Customer Reviews

The 20th Century Children's Poetry Treasury (Treasured Gifts for the Holidays)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

When I ordered this book, I was very curious to see how my first-grader, a beginner reader, would respond to poetry that was more sophisticated and literary than the rhyming words of her preschool books. She absolutely loved it, understanding enough of the content, intrigued by the colorful illustrations and entertained by the way poems sound when read aloud. For the parent, it's a welcomed change of pace from reading stories aloud. For the child, it's an imaginative introduction to the different ways words can be used to express thoughts and feelings. I liked it so much that I ordered a copy for my child's first-grade class.

This is a great gift to kids (and adults) that like playing with words. Jack Prelutsky has compiled some of the best poetry of the 20th Century. His aim is true. There are no clunkers in this anthology. The poetry covers the broad range from wistful to joyful, with imagination to spare.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the illustrations by Meilo So. They gorgeously illustrate the gist of many poems. Just like the poems, the paintings drip with imagination and wonder.

Some people may frown at spoon-feeding images, rather than letting the child make up his/her own. They may have a point, yet you can always discuss the images with the kid, decide whether they properly frame the poems and/or discuss what other images would have been better. In other words, these illustrations can be used a spring board for further imaginative work.

All in all, I highly recommend this book.

Paraphrase for your child the preface of this book- Jack Prelutsky's private poetry book collection totalled over 5000 volumes, and from these he culled the poems in this book. That immediately amazed my children who love to collect, and they knew these poems were special... My 6 year old boy - my Yugio loving, Ninja masked soccer playing boy, loves poetry as a result of this book, and recites several from memory. We copied his favorite to put on the bulletin board of his school when it was his turn to be student of the week.

We bought this as we have the "The 20th Century Children's Book Treasury" and thought it would be a good companion piece. I liked the choice of poems (a nice range from classic to contemporary) and the way they were organized (by theme). My only (minor) disppointment has been that the Poetry Treasury is so small compared to the Book Treasury (87 pages vs. 297). One of the aspects I most appreciated about this book is that the poems included are not all "children's" but are still child-friendly. I would recommend this book for anyone with children.

My daughter's favorite bedtime reading. A wonderful collection of poetry for children (and entertaining reading for adults too!). Fun rhymnes, bright illustrations and humorous approach make my 3 1/2 year old laughout loud. She asks for poems by name -- especially "My Name Is". This book makes reading poetry a joyful experience and will be the first Christmas gift I send the children on my list this year.

A wonderful book of beautiful poems written for children. I love these poems, i am 12. I got this poem book when i was little and still enjoy reading it often. this is a great book to add to a collection of children's poetry!

I fell in love with all the poems I read. It truely reminds me of poems mothers would read to their child for bed. The illustrations were very beautiful and dramatic. The pictures were so bright and colorful. Children from ages 0 to 5 would love to look at the pictures and illustrations in this book. Even though a child that young can't read, it would be very amazing to their eyes. At my age, I would love to either read the poems to a group of children or even have the children read them in silent reading. This book would also allow the child to be imaginative and creative. These poems are fun to listen to and not poems that are meant to be preached.

This is another great anthology; well selected poems; great topics; great illustrations. Not a poem out of place. I just wish it were a little longer as we enjoyed it so much. This is one that we will dip into for years to come and is a lovely book to give to other families as a gift.

My five year old and I enjoy this book very much. Since poetry was such an enjoyable part of my own childhood I wanted to find a special selection for her as well. This one really fits the bill and we turn to it regularly at bedtime. The poems are organized loosely by theme on the various pages: food poems, animals, noises, summer, faces, and etc etc. Many of the poems are really funny and have wonderful sounds, rhythms and topics that speak to the child's inner poet. For instance, the Hippopotamustn't, a poem by a child with a cold, and a circular poem that goes around and around on the page are some of my daughter's favorites which she herself has partially memorized and asks for with enthusiasm.

Some of the criticisms I read in these reviews are of the illustrations and that it has a smaller number of poems than some anthologies. Personally I like the illustrations. They are very colorful and loose and take equal billing on the page with the words. They help keep my child's imagination rolling through the many poems on the page. I also find the number of poems more than sufficient for our needs. There is a huge range of subjects and so far, every time we have ever said "I wonder if there's a poem about X--" when we go to the index, sure enough there is a poem with that exact name.

We are still discovering new poems.

This is a great way to introduce poetry to your kids. I'll admit, when I was younger, I thought of poetry as something only old people wrote and read. This collection makes poetry fun (and well, not old!). I don't feel like I'm reading a textbook to my preschool aged kids, as I have felt with other anthologies. It includes both classic and modern poetry representing a broad range of poetry styles. There are fun and bright illustrations on every page. I like the selections from this collection as much as the selections in Jack Prelutsky's other anthology, The Random House Book of Poetry for Children. A few things that make these collections different from one another is that this collection is shorter and the illustrations are different (both books have great illustrations that are totally different styles, but these illustrations are more colorful). My family has both this book and the above mentioned Random House collection and they are equally loved!