What do you think?
Rate this book
Poetry for Young People
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“Schoonmaker’s careful selection and meticulous editing, and Wallace’s luminous, full-color paintings…will make Longfellow’s work more approachable to children. A slim, attractive introduction to a classic American poet.” – School Library Journal
48 pages, Paperback
First published December 31, 1998
16 people are currently reading
187 people want to read
About the author
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
2,873 books735 followersExtremely popular works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet, in the United States in his lifetime, include
The Song of Hiawatha
in 1855 and a translation from 1865 to 1867 of
Divine Comedy
of Dante Alighieri.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow educated. His originally wrote the "Paul Revere's Ride" and "Evangeline." From New England, he first completed work of the fireside.
Bowdoin College graduated Longefellow, who served as a professor, afterward studied in Europe, and later moved at Harvard. After a miscarriage, Mary Potter Longfellow, his first wife, died in 1835. He first collected Voices of the Night (1839) and Ballads and Other Poems (1841).
From teaching, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow retired in 1854 to focus on his writing in the headquarters of of George Washington in Cambridge, Massachusetts, during the Revolutionary War for the remainder.
Dress of Frances Appleton Longfellow, his second wife, caught fire; she then sustained burns and afterward died in 1861. After her death, Longfellow had difficulty writing and focused on from foreign languages.
Longfellow wrote musicality of many known lyrics and often presented stories of mythology and legend. He succeeded most overseas of his day. He imitated European styles and wrote too sentimentally for critics.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow educated. His originally wrote the "Paul Revere's Ride" and "Evangeline." From New England, he first completed work of the fireside.
Bowdoin College graduated Longefellow, who served as a professor, afterward studied in Europe, and later moved at Harvard. After a miscarriage, Mary Potter Longfellow, his first wife, died in 1835. He first collected Voices of the Night (1839) and Ballads and Other Poems (1841).
From teaching, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow retired in 1854 to focus on his writing in the headquarters of of George Washington in Cambridge, Massachusetts, during the Revolutionary War for the remainder.
Dress of Frances Appleton Longfellow, his second wife, caught fire; she then sustained burns and afterward died in 1861. After her death, Longfellow had difficulty writing and focused on from foreign languages.
Longfellow wrote musicality of many known lyrics and often presented stories of mythology and legend. He succeeded most overseas of his day. He imitated European styles and wrote too sentimentally for critics.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
April 26, 2019
I do like this series. I learn the most interesting things even beyond what I would hope to. For example, Longfellow's very American, and very much interested in exploring the growing pains of our young country. And many lines and verses from his poems have been shared so often they're idioms, like lines from Shakespeare and Frost and a few others.
One poem I discovered that I love is "Aftermath" as it just rolls out, when read aloud, like a song, with the intonations revealing the moods and perspectives of both participant & observer of the action of the poem. Think of Poe's "Raven" and how one naturally gives it the right amount of gravitas, melancholy, and passion as one reads it aloud, or Moore's "Night Before Christmas" which goes from serene to exciting to jolly to conclusive. "Aftermath" isn't quite that easy but it's lovely to me.
In fact, many of his poems are musical enough that they were the ones that children used to memorize and then perform for the community. Hiawatha, Evangeline, Paul Revere, the Hesperus.... They're all his. One of his poems is even a Christmas carol "The Christmas Bells!" https://www.google.com/search?client=...
The biography and illustrations are engaging and helpful, as always in this series. I think that if there's a good narrative bio of Longfellow I'd like to read it, too, as he seems like he had an interesting life w/out *too* much dysfunction or trauma.
Recommended, of course.
One poem I discovered that I love is "Aftermath" as it just rolls out, when read aloud, like a song, with the intonations revealing the moods and perspectives of both participant & observer of the action of the poem. Think of Poe's "Raven" and how one naturally gives it the right amount of gravitas, melancholy, and passion as one reads it aloud, or Moore's "Night Before Christmas" which goes from serene to exciting to jolly to conclusive. "Aftermath" isn't quite that easy but it's lovely to me.
In fact, many of his poems are musical enough that they were the ones that children used to memorize and then perform for the community. Hiawatha, Evangeline, Paul Revere, the Hesperus.... They're all his. One of his poems is even a Christmas carol "The Christmas Bells!" https://www.google.com/search?client=...
The biography and illustrations are engaging and helpful, as always in this series. I think that if there's a good narrative bio of Longfellow I'd like to read it, too, as he seems like he had an interesting life w/out *too* much dysfunction or trauma.
Recommended, of course.
October 30, 2022
Our poet for this first term of the year, we just read one poem each day. All my boys have found a couple poems in this volume that they connected with, which is always my goal. These editions are great for reading aloud, and the illustrations draw in the younger ones.
February 21, 2024
One of my favorite poets to date. ❤️
June 18, 2019
Later this summer I'll be visiting the Longfellow Museum in Portland, Maine, and in preparation I wanted to learn a little about him and read some of his poetry. Because I wanted to read a LITTLE about him, as opposed to a lot, I thought a children's collection would be an appropriate choice.
This particular edition gave a nice introduction to the writer, sharing some of his best loved poems, including selections from "The Song of Hiawatha" and the ahistorical "Paul Revere's Ride." By far my favorite poem was "A Psalm of Life," where the phrase "leave behind us footprints on the sands of time" originates. I also enjoyed "The Children's Hour." This particular book is beautifully illustrated by Chad Wallace; his pictures would add so much to the poems for a young reader.
This particular edition gave a nice introduction to the writer, sharing some of his best loved poems, including selections from "The Song of Hiawatha" and the ahistorical "Paul Revere's Ride." By far my favorite poem was "A Psalm of Life," where the phrase "leave behind us footprints on the sands of time" originates. I also enjoyed "The Children's Hour." This particular book is beautifully illustrated by Chad Wallace; his pictures would add so much to the poems for a young reader.
October 22, 2021
I’m not sure this qualifies “for young people,” but it does have value for stretching children to a classical, more thoughtful poetry than that to which they are typically exposed.
My favorites:
The Wreck of the Hesperus (to which the “Incorrigible children” were often exposed by Penelope their teacher/governess)
Christmas Bells (familiar, now lyrics to a Christmas carol)
A Psalm of Life
The Children’s Hour
Paul Revere’s Ride
My favorites:
The Wreck of the Hesperus (to which the “Incorrigible children” were often exposed by Penelope their teacher/governess)
Christmas Bells (familiar, now lyrics to a Christmas carol)
A Psalm of Life
The Children’s Hour
Paul Revere’s Ride
April 30, 2021
I love this series - the poets, the selections, the illustrations are all fantastic and lovely. They are an integral part of our homeschool “morning time”, a wonderful way to introduce children to poets with a good sampling of their work. I do cherish Longfellow. His words and lines are gorgeous and often a balm to the soul.
February 21, 2025
“The book is completed,
And closes, like the day;
And the hand that has written it
Lays it away.
Dim grow its fancies;
Forgotten they lie;
Like coals in the ashes,
They darken and sue.
Song sinks into silence,
The story is told,
The windows are darkened,
The hearth-stone is cold.
Darker and darker
The black shadows fall;
Sleep and oblivion
Reign over all.”
And closes, like the day;
And the hand that has written it
Lays it away.
Dim grow its fancies;
Forgotten they lie;
Like coals in the ashes,
They darken and sue.
Song sinks into silence,
The story is told,
The windows are darkened,
The hearth-stone is cold.
Darker and darker
The black shadows fall;
Sleep and oblivion
Reign over all.”
March 30, 2023
Part of a series to introduce kids to poetry, this one has a pretty good selection of Longfellow's work, including at least parts of his most famous longer works, and a some of his best-known shorter ones. The illustrations are really good, too.
February 7, 2018
One of the better books in this series in terms of feeling more consistent and coherent about what it's meant to be.
March 4, 2018
What a delightful read! I had forgotten that Longfellow was the author of a number of my favorite poems.
March 28, 2019
A nice illustrated selection of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poems. A few poems are only included in part so the children always wanted me to find the full text to read as well.
November 15, 2021
Read over the course of two weeks to curate collection for 7th grade poetry project.
October 29, 2023
We love this series!
April 23, 2024
Another beautiful book of poetry and art.
October 2, 2025
He’s always been one of my favorite poets.
March 27, 2014
We read about Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in class. We read both of his poems, "A Psalm of Life" and "The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls". He wrote A Psalm of Life in 1838 after the loss of his first wife, Mary, and there child. The poem was intended to inspire himself and others to overcome obstacles and tragedies in there life, and to live productively in the present.
He then wrote "The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls" in his early seventies. The poem showed his acceptance of the soon to come, death. He did then get remarried to a new woman. She died as well, which depressed Henry even more.
I did like the poems Henry Longfellow wrote. They were a little bit confusing to understand, but our teacher made it a lot easier by discussing them in class. Henry is the main character in the poems he writes. He talks about his past experiences and his soon to come experiences in the future.
I would recommend these poems to anyone that like poetry, or just wants something fun to read. It puts a different outlook on life. Anyone can learn something from him.
He then wrote "The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls" in his early seventies. The poem showed his acceptance of the soon to come, death. He did then get remarried to a new woman. She died as well, which depressed Henry even more.
I did like the poems Henry Longfellow wrote. They were a little bit confusing to understand, but our teacher made it a lot easier by discussing them in class. Henry is the main character in the poems he writes. He talks about his past experiences and his soon to come experiences in the future.
I would recommend these poems to anyone that like poetry, or just wants something fun to read. It puts a different outlook on life. Anyone can learn something from him.
November 17, 2014
Lately we have had a poetry book set up on a book stand on the breakfast table to read with the kids in the mornings, just to sneak a little "high brow" into our day. I think because it reminds me of my daddy, I love Longfellow. My kids, however, think I am off my NUT because my favorite Longfellow poem is The Wreck of the Hesperus. In fact, the "darkness" and death in so many of these poetry books for children has disturbed them, but we have had great discussions about how, until very recently, death and struggle were a normal part of daily life for most children everywhere and how in many parts of the world it still is this very day.
Even though in my opinion the illustrations are sorely lacking in this series, the selections for the Longfellow book are a wonderful sampling of his body of work.
If A Psalm of Life doesn't make you want to be a better person, then I don't know WHAT will inspire you. I re-read it this morning to the kids and I think we'll memorize it.
Even though in my opinion the illustrations are sorely lacking in this series, the selections for the Longfellow book are a wonderful sampling of his body of work.
If A Psalm of Life doesn't make you want to be a better person, then I don't know WHAT will inspire you. I re-read it this morning to the kids and I think we'll memorize it.
Read
September 28, 2012This book is obviously an anthology of poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In order to make it more approachable for children some of the poems have been cut down in length and colorful paintings have been added to the poems. These pictures enhance the poems because if you couldn't imagine some of the dreadful things described, like children dying, then you have a little picture of that dead little girl, and so on. Honestly, I don't think this book is really appropriate for young children or anyone younger than ten or so because it deals with some pretty weighty material like death, slavery, and such themes. For young kids, I think this is a little too much. But for an older audience it is fine. However, this series of books is for young people, so there seems to be a disconnect.
September 27, 2012
I thought Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poems were creative and fun to read. I liked how this book had 27 different poems from Longfellow; I also liked how there was an introduction of Longfellow before all the poems started. I don’t know if all poetry books do this, but in this book after the poem there was a spot for words that some people might not know the definition of. The poem Christmas Bells was probably one of my favorites in the book, along with The Rainy Day. I am considering getting Poetry for Young People for other authors because of how cool Longfellow’s was. I have never been a huge fan of poetry, but I find it to be interesting now.
October 21, 2025
Can't say I LOVE it--there's something about Longfellow that just screams Junior High English class--but at the same time he was THE most popular American poet for a very long time--it took Dickenson and Whitman to finally dislodge him from his throne. It's kinda a should read more than a want to read. Gotta say--so far, he's an EASY read (I mean for poetry Longfellow is pretty straightforward), and what he can do with sound is pretty amazing (see Hiawatha).
December 6, 2012
Poetry For Young People is such a great way to introduce poetry to children. With a strong variety of easy-to-read classic poems from selected writers and definitions on each page of "bigger" or difficult to understand words, it becomes a great read-a-loud or self-reader for almost all ages especially with the colorful and representative images.
January 6, 2015
We enjoyed reading some of Longfellow's work as part of our daily lessons. The illustrations were nice, and the selection was good, although some of his longer works (Paul Revere and Hiawatha) were only partially printed.
Nice introduction to the author's work.
Nice introduction to the author's work.
August 19, 2011
great collection of his poems with explaination and expert knowledge of the reasons, history and language used in his poems. Great pictures, good introduction to wadsworth poetry
April 30, 2012
a good selection of poems
and information about the poems explaining them to children
i love the way this series presents the poems with beautiful pictures and explianations
and information about the poems explaining them to children
i love the way this series presents the poems with beautiful pictures and explianations
October 18, 2016
I had to do this for my school poem readings, and I really loved this book! My favorite poem is The Arrow and The Song.
February 18, 2021
I have a great regard for Henry Wandsworth Longfellow. I love his use of imagery, and the way that he paints a picture in your mind.
January 5, 2016
reread
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews