The Everyman Anthology of Poetry for Children: Illustrated by Thomas Bewick

For anyone who loves poems. For children and adults alike. I think there are many poems in this book which are a bit too complex for children but that's ok. There's an incredible variety of poems which should appeal to everyone. I purchased this book to read to my four year old. Some of them she enjoys very much, others not so. But as she grows up I'm hoping this is one of the books she returns to every now and then like the poem books I still have from my infancy.

Editor Gillian Avery says in the introduction that this is a book of poems that "the owner will not outgrow." Thus these are poems that hold as much value for adults as for the young. (Some other book has in its title "for the young of all ages;" I like that concept!) This is a wonderful mix of verse both serious and fun, divided into sections: Rhymes and Nonsense, The Year and its Seasons, Journeys and Places, Spells Magic and Mystery, Strange Tales, Music and Dancing, Battles Soldiers and Patroits, Birds and Beasts, Childhood and Youth, Some People, Love and Lovers' Tales, Last Things. A fine volume.