Poem contains some of Eve Merriam's most iconic and humorous poetry that evoke imagery of sights, sounds, tastes, and more. Paired with full, colorful illustrtions, kids will delight in sharing these poems with each other and the adults in their lives.

How to Eat a Poem

Don't be polite.

Bite in.

Pick it up with your fingers and lick the juice that may run down your chin.

It is ready and ripe now, whenever you are.

You do not need a knife or fork or spoon

or plate or napkin or tablecloth.

For there is no core

or stem

or rind

or pit

or pit

or seed

or skin

to throw away.

In time to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence (also known as the United States Semiquincentennial) comes a poetic and lushly illustrated book for kids celebrating the spirit of America.

With beloved poems from Robert Frost and Carl Sandburg to Emma Lazarus and Helen Hunt Jackson, The American Spirit is a moving celebration of the themes, history, and people that make the United States of America the majestic nation it is today. Fifty poems--from men and women of different cultures, backgrounds, and time periods--showcase America's rich history and culture from before its founding to today's modern times.

Each of the fifty entries includes a famous poem, a short essay on its patriotic themes, an activity or questions to further reader understanding, and selected vocabulary words, all of which work together to help kids understand both the poem and our country better.

Table of Contents

Part One--Exploration & Discovery

Part Two--Heroes & Legends

Part Three--Music & Art

Part Four--Work & Progress

Part Five--Freedom & Equality

Part Six--Resilience & Change

Excerpt:

On the Mississippi

by Hamlin Garland

Through wild and tangled forests

The broad, unhasting river flows--

Spotted with rain-drops, gray with night;

Upon its curving breast there goes

A lonely steamboat's larboard light,

A blood-red star against the shadowy oaks;

Noiseless as a ghost, through greenish gleam

Of fire-flies, before the boat's wild scream--

A heron flaps away

Like silence taking flight.

The River of Dreams

The Mississippi River has long symbolized exploration and connection, winding through America's heartland and history. Hamlin Garland's vivid imagery captures the river's power and mystery, painting it as a bridge between past and future. This timeless waterway has carried stories of traders, settlers, and dreamers, embodying the spirit of discovery that flows through the nation's veins.

Celebrate

Learn about the history of the Mississippi River and its role in shaping America. Find a map of the river and trace its path. Imagine what it might have been like to travel along its waters in the 1800s--what would you see, hear, and feel?

Define:

unhasting: not rushing

larboard: left side of a ship