Poems for Children Nowhere Near Old Enough to Vote

by Carl Sandburg Family Trust

Sixty years ago, Carl Sandburg (1878-1967)--America's unofficial poet laureate, Pulitzer Prize winner, biographer, and historian--wrote a batch of children's poetry, but it wasn't until 1999 that Sandburg scholars George and Willene Hendrick found these 19 lively prose poems amidst thousands of yellowed manuscripts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In Poems for Children Nowhere Near Old Enough to Vote we learn that "Eggs may speak to buttons--that is correct. / Buttons, however, must not speak to eggs." Sandburg, like most children, also enjoys musing on various body parts: "The nose is to breathe and to smell with. / Eyes need two and ears need two but one nose / is enough if it has two nostrils." In other poems, he revels in defining and exploring terms that we often use, letting his imagination wander through each word's possibilities: "Stumbling is where you walk and find you are not walking." "Manners is when you know how to eat without being bashful." "Music is when your ears like what you hear." Familiar objects such as wheels, clocks, chairs, and pencils are all subject to Sandburg's simple, childlike "write-down-everything-this-makes-you-think-of" approach to poetry.

In the hands of the whimsical Istvan Banyai (of Zoom and Re-Zoom), Sandburg's poems meet their visual match. Banyai's basic, black-and-white, pen-and-ink illustrations--combined with computer-generated stretched, condensed, curved, or diagonal type--enliven and enhance the poet's wordplay with equally inventive results. As Sandburg gleefully investigates the concept of chair legs, Banyai shows a chair casually crossing its legs. As Sandburg pontificates on pencils ("Pencils too pointed break the points and / then laugh at you"), Banyai sketches the antics of a pencil-headed man (who doesn't seem to enjoy the sharpening process). This unusual collection will no doubt encourage children to open their eyes to a nonliteral universe, and perhaps jumpstart an interest in creative writing. (That's right--poems don't have to rhyme!) (Ages 7 and older) --Karin Snelson

Genres: Poetry, Childrens, Picture Books

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up because 1) I liked the title 2) I have kids and 3) because Carl Sandburg is a Chicago poet who used to ride the trains and buses writing about what he saw and heard and 4) I was intrigued because these were not published in his lifetime.

They are not great poems, he might not be happy we are reading them, even, but they are kid-fun. They encourage us to see familiar objects such as chairs and pencils, even our eyes, ears, and noses, in an original way.

This is one I liked:

Think About Wheels

Think about wheels any time you like.
Any little wheel you see is worth looking at.
The sun is a wheel, the moon is a wheel.
Many a night star is a wheel.
And in your head, in many little places behind
your blinking wonderful eyes, you can find,
if you try, ten thousand wheels within wheels.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Usually I like Sandburg, especially his works for children. But I do believe there's a reason that he did not get these published. The first 2/3 of the book was just making me angry, as the poems were so bad, and the art so pretentious, that I felt that the scholars who dug these out were dissing Sandburg's legacy.

But then, starting with "Pencils," the poems got richer, more interesting. And starting with the next, "Clocks," the illustrations got more friendly, more authentic, and, yes, richer.

The best might be the last, "Think About Wheels:"

Think about wheels any time you like.
Any little wheel you see is worth looking at.
The sun is a wheel, the moon is a wheel.
Many a night star is a wheel.
And in your head, in many little places behind
your blinking wonderful eyes, you can find,
if you try, ten thousand wheels within wheels.

... But still, I'm pretty burnt out on posthumous work. If the author was working on it when s/he died, and wanted to finish and publish it, ok. But for a scholar or heir to go digging through scrap-paper rough drafts, well, no.

[zabarj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: Poems for Children Nowhere Near Old Enough to Vote
Author: Carl Sandburg
Published 1999
Grades: 2-5

Summary:
The poems themselves are uneven, as befits unfinished work; almost all define homely objects or body parts. Many of the lines are somewhat pedestrian ("Toes are to wash when you take a bath" in "Toes"; "Pencils are to hold when you write" in "Pencils"), but they generally lead to an arresting twist ("The big toe likes itself very well"). The tone of the book as a whole is determinedly eccentric, right from the brief introduction by compilers George and Willene Hendrick: "Poets are sometimes forgetful...." The narrow, five-by-nine-inch pages look as if they had been designed to be carried in a breast pocket. Banyai's (Zoom) black-and-white art includes surrealistic surprises, as when a pencil-headed man is sharpened by a knife. His imagery depends in great part on his fanciful way with the type. The title page, for example, is laid out to resemble a doctor's eye chart; inside, some letters are made to resemble the concepts to which they refer, as when the letter "o" in the word "nobody" bounces down the stairs that are formed by the previous lines of the poem.

My Take: I loved this book. Readers of all ages would enjoy this book. Although some of the metaphors, specifically how illustrations are used, would have to be explain to a younger audience. This is a poetry book that states, without saying, just how fun poetry can be. I would use this book in my classroom during a poetry unit to show student how they can take a simple piece of written poetry and add to its meaning through the use of images and shapes.

[Sarah Beattie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awards the book has received:
No awards received.

Appropriate Grade Levels:
4th-6th Grade

Original Summary:
This is a unique collection of short poems that invite the reader to see everyday objects such as body parts (eyes, ears, nose, toes) and other things (moon, clouds, clocks, pencils) in a new way. The poems do not have much of a rhyme structure, but they have interesting visual appearances to go along with the words (font style, placement, direction of writing, etc).

Original Review:
These poems are quite strange, and not my favorite. With that being said, this is a good short book for children to familiarize themselves with the art of poetry and comparing everyday objects to something more.

Possible In-Class Use:
I would not necessarily use this book for a poetry unit, maybe one or two poems, but instead I think it would work best on the shelf available for free reading time. These poems are strange, but they can make a reader think in new ways which is beneficial when learning how to write poetry and express feelings.

[Candace]

It was okay. The poetry was interesting. I've never really understood poetry and some of these I feel could have rhymed better but maybe it its all about rhyming. My favorite one was the first one. When you find something ou are a finder. When you keep something you are a keeper. When you give something you are a giver. When you lose something you are a loser. So long as you live - every minute and second and clock tick of your life- you are either a finder, keeper, giver, loser. I also really liked the one about staring at the sky and clouds.

[Alondra Valenzuela · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is really funny and fun to read the pictures are so creative and go to what the peom is about its really nice you should readit you will really find it intersting and also i know its a book for children and its not what level i have to read but if you read you can see why i loved this book mostly the picture and the ryhme sheme wall the poems have so you should check this book out you might love it just like i do :)

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming.

[Mrs. Koch's Class · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a funny poetry book for kids. Kids will laugh the read through. ~Irene~

[Edwina Book Anaconda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think that the point of publishing this book was to cash-in on a dead man's name.
Disgraceful!