This book is a good way to introduce poetry to young readers. Walt Whitman wrote many different poems all written about different themes such as nature, jobs, farms, and many more. This book is great for all elementary grades as they can read different poems from a very famous poet. ( )

This book contains several different poems, all written by Walt Whitman. They are about nature, fields, farms, different types of jobs, and more. Some of the words in the poems are harder for students to understand. There is a short list of vocabulary words and their definitions in the corners of some of the poems. This helps students to better understand the poems. The illustrations are different for each poem. This is a difficult read, but would be good for fifth grade students or higher. The poems are long and the main idea of them is to explain different settings the poems take place in. ( )

***This book was reviewed for Moondance Press via Netgalley

Poetry for Kids: Walt Whitman introduces young readers to one of America's greatest poets. There are four sections, devoted to different aspects of Whitman's life and works. The first section, 'Starting from Paumanok’ looks at his earliest works and inspirations. The second section, 'Walt Whitman, a Kosmos, of Manhattan the Son’, focuses on works of his artistic maturity. Section three, 'The Wound-dresser’, showcases Whitman's Civil War inspired poetry. The final section, ‘The Good Grey Poet’, looks at poetry from his elder years.

Each section defines unusual or uncommon words for the reader, including Walt-centric words such as 'camerado’, his word for a (true and loyal) friend. At the very end is a section with brief explanations of each poem or poem excerpt within. Adding to the atmosphere of the book are colourful pictures on every page depicting aspects of the poem in question, with Walt himself wandering the pages.

📚📚📚📚📚 Highly recommended. Great introduction to Whitman's poetry, and to an appreciation of poetry in general. ( )

I have loved the poetry of Walt Whitman for most of my life.

One of the earliest volumes of poetry I bought myself was Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. I was sixteen years old and read the poems over and over. Many years later I was in a choral group that sang Ralph Vaughn William's Sea Symphony, based on Whitman's poetry, a work that endures as one of my favorites.

The idea of bringing Whitman's poetry and vision of human experience to children is dear to my heart. And today, the birthday of Walt Whitman, I was glad to read the newest Poetry for Kids volume on Walt Whitman. Thirty-five poems or poem excerpts include Whitman's favorite poem, A Noiseless Patient Spider, and his well-known poem upon the death of President Lincoln, O Captain! My Captain!

An Introduction, commentary on each poem, and definitions are included as parent/teacher helps. The illustrations are beautiful.

When I came to On the Beach at Night I was moved to tears.
"On the beach at night,
Stands a child with her father,
Watching the east, the autumn sky./Up through the darkness,
While ravening clouds, the burial clouds, in black masses spreading.
Lower sullen and fast athwart and down the sky.
Amid a transparent clear belt of ether yet left in the east,
Ascends large and ale the lord-star Jupiter.
And nigh at hand, only a very little above,
Swim the delicate sisters the Pleiades."

Seeing the stars and Jupiter buried under the clouds, the child weeps. Her father comforts the child, saying, "Weep not, child,/Weep not, my darling,/With these kisses let me remove your tears,/The ravening clouds shall not long be victorious." And the father continues, "Something there is more immortal even than the stars."

Children watch as the world descends into darkness, the clouds of war obliterating happiness and peace. I remember sensing my parent's fear during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the feeling of vulnerability when President Kennedy was assassinated. I remember watching the second tower fall on 9-11, and helping my son pack his most precious things in a bag in preparation. I had hoped he would grow up in a better world.

And here is Whitman telling us that there is something more powerful than darkness, something eternal that tends toward clarity and light that we can trust in.

I look at the world today and how we are tending toward darkness, how the center is not holding. What can we say to our children about the future?

Whitman has given us a voice. It is the gift of poetry to say what we long to hear, what we need to believe, but are unable to articulate.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through Edelweiss in exchange for a fair and unbiased review. ( )