Choosing a poetry anthology - MCT content ;-)

[nd293]

We are enjoying MCT's Island level books, and would like to follow his suggestion of reading poetry daily. I am looking for a poetry anthology that moves beyond the standard children's poems to include the sort of classic poetry that MCT uses as examples in his works.

 

A quick browse on Amazon and I have shortlisted the following:

 

The Random House Book of Poetry for Children

The Best Poems Ever

Classic Poems to Read Aloud

Classic Poetry: Candlewick Illustrated Classic

 

Those are marked for children at Amazon. The first seems to have more "children's poetry" than I am strictly looking for, but with 500 poems, it might be worth getting. The second might be a bit slim for my purposes.

 

Then there are a couple of books not strictly identified as being for children that look promising:

 

100 Best-Loved Poems

Poetry for a Lifetime

The Top 500 Poems

 

Anyone want to weigh in with a recommendation?

 

Thanks,

 

Nikki

[Saille]

Ugh...I am conflicted about this. I asked him about it directly in Cincinnati, and his response was that I should not buy anthologies; rather, I should look for the complete works of various poets, and pick them up secondhand whenever possible. I understand his reasoning, but I'd at least like a jumping-off point. I am going to look at some of these anthologies. But I've also grabbed "complete works" copies of Frost and Dickinson since I spoke to him.

[radiobrain]

Ugh...I am conflicted about this. I asked him about it directly in Cincinnati, and his response was that I should not buy anthologies; rather, I should look for the complete works of various poets, and pick them up secondhand whenever possible. I understand his reasoning, but I'd at least like a jumping-off point. I am going to look at some of these anthologies. But I've also grabbed "complete works" copies of Frost and Dickinson since I spoke to him.

 

I was going to suggest this, and I didn't talk to him about it. :D That would be my intuitive idea.

[catz]

Ok - another anthology, but covers quite a bit of ground and we have enjoyed it! Wouldn't it be great if we could all have the complete works of several dozen poets laying around the house? :D We do what we can.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Book-Childrens-Verse-Books/dp/0192881078/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278681941&sr=8-1

[Kuovonne]

Ugh...I am conflicted about this. I asked him about it directly in Cincinnati, and his response was that I should not buy anthologies; rather, I should look for the complete works of various poets, and pick them up secondhand whenever possible. I understand his reasoning, but I'd at least like a jumping-off point. I am going to look at some of these anthologies. But I've also grabbed "complete works" copies of Frost and Dickinson since I spoke to him.

 

:iagree:

 

If your kids aren't used to poetry yet, I say get a couple of children's anthologies, especially one with some funny poems. Get the kids hooked on poetry for the fun of it before looking at the more serious stuff. This way you can ease into poetry and discover which poets you really like. There's no point in buying a single-poet book only to find out you really don't like that particular poet.

[radiobrain]

:iagree:

 

If your kids aren't used to poetry yet, I say get a couple of children's anthologies, especially one with some funny poems. Get the kids hooked on poetry for the fun of it before looking at the more serious stuff. This way you can ease into poetry and discover which poets you really like. There's no point in buying a single-poet book only to find out you really don't like that particular poet.

 

But that is what libraries are for!!! :D Actually, asking a librarian for a good anthology, of various poetry or specific poet, is probably a good idea.

[nd293]

Thanks everyone for responding, and sorry for the delay in replying - we just moved house.

 

Thanks for all the specific recommendations. I will have a look into them, although one of the wierd quirks of getting books shipped to Australia is that it often works out cheaper to buy new books that second hand, out-of-print ones.

 

Hearing that MCT recommends against anthologies was interesting, but is impractical for us right now, I think. We'll start with an anthology, and work from there!

 

On the plus side, I picked up a poertry book for myself from the libary, and am so enjoying it - I don't think I've read poetry since high school.

 

Nikki (off to see if I can find the box I packed the MCT books in)