The Oxford Illustrated Book of American Children's Poems

by Hall, Donald

• ISBN13: 9780195145786
• ISBN10: 019514578X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-03-22
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

American children's poetry began with Native American cradle songs, moved on to a rhymed alphabet, blossomed in the 19th century with "A Visit from St. Nicholas," expanded widely in the 20th century, and continues with vigor into the new millennium. Some of the best of these poems, however,have been neglected or forgotten. This collection, edited by acclaimed children's author and poet Donald Hall, returns to us the forgotten treasures of American children's poetry. Featuring some of the best of children's book illustration-including archival selections from rare and early editionsand pictures from now defunct 19th- and early-20th-century children's magazines-this anthology revives not only the classic poems but also the atmosphere of the periods in which they were written and read. Starting with anonymous Native American verses and a selection from the 1727 New England Primer, "Alphabet," this book spans two centuries of American children's poetry. Immediately recognizable names, including Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, and T. S. Eliot are joined by talentedcontemporary poets like Gwendolyn Brooks, Sandra Cisneros, Janet S. Wong, and others. Perennial favorites-such as "The Three Little Kittens" and "Casey at the Bat"-are mixed in with new classics, such as Shel Silverstein's "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out." Poems aboutholidays appear with verses for recitation, nursery rhymes, poems for laughter, bedtime verses, scary poems, and animal poems. In recognition of America's diverse nature, the selections in this anthology reflect a variety of backgrounds and experiences. From anonymous African-American poets we stepforward through the ages to admire the talents of Langston Hughes, Sonia Sanchez, and Francisco X. Alarcon. Children will love discovering these gems, and both parents and teachers will delight in reading to children from this book.

Author Biography

Donald Hall is the author of many children's favorites, including The Ox-Cart Man (a Caldecott Medal winner), I Am the Dog, I Am the Cat and Lucy's Summer, and the editor of The Oxford Book of Children's Verse in America (OUP, 1985). He has also written a dozen books of poetry, most recently Without. He lives on a farm in New Hampshire.

Table of Contents

Preface	7	(1)
Anonymous Native American
Chant to the Fire-Fly	8	(1)
She Will Gather Roses	9	(1)
Mother's Song to a Baby	10	(1)
The New England Primer
Alphabet	11	(1)
Clement Clarke Moore
A Visit from St. Nicholas	12	(2)
Eliza Lee Follen
The Three Little Kittens	14	(1)
Sarah Josepha Hale
Mary's Lamb	15	(1)
Anna Maria Wells
The Cow-Boy's Song	16	(2)
Lydia Maria Child
The New-England Boy's Song about Thanksgiving Day	18	(1)
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Fable	19	(1)
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The Village Blacksmith	20	(2)
John Greenleaf Whittier
Barbara Frietchie	22	(2)
John Godfrey Saxe
The Blind Men and the Elephant	24	(1)
Emily Dickinson
I'm nobody, who are you?	25	(1)
There is no frigate like a book	25	(1)
Henry S. Leigh
The Twins	26	(1)
Palmer Cox
The Lazy Pussy	27	(1)
The Mouse's Lullaby	27	(1)
Charles E. Carryl
The Camel's Complaint	28	(1)
James Whitcomb Riley
Little Orphant Annie	29	(2)
Anonymous African American
The Origin of the Snake	31	(1)
Eugene Field
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod	32	(2)
Laura E. Richards
Antonio	34	(1)
Eletelephony	34	(1)
Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
The Ostrich Is a Silly Bird	35	(1)
Amos R. Wells
The Considerate Crocodile	36	(1)
Ernest Lawrence Thayer
Casey at the Bat	37	(2)
Gelett Burgess
I Wish That My Room Had a Floor	39	(1)
The Purple Cow	39	(1)
Arthur Guiterman
Habits of the Hippopotamus	40	(1)
Robert Frost
The Last Word of a Bluebird	41	(1)
Carl Sandburg
Fog	42	(1)
We Must Be Polite	43	(1)
Vachel Lindsay
The Little Turtle	44	(1)
The Moon's the North Wind's Cooky	44	(1)
Elizabeth Madox Roberts
The Rabbit	45	(1)
T. S. Eliot
Macavity: The Mystery Cat	46	(2)
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Counting-out Rhyme	48	(1)
Elizabeth Coatsworth
No Shop Does the Bird Use	49	(1)
Song of the Rabbits Outside the Tavern	50	(1)
E. E. Cummings
in Just-	51	(1)
Rachel Field
Something Told the Wild Geese	52	(1)
David Mccord
Books Fall Open	53	(1)
Ogden Nash
Adventures of Isabel	54	(1)
The Panther	55	(1)
Langston Hughes
Mother to Son	56	(2)
April Rain Song	58	(1)
Hope	58	(1)
Countee Cullen
Incident	59	(1)
Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel)
Too Many Daves	60	(1)
Phyllis McGinley
Triolet Against Sisters	61	(1)
Theodore Roethke
The Sloth	62	(1)
Dinky	62	(1)
John Ciardi
About the Teeth of Sharks	63	(1)
Eve Merriam
Catch a Little Rhyme	64	(1)
Gwendolyn Brooks
Michael Is Afraid of the Storm	65	(1)
William Jay Smith
The Floor and the Ceiling	66	(2)
May Swenson
Cardinal Ideograms	68	(2)
Richard Wilbur
Some Opposites	70	(1)
X. J. Kennedy
One Winter Night in August	71	(1)
Mary Ann Hoberman
The Folk Who Live in Backward Town	72	(1)
Karla Kuskin
The Witches' Ride	73	(1)
Shel Silverstein
Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out	74	(2)
Nancy Willard
The King of Cats Sends a Postcard to His Wife	76	(2)
Sonia Sanchez
To P. J. (2 yrs old who sed write a poem for me in Portland, Oregon)	78	(1)
Lucille Clifton
listen children	79	(1)
Jack Prelutsky
The Pancake Collector	80	(1)
Pat Mora
Castanet Clicks	81	(1)
Tall Walking Woman	82	(1)
Nikki Giovanni
Knoxville, Tennessee	83	(1)
Gary Soto
Ode to Senor Leal's Goat	84	(1)
Francisco X. Alarcon
(poems in Spanish and English) Laughing Tomatoes	85	(1)
Morning Sun	86	(2)
Sandra Cisneros
Good Hot Dogs	88	(2)
Janet S. Wong
Good Luck Gold	90	(1)
One to Ten	91	(1)
Index of Authors	92	(1)
Index of First Lines and Titles	92