From Publishers Weekly
In Willard's gracefully written introduction to this sparkling collection, she says the book "started in a shoe box," and what a brilliantly quirky and satisfying assortment she has compiled. Each poem that she clipped and saved has given her "the special kind of pleasure that good poetry gives when it celebrates the ordinary in an unordinary way." Willard deftly mixes Shakespeare's lyrical "Full Fathom Five" with Frost's eerie "The Witch of Coos" and Mother Goose's plainspoken "Go to Bed" into a seamless whole. She uses two Dickinson poems as bookends for the anthology, beginning with "Will There Really Be a Morning?" and ending with the poet's description of sunset in "Who Is the East?" The intervening poems dally over the animals, experiences, people, nature and ideas that have intrigued poets for centuries, as if the events described were occurring during the course of an ordinary, yet extraordinary, day. Lesser known poets flank the venerable Stafford, Blake, Yeats and Roethke, while Neruda's homely "Ode to a Pair of Socks" keeps company with Pastan's exquisite "Blizzard." Unlike many collections for young adults, Willard avoids poems about teenage angst and confusion, inviting readers to begin the journey into mature feeling and thought. Teachers, especially, will find this volume a treasure, and fledgling wordsmiths will feel a thrill akin to browsing through the notebooks of a poet. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up-Willard says this book began in a shoe box-a gathering of memorable poems that have given her pleasure over the years. Some are familiar, such as William Blake's "The Tyger"; others may be new to teen readers even if the poets (Dickinson, Frost, Shakespeare, and cummings) are not. Each poem considers common things encountered on the long journey of life, of writing, of the quest for knowledge. Valerie Linet provides aspiring writers with a recipe for "Poetry Loaves" ("Knead the mixture until it tumbles into birth./...Do not follow the recipe too closely;/ shut your eyes and burn the rules."). Christopher Smart reflects on his cat Jeoffry and what he brings to his life. Gerald Stern worships cows. D. H. Lawrence, in two brilliantly concise sentences, finds joy in "The White Horse." It is from these greats of poetry that Willard weaves an anthology in which readers can find happiness, insight, inspiration, and wisdom. Pablo Neruda finds joy in the little things in his "Ode to a Pair of Socks." William Butler Yeats's "The Song of Wandering Aengus," one of the most beautifully lyrical and tender pieces in the collection, offers readers much to savor. The poets are legendary; their words are applicable even to today's jaded teens. There is joy here-if only readers will allow it to sing within them.
Sharon Korbeck, Waupaca Area Public Library, WICopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
