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Rating: 
Summary: My daughter won't let us stop reading it.
Review: A beautiful book with wonderful poems. The illustrations by Jane Dyer are absolutely gorgeous! Every night my daughter asks for her poems. And always wants just one more. It would be a great gift for a new mom and dad.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic book for children
Review: For people hoping to nurture the love of poetry in young children, this is THE collection to get. The poems are fun, rhyming, short but with great themes/stories, and the illustrations are fantastic! My 3 and 5 year-olds both love the book. I have bought other, highly recommended collections of poems for children, but this is by far my family's favorites! I taught college courses using X.J. Kennedy's collection of short stories as a textbook and I respected his judgement and taste then, but this book impressed me all over again.
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Summary: Beyond Mother Goose
Review: I bought this book because I'm a fan of Jane Dyer's illustrations but the text content just does not thrill me. Looks are what this book has going for it.
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Summary: Great Book of Poetry For Children (and Parents)
Review: Last night, my not-quite-three-year-old daughter spontaneously recited a couple dozen poems from this book to my wife and me. We were astounded. She's been requesting that we read TALKING LIKE THE RAIN to her day and night since I bought it last month, but we had no idea how deeply the poems had sunken in. What better endorsement can one give to such a book? We plan to buy several more copies as presents for my daughter's friends . . . and their parents. X.J. Kennedy is a terrific poet as well as a top-notch editor. I highly recommend his own children's poetry books, particularly his irreverent BRATS, as well as his poetry books for adults, which include the excellent DARK HORSES and CROSS TIES.
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Summary: Educators Recommend
Review: The Kennedys have done a superb job in selecting the poems for this read-aloud. The titles run the gamut of sweetly simple (Langston Hughes' "Piggy Back"), to the powerful (Georgia Roberts Durston's "The Wolf"). There is something for everyone here. Readers will find old favorites-"The Purple Cow"-as well as a few not-so-well-known but soon-to-be favorites such as William Jay Smith's lovely and lyrical "Polar Bear." The book is divided into nine, themed sections: Plays, Families, Just for Fun, Birds, Bugs, and Beasts, Rhymes and Songs, Magic and Wonder, Wind and Weather, Calendars and Clocks, and, finally, Day and Night. Making their appearance are, among others, Robert Louis Stevenson, Joan Aiken, Jane Yolen, Gwendolyn Books, A. A. Milne, and Wallace Stevens. Jane Dyer, as always, does a magnificent job with the illustrations. There are full-page pictures and spot art throughout, extending and enriching the text. Readers will want to linger over the realistic, charming watercolors. Highly recommended. Reviewed by the Education Oasis Staff
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Summary: Enchanting!
Review: This book is a family favorite. My 2 1/2 year old twin boys (who are generally in love with things like trucks and trains), love it! They have committed so many of the poems to memory that they correct us when we get a word wrong. The illustrations are phenomenal and helped draw the boys in long before I thought they'd be old enough to listen to poetry. Bravo to editors and illustrator!
Rating:
Summary: Beyond Mother Goose
Review: This has become my favorite gift of all that I received for our now almost 3 year old twin boys. The illustrations are gorgeous and the poems vary widely in subject matter and flavor. It is a perfect introduction to poetry after Mother Goose. I've been reading it to them from about 18 months on, and they've grown to love it. They know many of the poems by heart. I think it is a book that they will read over and over for years to come. I now give this book out as gifts to other new parents.
Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Anthology with a Wonderful Variety of Poems
Review: This is a beautiful book both visually and in content. The watercolor illustrations are in the realistic style painted in fine detail. My daughter loves to look at the pictures closely as we read the poems aloud. The poems selected cover a wide range of topics, themes, and moods. There are funny poems like limericks, serious poems about the seasons, poems about how children sometimes feel (such as the one about the boy who didn't do anything right yesterday, so he's not getting out of bed today) bedtime poems, and poems about child play. This book was a gift and I love it so much I've since given it to other parents and children to enjoy. Everyone has been enthusiastic about it. When my daughter selects this book (which is often) it's fun for us to browse through the pages and pick poems based on the illustrations or on our mood. We'll say, let's read about sleepytime poems, or let's read funny poems. She never tires of this book. There are hundreds of poems to choose from, but the scope is not overwhelming either. I give this book my highest recommendation. Every home should have some poetry on the shelf!
Rating:
Summary: Every Child Deserves This Beautiful Book
Review: This large, gorgeous picture book contains 123 poems perfectly suited for youthful excursions into the land of poetry. You will find many favorites here as well as bountiful opportunity to make new friends. Emily Dickinson, Rachel Field, David McCord, Jane Yolen, Christina Rossetti, Langston Hughes, Elizabeth Coatsworth, and Robert Frost are just a few of the amazing talents that grace the pages of this book. From the very beginning where a qote from Isak Dinesen's "Out of Africa" explains the title of the book, we are swept up in a cavalcade of imagery, sound and experience that is a true delight and feast for the imagination. Not only is this a wonderful introduction to poetry for children it is a giant step forward toward learning about creative visualization and self-expression. It is a fortunate child who learns to evoke response from others through the mastery and selection of words. There is no better way to teach the art than to provide a child with the opportunity to experience the magic first-hand. The splendid illustrations in this book cheerily invite one to venture closer and then become the magic carpet that sweeps one from place to place within the book. The subject matter covers a broad range of topics, humorous and thoughtful, and can serve as a wonderful catalyst to further discussion about poetry and the use of the imagination. After a long and satisfying relationship with this book, may I suggest that you place a special magical pen and a blank tablet of paper in the hands of your child and discover the wonders it has helped to deliver. This book is truly an ambassador to creative expression.
Rating:
Summary: Every Child Deserves This Beautiful Book
Review: This large, gorgeous picture book contains 123 poems perfectly suited for youthful excursions into the land of poetry. You will find many favorites here as well as bountiful opportunity to make new friends. Emily Dickinson, Rachel Field, David McCord, Jane Yolen, Christina Rossetti, Langston Hughes, Elizabeth Coatsworth, and Robert Frost are just a few of the amazing talents that grace the pages of this book. From the very beginning where a qote from Isak Dinesen's "Out of Africa" explains the title of the book, we are swept up in a cavalcade of imagery, sound and experience that is a true delight and feast for the imagination. Not only is this a wonderful introduction to poetry for children it is a giant step forward toward learning about creative visualization and self-expression. It is a fortunate child who learns to evoke response from others through the mastery and selection of words. There is no better way to teach the art than to provide a child with the opportunity to experience the magic first-hand. The splendid illustrations in this book cheerily invite one to venture closer and then become the magic carpet that sweeps one from place to place within the book. The subject matter covers a broad range of topics, humorous and thoughtful, and can serve as a wonderful catalyst to further discussion about poetry and the use of the imagination. After a long and satisfying relationship with this book, may I suggest that you place a special magical pen and a blank tablet of paper in the hands of your child and discover the wonders it has helped to deliver. This book is truly an ambassador to creative expression.
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