A Family of Poems: My Favorite Poetry for Children

After reading the reviews, perhaps I expected too much and was therefore disappointed. Many of the poems appeared to me to be from unknowns (maybe friends of hers?) and didn't rhyme, so I wouldn't think they'd be that interesting to children. They didn't move me deeply either, as many poems do, rhyme or not, but admittedly I'm not a poet expert so I may not know what I'm talking about. The illustrations were pretty good.

I have about 20 anthologies of poetry for children, and this is clearly the best in my collection. The poems are beautifully crafted and many are fairly complex, yet they are all accessible and interesting to children (mine are finishing up 1st & 2nd grade). Plus the watercolor illustrations are absolutely exquisite. The other thing I love about this book is its integrity. This does not appear to be a random selection of poems chosen by an unrelated committee of people (like some of my other anthologies). As diverse as the poetry selections are, there is still something coherent about them -- they fit together and work together in a very satisfying way. I highly recommend this book.

Because I have a jaundiced view of celebrity books, I'll admit that I was skeptical about an anthology compiled by Caroline Kennedy. But the fact is that Ms. Kennedy has done an admirable job with this young person's poetry collection. The poets are sometimes unexpected (Sylvia Plath has a charming bedtime poem here that I had never read) and the poems are not necessarily the obvious ones that one would expect to find in a book like this. There are nonsense rhymes, but they seem to be the best ones; no doggerel here. And as you can see from this review's title, I was especially happy to see one particular poem represented. :)

We own several poetry books for children (Talking Like the Rain, 20th Century Children's Poetry Treasury), and while we have enjoyed reading those with our children, this one truly outshines the others. The illustrations are what make this collection superior. They are bold and colorful without being a distraction. The selection of poems is superb and hopefully in reading this book with your children, they will fall in love with language and the imagery it evokes. This is a classic!

Caroline Kennedy has breathed new life into the classic poetry we have been reading our whole lives. Some of the poems will be familar to you because you read them and loved them in grammar and high school. Other poems you may have seen excperts of in movies, greeting cards, and children's songs. I also appreciate how the paintings compliment the pieces, while adding a new perspective and offering a greater capacity for imagination. I do love poetry and I found this book by simply looking through all the new poetry on the market. Another book I read that has poetry and short stories, that is similar to this one because old and young alike will find something for them, is Calling in the Night by Michele Geraldi. It has a good variety of children's poems, short stories, spiritual poems, and patriotic poems and stories, so I think readers who enjoy A Family of Poems might find interest in that book as well. Keep in mind that Calling in the Night is original work, though, where as A Family of Poems is mostly classics, so there is that difference there. Caroline Kennedy really has fabulous taste, and the Kennedy family in general can always be counted on to be classy and eloquent. This is a book that can fit right in with any child's or adult's poetry collection.

This book is absolutely beautiful...the variety and quality of Kennedy's selections is right on...the Muth paintings are brilliant and complement the words perfectly. I got chills flipping through it for the first time...will be a classic.