Poetry By Heart

by Liz Attenborough

Genres: Poetry

128 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2001

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

First let me suggest that everyone has their own favorite poems and verses and should make their own collections. Teachers, especially should make their own booklets and encourage their students to do the same. That being said, not everyone will appreciate the same poems, and therefore teachers must be sure to tell their students that their booklet is their personal favorites, and also, therefore, collections like this cannot truly be rated objectively.

My heart didn't appreciate very many of these, nor do I think young me would. Many are interesting or provocative, but not easily memorable. Others, like Hughes' 'Dreams', are in every large children's anthology. Still, there are quite a few different ones in here, of many different kinds, with many different artists illustrating them. It could be a good resource for a classroom teacher, especially, perhaps, of ages 8-10.

I particularly like the illustrations for 'The Road Not Taken' by Robin Bell Corfieldand 'Give Yourself a Hug' (and others) by Emily Hare.

My favorite poem is by W.B. Yeats: somehow I'd never seen all eight lines before.

He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet.
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

I also like, and believe young me would have loved,

my friend

my friend is
like bark
rounding the tree

he warms
like sun
on a winter day

he cools
like water
in the hot noon

his voice
is ready
as a spring bird

he is
my friend
and I
am his

Emily Hearn

And for some reason I can't stop thinking of the chant

Squeezes

We love to squeeze bananas,
We love to squeeze ripe plums,
And when they're feeling sad
We love to squeeze our mums.

Brian Patten

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is brought together with poems of various authors. Liz Attenborough organized the book by categories. The categories are based on the theme or tone of the poems: "Short and Sharp, Fur and Feathers, Stuff and Nonsense, Uplifting and brave, Ghostly and Ghastly, Love and Friendship, Wistful and Thoughtful, Peace and Quiet, and Long and Lingering." I was drawn to the section titled: "Uplifting and Brave". In this section the poems were very scenic filled with nature and animals. My favorite poem from this section is "And My Heart Soars" by Chief Dan George. In this poem the mountains, trees and air are described like a spring or summer day. In the last part there is a line that says "The strength or fire, the taste of salmon, the trail of the sun, And the life that never goes away, They speak to me." The message in this poem to me stood out as a love and connection with nature. This section would be good to used as a supplement to science or social studies lessons with all the references to animals and nature. Some of the words in the poems are spelled different or are abbreviated ("Sum" for "some" and "er" in place of "or"). This would be a good opportunity to show and explain the style of writing in poems.

I felt like the illustrations in this book had some very detailed pages and some that were sparse. In a way, it matched with the tone and theme of the poem section. "Short and Sharp" section did not have as much detail in the illustrations as "Long and Lingering" section. This would be an important point to show students how symbolism plays into writing and illustrations. The feel and rhythm of the poems are described also in the illustrations.


As a teaching tool, this book could be used for several different subjects: social studies, science, writing, and reading. There is a poem in the "Peace and Quiet" section that is called "The School in August" by Philip Larkin. This poem describes the fading away of summer and the start of the school year. This would be a good poem to share at the beginning of the year and post in the classroom, most appropriate for 4th-6th grade. The short poems can be used for 2nd-3rd grade as tools for recognizing rhyming and rhythm of words. One poem: "Boy, Girl" is read across with only two words on each line describing a short story between a boy and a girl that has a funny ending. I would use this short poem in a writing class and challenge my students to write a short poem with little detail. It is often that we encourage students to add detail in their writing, but with poetry a lot can be left up to interpretation. Composing a short poem might be hard for some students but it will help them to develop an idea in writing and get to the point. I would use this on a 4th-5th grade level.

[Taylor7778]

Source: Publisher's Weekly
Age Range: 8-10
Evaluation of Quality: The illustrations on each page vary in style and medium which prevents the anthology from feeling repetitive.
Assessment of potential use: This book can be used in an English class for an assignment to memorize poems or to put poems to music.
Assessment of appeal to children: Children will enjoy the fun and simple sing-song poems and the way the anthology gently progresses the complexity of the selected poems through the book.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good range of poems.

[Child960801 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely and well chosen poems that read well and are interesting to the children. Many were ones we had heard before, but there were several new ones as well. Fun illustrations.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished reading aloud to the kids for the 2021/2022 school year.

[Shane Prevosto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Type: Poetry
Title: Poetry by Heart
Author: Compiled by Liz Atten Borough
Age Level: Elementary
Medium: Chapter Breakdown 1) "Short and Sharp"- Acrylic 2.) "Fur and Feathers"-Pastel 3.) "Stuff and Nonsense"- Water Color 4.) "Uplifting & Brave"- Color Pencil 5.) "Ghostly & Ghastly"- Water Color & Ink 6.) "Love & Friendship"- (Construction) Paper Cut Outs & Various Mediums 7.) "Wistful & Thoughtful"- Water Color & Marker 8.) "Peace & Quiet"- Pastel & Charcoal.

Synopsis: A Collection of short poems of all varieties. Some insightful, some informative, others goofy and uplifting.

Style and Format: Varies from free verse, blank verse, couplets, cinquain, allegories, refrain.

Review: The poems on the pages within this book were perfectly hand-picked. What makes the book so unique and fun is that it is divided into 8 sections of different varying-themed poems. The book is not comprised of just one style of poem either. With each flip of the page, you'll find another short poem that grabs a new part of you in another way. One poem will synthesize an emotion, just as strongly and equally as another poem will eradicate a bad feeling, invoking the positive counter-emotion. It is quite beautiful of a collaboration of varying works that are so eloquently written, they are able to evoke empathetic sentiment and tendencies.

[Rosaura Sanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection that includes quick, easy, short, and long poems. During poetry month teachers can read a poem daily from this book. As an activity, I would read a poem to the students and not show them the illustrations. Students will have the visualize the words and create their own illustrations to match the poem. Visualization is a great strategy that helps reading comprehension.

[Brittany Basalla · Rating 2 out of 5]

I haven't read all of the poems in here, but they are cute, sweet poems for kids to start enjoying poetry at a young age. I would have enjoyed having something like this read to me as a child instead of getting my first taste of poetry in secondary school with difficult poems.

[Katrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read: Keep A Poem in Your Pocket
by Beatrice Scherik De Regniers

Sentimental

[Emily Piazza · Rating 5 out of 5]

I honestly read this book so many times that I can still recite poems from it to this day. It was such a joy and I will cherish it forever.

[Shannon Sevcik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good for K-5. This book has a variety of types and levels of poems. Some are simple and some rhyme and some don't, etc. This would be great to compare and contrast different forms of poetry.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great anthology for the classroom. Perfect poems for children.

[Elissa L · Rating 3 out of 5]

More kiddish and silly than the phenomenal Poems to Learn by Heart