Poetry Speaks to Children with Audio CD

In the tradition of Poetry Speaks, the anthology named a Best Book of 2002 by School Library Journal, and praised by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer as "a volume to delight longtime lovers of poetry and to spark new love for poetry, especially among the young," Sourcebooks MediaFusion is proud to introduce the joy of the written and spoken word in Poetry Speaks to Children.
Parents, educators, librarians, and poetry enthusiasts have wondered for years how to get children really interested in poetry. Until now, there hasn''t been a collection of poems and poets that spoke directly to that elusive audience. Poetry Speaks to Children cracks through that barrier by packaging the best poems by the best authors along with a CD-making the engrossing and often mischievous verses come alive in the voices of many of the creators.
Poetry Speaks to Children reaches into the world of poetry and pulls out the elements children love: rhyme, rhythm, fun and, every once in a while, a little mischief.
More than 90 poems, for children ages six and up, celebrate the written word and feature a star-studded lineup of beloved poets, including: Roald Dahl; J. R. R. Tolkien; Robert Frost; Gwendolyn Brooks; Ogden Nash; John Ciardi; Langston Hughes; Sonia Sanchez; Seamus Heaney; Canada''s best-loved children''s poet, Dennis Lee; Rita Dove; Billy Collins; Nikki Giovanni and X. J. Kennedy.
On the accompanying CD, 50 of the poems are brought to life--most read by the poets themselves--allow the reader to hear the words as the poets intended.
Hear Gwendolyn Brooks growl her rhyming verse poem "The Tiger Who Wore White Gloves, or, What You Are You Are" with verve and inflection-relaying the story ofthe striped cat who "rushed to the jungle fair for something fine to wear," much to the hoots of his jungle peers. Amid jeers, sneers and sighs, the tiger eventually learns to be comfortable in his own striped skin (or fur as it were!).
Follow Ogden Nash as he tells of the brave little Isabel, who "didn''t worry, didn''t scream or scurry" when confronted with a ravenous bear, a one-eyed giant or a troublesome doctor. Her clever solutions to problems ("She turned the witch into milk and drank her") will keep even the most reluctant readers interested.
Listen to James Berry, who quells a little girl''s anxieties about her color by celebrating the marriage of "night and light," emphasizing how all colors are necessary in nature, in "Okay, Brown Girl, Okay."
Turn the page and tune in . . . kids won''t be the only ones hooked!

Poetry Speaks to Children is an imaginative
treasury of the spoken and written word
for kids of all ages.?
52 Wonderful Performances by the poets and a few close friends, featuring:
Rita Dove Reads The First Book
---ROBERT FROST Reads Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
--GWENDOLYN BROOKS Growls The Tiger Who Wore White Gloves
--Galway Kinnell Tells Why Crying (Lots) Is a Must
--OGDEN NASH Reads from The Adventures of Isabel
--MARY ANN HOBERMAN Reads Brother
(Can You Read It Faster?)
--X. J. Kennedy Reveals the Secrets of How to Stay Up Late
--Carl Sandburg Reads On a Flimmering Floom You Shall Ride
--Emma Fielding Performs LEWIS CARROLL?S JABBERWOCKY
--James Berry Reads Okay, Brown Girl, Okay
(and Tells You for Whom He Wrote It)
--J. R. R. TOLKIEN READS FRODO?S SONG IN BREE from the Lord of the Rings trilogy
--LANGSTON HUGHES Takes You on the Train Where He Wrote The Negro Speaks of Rivers
--Janet S. Wong Reads Good Luck Gold
(and Tells You What a Red Egg and Ginger Party Is)
--Paul Muldoon Reads from W. B. YEATS and Rainer Maria Rilke
--Basil Rathbone (Best Known as Sherlock Holmes)
Reads from THE RAVEN
--Brad Leithauser Reads Joey
--Poetry Alive! Takes You Out to the Ball Game with
CASEY AT THE BAT
--Sonia Sanchez Reads A Poem for Jesse
--Robert Bly Has a Conversation with a Mouse
--NIKKI GIOVANNI Tells You the Reason She Likes Chocolate
--Eddie Douglas Performs Dennis Lee''s The Ghost and Jenny Jemima
--Joy Harjo Sings an Eagle Poem
--ROALD DAHL Reads The Dentist and the Crocodile
--BILLY COLLINS Remembers On Turning Ten

Billy Collins has published six collections of poetry, including Questions About Angels and The Art of Drowning, Picnic, Lightning, his latest, sold more than 25,000 copies in its first year. He teaches at Lehman College of the City University of New York and at Sarah Lawrence College. He was named U.S. Poet Laureate in June 2000.

Nikki Giovanni is one of the most prominent black poets of her generation. Born on June 7, 1943, in Knoxville, Tenn., she graduated from Fisk University and later studied at Columbia University. Giovanni creates strongly written poems to convey messages of love, frustration, alienation, and the black experience. She gained national fame with the publication of Black Feeling, Black Talk, Black Judgement in 1970. Full of the spirit of the black community during this era, her works captured the anger and frustration of many of its members. Giovanni has been the recipient of grants from both the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ford Foundation. She has taught English at Rutgers University, Ohio State University, and Queens College and has given frequent poetry readings. She is also known for several sound recordings of her poetry, including Truth Is On Its Way. She has also been a Professor of English at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Widely anthologized, Kennedy's poetry may not be as influential among contemporary poets as others' because of his preference for, in his words, "old-fangled structures most poets have junked these days." As Kennedy's comments on his verse suggest, his poetry is witty, concise, and unpretentious. His subject matter is drawn from the everyday including his Catholic background and middle-class suburban life. Yet his concerns can be profound including death, violence, suicide, and Genesis.