Birds, Beasts and Fishes

by Anne Carter

An illustrated collection of animal poems from around the world

Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Natalie Brockmeier · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was great! This book has a compilation of tons of different poets and their poems all about animals. I would want this book on the shelf in my classroom if I teach any grades from Kindergarten to fifth grade. The pictures are cute and there is one that correlates with each animal. I also loved that there were a ton of varieties of poems throughout this book.
As a read aloud story I wouldn't probably sit down and read all of these poems together, just because I think that it might lose the children's interest. However, if I ever had a poetry unit this book shows a ton of different types of poems and they are all based around the same content, animals! So I think this book would be a successful resource to show the differences, because it could be really difficult to compare types of poems when they're about completely different things. For this reason I would give this book and have my students practice categorizing these poems.
Additionally, if I ever had an animal unit, I would definitely encourage my students to think of using things outside of the box in their presentations or projects. A poem about their animal would definitely qualify as that!
As far as appropriate levels of literature, I think a younger group could handle some of these poems, and other poems would be harder to understand due to a use of higher level vocabulary and figurative language in the poems. This book would be great for all levels because there is a poem for each person's interests and each person's ability level .

[Libby Erwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Selection of Animal Poems: Birds, Beasts and Fishes by Anne Carter is a poetry compilation book involving experiences or descriptive poems of many different animals in our world. I liked this book because it did not focus on one or a few animals, this book is filled with many different animals ranging all over the spectrum. I also liked how there was not just one type of poem in this book, they used all different such as rhyming and free verse which makes the book a lot more engaging to read and it doesn't ever seem to get boring. I really enjoyed the illustrations in this book as well, they are all very unique for each animal and are drawn in a cool and abstract way and not as traditional.

This book could be used within a classroom for multiple different reasons. First, you could read this book to students when discussing different animals and there role and involvement in their particular environment. If you are reading this to younger children, you could be teaching them about animals that they haven't even heard of and could really interest them. Also, with the many different forms of poetry used in this book, you could use it as an introduction to poems and how much variety is a part of it. Some of these poems are more difficult than others, so I would suggest this book to a third to fifth grade audience, depending on which poems are being shared. The word choice is tougher and since not all are rhyming some poems are more abstract than others, which could create confusion in the readers.

[Anna Dipprey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this poetry book because of the variations of poems in it. While the topics were all about animal, there were long poems and short poems, rhyming poems and even some free verse.

Purpose
Read Aloud for enrichment
I think many students will enjoy this poetry book because of the many animals in it.
There is quite a bit of strong vocabulary in this book, so I think it would be best suited for the older grades, maybe 3rd or 4th. However, the pictures in the book would help the students to infer what some of the more difficult vocabulary means.
Read aloud for curricular purposes
This book would be great to do to pick animal reports. It would be a fun way to learn about the animals, and each poem gives a base to begin with. The different kinds of poetry would be beneficial to any poetry unit, however, many of the poems are long, so they wouldn’t be used as an introduction to poetry.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this collection of poems we are given subjects which span the animal kingdom, from poets such as Aesop, Alfred Lord Tennyson, William Black, and D. H. Lawrence. Each poem is accompanied by an illustration.

Poetry has the power to expand a person 19s mind and imagination. Anne Carter does a wonderful job of gathering child friendly poems from revered poets throughout the ages. Paired with the illustrator Reg Cartwright, together they work to make a book any every child can enjoy.

Grade Level: 3rd Grade and up
Classroom uses: could be used in a lesson on poetry, the animals (local and foreign), writing

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful colletion of poetry on animals. Accompanied by original illustrations.