'Poems About the Planet' is a great beginner's poetry book that has a table of contents and a sizeable introduction by the author. It is a compilation of gifted poets compiled by Judith Nicholls. To be honest, poetry has always been a handicap for me. It has always been difficult for me to interpret, much like art. This book is a bit different. Thanks to the author's introduction, the reader has no doubt the theme of the poems. This would be a great addition to the elementary classroom because the poems are relatively short and are ripe for discussion. Because the poems are about nature and the earth, it could also be a fun tool for things like earth day or poetry month, which are both in April. There are poems for all ages of students. Some poems are downright obvious in their message like 'Weeping Willow in my Garden' by Ian Serraillier and others take a little more deciphering like 'The Snow' by Emily Dickinson. ( )

The poems complied in this collection celebrate the natural world around us. It is a good mixture of rhythm and rhyme. ( )

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I liked this book for many reasons. First, I loved that this book is compiled of a variety of different poetry authors. I liked this because it demonstrated many different styles of poetry. For example, some poems rhyme while some do not. Additionally, some poems are written as haiku, or as free verse. I liked this because all of the poems used the similar theme of nature, but the reader is able to experience a variety of poetry types.
Next, I liked the overall theme of nature and environment within this book. I believe the main idea was to provide a collection of nature poems to celebrate the beauty of the earth. These poems represent this main message well because of the topics used throughout. For example, poems about woods, the sky, the rainforest, the sea, and the snow were all used. I loved the idea that these topics were written in such an interesting way, through a variety of poetry types. ( )