Viewing 10 posts - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
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  • Julie
    Member

    Does anyone focus on one poet per term?  Has that worked well?  My kids like poetry and I’d like to include more of it next year.  There are so many choices though!  I don’t really want another anthology but would rather get a whole book of one poet’s work — any recommendations?  My soon to be 10th grader is interested in Shelley, Wordsworth, and Longfellow.  Would any of those be good for my middle schoolers as well?  Thanks for any and all help!

    missceegee
    Participant

    We study 2 poets per term, each for six weeks. We like the Poetry for Young People series. I have a couple of “complete collections” books, but for the most part it is overkill for us. While my kids are all elementary age and under, poetry is a family study for us. I would suggest going with what one or the other of your kids is interested in, provided the subject matter of the specific poems is ok.

    I know you mentioned not wanting an anthology, but in case others might need a recommendation, our favorite anthology is Favorite Poems Old and New

    Blessings,

    Christie

    Rachel White
    Participant

    Christie,

    I’ve looked at the Poetry for Young People before; I am intrigued; but there seems to be mixed reviews, many negative.

    Specifically, are the poems presented abridged in any way? What do you think is negative in the series?

    Thank,

    Rachel

    Bookworm
    Participant

    Go directly to Dover Books http://www.doverpublications.com    You want all categories, then literature, then Dover Thrift, then poetry.  You will find an absolutely fantastic assortment of very CHEAP poetry books, many focusing on one poet.  We have used these extensively.  Your choices should work very well for next year.  Longfellow is especially likely to be enjoyed by your younger children as well.  Wordsworth is one of my favorites, and Shelley is interesting.  🙂  I know for sure they have at least a couple of Longfellow selections and at least one Wordsworth at Dover. I’m pretty sure they have at least one Shelley as well, although I don’t own it.   If you do not find enough, then try searching and printing from the internet.  But I think you’ll find plenty this way.  If you want more, there is a nice English Romantics anthology that includes just a few poets, including Shelley and Wordsworth (and I’m pretty sure Coleridge, Byron and Keats, naturally).  I don’t work for Dover, lol, but they simply can’t be beat for poetry.

    Bookworm
    Participant

    Yes, Rachel, Poetry for Young People books do contain abridged poetry, in fact at times just tiny snippets from longer poems.  Sigh.  That said, I have almost all of them.  They make an OK introduction, especially for younger kids (there is something to look at–they are illustrated, some of them in a lovely way and some of them, um, very interesting . . .) but we always, ALWAYS follow up with unabridged poems.  You can’t get to know a poet with little abridged snippets.  🙁 

    missceegee
    Participant

    Rachel,

    Yes, there are abridged poems included, but like bookworm mentioned they are illustrated and my kids like them, we don’t use them exclusively either, but like them for what they’re worth.

    Thanks, Michelle, for the info on Dover. I tend to avoid their website b/c of its horrible design, but you’ve done the grunt work to make it bearable.Smile

    Blessings,

    Christie

    memomo7
    Participant

    Bookworm, thank you so much for the link to Dover.  I am new to CM, so I’m not familiar with some of these sites.  I’ve just now checked out Dover and I can’t wait to go back and pick out some new peotry books!  Are Dover books trustworthy?  Is there anything else I should know about picking out CM books through them?

    Bookworm
    Participant

    Most of their books aimed at children are fine.  The Thrift editions are particularly dependable.  They are not fancy–smallish print, etc, but we have probably over a hundred in the house.  You will find some odd stuff for adults–there is a whole section on witchcraft, I believe, and some odd stuff in art books.  You have to look carefully at the art type books.  So treat the adult sections with some caution, but you are safe in the classics and things aimed at kids, mostly. 

    houseofchaos
    Participant

    Are the Dover books strictly collections of poetry, or do they include some information about the poet also?

    Rachel White
    Participant

    Thank you, abrideged poetry was what was my concern and I stay away from it. Dover has great selections of individual poet books. They also carry the “Goops” series of etiquette poetry books and Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll nonsense poetry. Also, they have paperback Howard Pyle books, Andrew LAng Color Fairy series among others by him, paperback G.A. Henty and versions of books hard-to-find; like Perraults Fairy Tales (original versions!) w/classic illustrations by Dore’; Books with Arthur Rackman illustrations (I love artful illustrations from the Golden Age of children’s illustrations, not this crappy, cartoonish stuff nowadaysYell) Anyway, for ex:They have A Christmas Carol, Washington Irvings “Rip Van Winkle”, “Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens” and Rudyard Kipling’s “PUck of Pook’s Hill” w. Rackman’s Illustrations. 

    Dover is also great in their selections and prices; you can find some hard to find books through them. One warning (other than the witchcraft stuff) is that many of the Dover Children’s Classics are “adapted” or abridged, not all. The Dover Evergreen Classics are not abridged and are at great prices. They carry boxed sets of the Thornton Burgess books. There’s a new Joan of Arc book that looks great (“The Story of Joan of Arc” by a French author/illustrator)

    If you sign up for the email, frequently you’ll get $10-$20 off coupons to use. The selections of coloring books are unsurpassed IMO for your studies and resources for art study. They also carry many types of paper dolls that are hard to find these days; cut and assemble projects, like the Mayflower, Castles, etc…)

    I enjoy going through their catalogs when I get them, circling my wish list (of course, I like all my catalogs!)

    Rachel

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