Piping Down the Valleys Wild [Paperback]

Nancy Larrick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 13, 1999

The classic poetry treasury in a fresh new edition includes poems by Robert Frost, Karla Kushin, e.e. cummings, T.S. Elliot, W.B. Yeats, and Edward Lear.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Here is a treasury of favorite favorites, the poems that children find irresistable.... This will be a prized and popular anthology."—The Horn Book

From the Publisher

Here is a rich and varied collection of poetry for use by children, parents and teachers. The introduction includes advice on choosing poetry for children and reading poetry aloud.

"No other collection contains so many poems with so wide an appeal. This will be a prized and popular anthology."--Horn Book. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Yearling (April 13, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440415829
• ISBN-13: 978-0440415824
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,128,584 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Having trouble giving it up, December 4, 2006

By 

amazon3131 "amazon3131" (California, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Piping Down the Valleys Wild (Paperback)

We bought this in November for a precocious three-year-old friend of ours. She'll get it for Christmas... or a little after... if we can manage to let go of it by then. I've been reading it out loud to my husband while he's washing dishes. It's just the right mix of old favorites and things that are new to me -- and a remarkably low number of poems where you're left scratching your head and saying "Why'd they waste the ink on that one?"

The book itself is the cheapest of newsprint with a basic paperback binding. We may someday need to find a more beautiful copy, but in the meantime, "cheap" means that normal damage won't precipitate a crisis, and that's always an appropriate choice for a preschooler.


One last thought: If you're looking for a collection of poems for a family that strongly objects to Halloween or "magic," then you need to keep looking. While this book has many poems which refer to God and/or the Divine in one way or another (without being the least bit preachy), it also has a chapter of poems which talk about witches and goblins and other Halloween characters, as well as a few about fairies or other fanciful creatures. I found none of them offensive, and individual poems are easily skipped, but a few people on my gift list are particularly sensitive on this point, and it's well to know what you're getting into in advance.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All The Best, January 18, 2008

By 

James E. Schwartz - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Piping Down the Valleys Wild (Paperback)

This is, by far, the best book of children's poetry I've ever seen. I've owned my copy for over twenty years. I read almost every poem in the book to my children while they were growing up, and we memorized many of the poems. I used the book extensively in my classroom when I was an elementary teacher. Now, as a college professor, I read from the book often to inspire my student-teachers.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A sentimental favorite, April 26, 2007

By 

Marielle T. Poss - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Piping Down the Valleys Wild (Paperback)

My mother gave me this book when I was about five or six, and I learned many of the poems by heart. I still have my (very battered) copy and intend to pass it on to my own son, in the hope that it will inspire in him the same love of poetry that it did in me. An excellent introduction to poetry for any child - I am thrilled to learn that this wonderful book is still in print!