Favorite Poems Old and New: Selected For Boys and Girls

by Helen Josephine Ferris (Editor), Leonard Weisgard (Illustrator)

"Children are poets before they grow up and they should live with poems. I hope this book will encourage them to do so." —Eleanor Roosevelt

Beloved and treasured for over 60 years, here is the only poetry collection your family needs—brimming with favorite, classic poems carefully selected to inspire young readers. 

Over 700 classic and modern poems written by poets from William Shakespeare to J. R. R. Tolkien, Emily Dickinson to Langston Hughes, and covering a range of favorite topics—pets, playtime, family, nature, and nonsense—ensure that there’s a poem to please every child. A truly comprehensive collection that is the ideal way of introducing children to the joys of reading poetry.

"If your children think they don't like poetry, expose them to this collection . . . and I defy them to resist its magic."— Kirkus

"A fine book for parents to read aloud to their children."— Library Journal

"This volume stands out for the comprehensiveness of its selection."— The Horn Book

Genres: Poetry, Classics, School, Childrens, Literature, Nonfiction, Anthologies

598 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1957

About the author

Although Helen Josephine Ferris was born in Hastings, Nebraska, in 1890, her roots reach back to Wisconsin. Her mother, Minnie Lunn Ferris was born in Marshall, growing up in Waterloo. Her father, Elmer, was a Baptist minister who was born in Seven Mile Creek and grew up there and in Fond du Lac. Both of her parents attended Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam. Between 1901-04, the Ferris family lived in La Crosse. Helen enjoyed "the mighty Mississippi River", later writing of it that "... it will always be my river." The family moved to Milwaukee during Helen's high school years, 1905-07. Two Wisconsin librarians were Helen's mentors: her aunt, Anne Mayers, Assistant to the State Library Commission; and Mary Emogene Hazeltine, Preceptor of the Wisconsin Library School. Helen referred to herself as a "Great Granddaughter of Wisconsin" and maintained family ties to the state throughout her life.

Helen's first publication appeared in the Wisconsin Audubon Magazine when she was only eleven. During the years 1912-19, she held several editorial positions including The Guardian, American Girl, and Youth's Companion. It was also during this time that she published her first four books. In 1924 she married Albert B. Tibbets.

Helen Ferris served as editor-in-chief of the Junior Literary Guild from 1929 until her retirement in 1959. Her high literary standards and the desire to share good literature stemmed in large part from her parents' extensive reading aloud in their home; standards which are reflected in the high quality of her Guild selections as well as her own published works. Throughout her career, she wrote ten books and edited seventeen others for young readers. The New York Times ran an article announcing her death on September 28, 1969.

Reviews

[Mischenko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's another family favorite that belonged to my aunt and was gifted throughout the years. It contains over 700 poems from an abundance of different authors. This is a great one to read to children. One of my favorites is, Here We Come A-Caroling, which has an anonymous author, but one that I can read and reminisce Perry Como singing at Christmas time. One to keep ♡

5*****

[Dorothy Vandezande · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took us over two years to read aloud every single poem in this book but it was worth the trip. Such a great, varied collection. Funny poems, sad epic poems, classics that everyone should know. We love it!

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took us five years of off-and-on reading but we finally finished it! We enjoyed it so much and were introduced to many new favorites.

[KatieMc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Long long ago this book was gifted to my family by a friend of my father who was in the publishing business. I have many fond memories reading poems from this 500+ page volume. Some are funny, some are famous, some are esoteric and some are easy to grok. It's a collection that a logical numbers person like myself can appreciate. It's a poetry book for the poetry challenged. The original copy remains at my parent's house, I got my own copy sometime prior to 2001. This I know because I recall sitting in my backyard on September 12, 2001 with a dear friend and my kids reading from it, drawing comfort from beautiful words and the humanity behind them. Considering what 2016 brought us, it seemed fitting to turn to this old friend for my poetry book as part of my 2016 challenge. No, I didn't reread all 500+ pages, but I did did revisit some old favorites and read some new ones.

2016 reading challenge checks the box for 31. A book of poetry.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last time I visited my parents my Dad said, "You left a book here that your grandmother gave you". Not recalling my grandmother giving me any books recently I was puzzled. I opened it up and read "To Jennifer Marie, August 1979". I guess it had been "burning a hole" on my Dad's bookshelf. While flipping through it I was flooded with happy memories of furtively reading poetry in my room when I was supposed to be sleeping. I brought it home and started reading it to my 2 year old son. I had to smile when, after hearing a bird he exclaimed, "Hark to the song of the lark!"

[Katja Labonté · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all-time favourite books, from my childhood to now. Such a wonderful collection of the loveliest, most delightful poems and beautiful Bible passages!!

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two summers ago, I went through this book with color-coded sticky tabs and marked all the poems I wanted to read with my children during morning time. A year and a half later, we made it through them all.

This is, hands-down, my favorite poetry collection. It's aimed at children, but I think I have found more joy in it than my kids have. It is one we will certainly return to, both to revisit old favorites and to read the ones we skipped this time around.

[Kelly Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderfully full selection of poetry. The kids and I have really enjoyed it!

[Myersandburnsie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a HUGE collection of poetry. It took us a year to get through it all. I’m so glad we took the time, it was perfect for our morning meeting and we were exposed to a variety of poets and styles.

[Elizabeth Boesch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Went through this and marked all the poems I'd like to teach our kids. There are so many classic, beautiful, and witty rhymes in the one!

[Alyssa DeLeon · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books! Huge selection and very easy to read. Really wonderful poetry.

[Tiff Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! Reading these aloud, and teaching Audrey and Dain how to read poetry has gotten more rewarding every year. And these classics have been wonderful!

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite possibly the best single volume. A wonderful anthology made even better with a personal foreword and lovely section illustrations by Weisgard - I had never seen his pen-and-ink work, which is outstanding.

[Kelsie Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really lovely collection. Will revisit these often.

[MotherofReaders · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this large collection of poems and was inspired by the foreword written by the author. This is the kind of book that requires some work by the parent in order to use it well with a child (in selecting poems for your child and possibly in presentation we well).

My preschool aged daughter might be a little young for some of the content. Some of the poems I chose did not work for her (though she likes a lot of children’s poetry). I suspect with more work on my part, I could find poems better suited for her, memorize and deliver them better, and even stretch her tastes and her ear for language. I could see this book lasting an entire childhood, but again, it may take some work on the part of the parent to spark (and continue) that interest.

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a wonderful collection of poetry. I picked this up at a library sale a few years ago and I’m glad I did. Not all the poems are great, but I’m also not it’s target audience. It was made to introduce children to poetry and has a lot of poems that are suitable for them, but there are a lot of classics in here as well. The collection is divided into sections based on theme from animals, to world traveling, to stories, to America. I found the section in the back starting with world traveling and ending with some of the author’s favorites as being my favorite section. But every section has a few poems to commend it.
In general, this is a nice collection of classical poetry to have as it helps to remind one of a time when poetry was good and accessible to normal people.

[August Neeley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book means so much to me! I checked it out from the school library of my elementary school. I would renew it until the librarian told me I HAD to return it. Last month, a copy serendipitously found its way to me, and it's in wonderful condition! This book is the root of my love of poetry! Revisiting this book so many years later was like visiting with old friends!
I am so excited to own it now!

[Aidan Cooley (The Melancholic Celt) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though I have never officially read the book from front to back, over the years I have jumped back and forth through all of its pages. I first took interest in this book after my grandpa passed (He was a poet, and authored many of his own poems) and I found myself swept away into the myth and love of poetry. This book contains many of my favorites, particularly in the "almanac" section, and it is easy to get happily lost in its pages.

[David Westerveld · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been trying to get into poetry more. I've never really "got" poetry, but I guess it's the well rounded thing to do. I decided to start with children's poetry as being more acccessible and this book did not dissapoint. A big mix of poems in here and I feel like I have a better appreciation for poetry after reading this. I will be continuing to tackle poetry after this.

[Bill Stutzman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible collection and a treasure for families or students to read aloud, remember, savor, and enjoy. Some of these poems are so woven into the fabric of our cultural consciousness that you'll be startled to realize they've been beneath all along, and some we might let be forgotten but shouldn't just yet. I look forward to returning to this volume often.

[Drew Slanina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a classic! it features many different poems from different times, all dealing with children. This book also features different authors to show their work as well. I would recommend it for children, and the start of teaching poetry.

[Andrea Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay I did not read this entire book. It's very large in the library only lets me renew things ten times now. But my boys and I read a lot of great poetry in here.

[P.S. Winn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great collection of hundreds of poems that will hold children's interest and make them smile along the way.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great collection of classic poetry geared towards children, but of course any high-end children’s lit is going to be totally enjoyable for adults, too.

[Karen]

Saw this one Carrie Bradshaw's Bookcase in the second movie.

[Brian Koser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read about a page a day every night at the girls’ bedtime for a year and a half. Excellent collection

[R.E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great selection. Wonderful memories made with the kids.

[Renee Haug · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this with my daughter as part of her 6th grade curriculum. It is a lovely collection of poetry.

[Aurora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely collection of poems for kids, or of course, for the kid in yourself, organized handily by category such as Myself and I, or Animal Pets and Otherwise. With 567 pages of poems to choose from and two indexes, there is a poem here for anyone. My favorites, a tough choice among so many, are Longfellow's The Children's Hour which I read during happier times to my daughter, and all of Langston Hughes' poems. Since this edition was published in 1957, of course, it needs updated company on a child's bookshelf.

[emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favorite Poems: Old & New is a poetry anthology including over 700 poems of various lengths. There is a vague daunting aspect to the book, as you hold the volume in your hands, however as you open it up, that fades away. This book is carefully divided into eighteen categories. This allows a reader that desires to read a poem about traveling, birds, humor, or fantasy to turn to the section. In addition, each poem is of very manageable length, varying from several lines to a page. There is so much variation in the book, from rhymes and steady form, to free verse. I also loved the variation of authors… despite that there are none that are now truly “new,” Ferris has chosen poems from ancient times (such as bits of the Bible that read beautifully), through the 50’s. One will receive their sampling of classic poets, as well as those unheard of. I also appreciate this because it shows the range that even classic poets go through, from Christina Rossetti’s cheerful poems about spring, to more somber poems. There are stories, jokes, descriptions, and more… I think that it does a wonderful job of showing a child that poetry can be fun and enjoyable, rather than a dusty, dense, and strict group of words. This is a wonderful book for a child who might be interested in short works to read.