Illustrated by National Geographic Photographs
2018, National Geographic
HC $24.99
192 pgs.
Goodreads rating: 4.67
My rating: 5
Endpapers: BRIGHT yellow, almost a yellow orange
Endpapers: BRIGHT yellow, almost a yellow orange
My comments: Divided into sections of the U. S. (New England; Mid-Atlantic; Southeast; Midwest; Great Plains; Rocky Mountain West; Pacific Coast, and Territories) this gorgeously photographed book of poetry for kids is right-on and really fun! I read this a couple of days after the shootings in Gilroy, CA and El Paso, TX, and there were poems about each of those places in here! I really enjoyed reading them and discovering some new poets as well. There are three separate indexes - by title, poet, and first line and a resource list. A few new-to-me poems about places and things I care about follow after Goodreads synopsis.
Goodreads: It's all about us! Join former U.S. Children's Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis on a lyrical journey through the United States to experience the wonders of America's people and places through 200+ inspiring poems and stunning photographs.
Celebrate the gift of language and the vibrant culture of the United States with this collection of classic and never-before-published poetry. Poems are arranged by region, from coast to coast, and among them you'll find works by Langston Hughes, Dorothy Parker, Robert Frost, Naomi Shihab Nye, Walt Whitman, and more. From the familiar to the surprising, subjects include people, places, landmarks, monuments, nature, and celebrations. Designed for sharing, but geared to younger readers, this beautifully illustrated treasury is a must-have for the whole family.
Celebrate the gift of language and the vibrant culture of the United States with this collection of classic and never-before-published poetry. Poems are arranged by region, from coast to coast, and among them you'll find works by Langston Hughes, Dorothy Parker, Robert Frost, Naomi Shihab Nye, Walt Whitman, and more. From the familiar to the surprising, subjects include people, places, landmarks, monuments, nature, and celebrations. Designed for sharing, but geared to younger readers, this beautifully illustrated treasury is a must-have for the whole family.
Groundhognostication
Punxsutawney,
PA
February 2nd
Gobbler’s
Knob lies blanketed in February snow,
but
even in the biting cold, people’s faces glow.
They’ve
travelled here from far and wide to celebrate together
and
listen as the groundhog gives his verdict on the weather.
They
join in festivities as bands play on for hours,
while
Punxsutawney Phil warms up his shadow-reading powers.
Finally,
the main event – the “groundhognostication!”
Mittened
fingers cross in hopes of spring’s initiation.
Will
they suffer six more weeks of winter’s frigid gloom?
Maybe
yes, or maybe no, but soon bright buds will bloom.
F.
J. Lee
from
The Poetry of US (Edited by J. Patrick Lewis)
Silent Sentinel
Battle
of Gettysburg
At
field’s edge atop Cemetery Ridge, an old,
battered
tree stands – split down the middle like
so
many families whose sons
went
separate ways in war.
Silent
sentinel, it saw that costliest of campaigns –
an
eternity of suffering in three days’ time.
Unmovable
witness, it watched Pickett’s charge,
counted
up its colossal casualties
With
roots bathed in bloodshed –
did
it break at once or over time, riven by
the
weight of sorrow, torn apart by conflicting
passions
of thousands injured and dead?
Still
it stands, an aged, living monument
in
a park full of granite and bronze markers.
One
by one, in time, witness trees fall,
the
last living veterans who survived it all.
Kelly
Fineman
from The
Poetry of US (Edited by J. Patrick Lewis)
The Jackalope
Douglas,
Wyoming
The
oddest thing you’ve never seen
are
antlered hares. They’re very mean,
or
so you’ll hear if you pop in
to
Douglas diners now and then.
A
cry is heard up in the hills,
the
kind of cry that gives you chills.
“The
jackalope,” townsfolk explain –
but
if you look, you’ll look in vain.
For
no one’s ever seen up close
that
warrior rabbit. No one knows
just
where it sleeps, how fierce its fight,
how
high it leaps, how sharp its bite.
Indeed,
this creature’s very rare:
The
only actual antlered hare
is
mounted on a wall – a prop
made
by a taxidermy shop.
Some
taxidermists though it fun
to
sew two creatures into one –
but
still at night it gives you chills
when
lonely cries rise from those hills.
Abigail
Carroll
from The
Poetry of US (Edited by J. Patrick Lewis)
Legends of the Sonoran Desert
My
mom left Tucson twice in her life.
Both
times she came back fast and said,
“I
like it better here.”
She
lets tarantulas walk up her arm. She
says
all
the collared lizard needs is a tie
and
he can go to dinner anywhere.
She
favors saguaro and chaparral. She blows
kisses
at the unlovely javelin but she adores
the
remorseless gila monster because,
“It
looks like a fancy beaded purse your father
almost
bought me.”
Ron Koertge
from The
Poetry of US (Edited by J. Patrick Lewis)
Golden Gate Bridge
Rising
above
the fog,
I
am an aria
of orange,
a
symphony
of steel –
a
remembered
melody.
Beneath
I span the
Golden
Gate Strait,
from shore to
shore,
with a
chorus of cars.
What
song will you
discover
On
the other side?
Joan
Bransfield Graham
