What do you think?
Rate this book
Poetry for Young People
Poetry for Young People: American Poetry
“I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear...” —Walt Whitman
American Poetry offers a collection of 26 verses by our finest poets, all with their unique perspective on the land they loved and accompanied by remarkable paintings that enhance the meaning of the words. Here, beautifully illustrated, are such unforgettable works as Robert Frost's pensive “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” Ralph Waldo Emerson's powerful “Concord Hymn,” Langston Hughes’ majestic “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” Carl Sandburg’s “Jazz Fantasia,” and Maya Angelou’s “Harlem Hopscotch.” Of course, some poems are just sheer fun—especially the beloved ode to our national pastime, “Casey at the Bat.”
American Poetry offers a collection of 26 verses by our finest poets, all with their unique perspective on the land they loved and accompanied by remarkable paintings that enhance the meaning of the words. Here, beautifully illustrated, are such unforgettable works as Robert Frost's pensive “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” Ralph Waldo Emerson's powerful “Concord Hymn,” Langston Hughes’ majestic “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” Carl Sandburg’s “Jazz Fantasia,” and Maya Angelou’s “Harlem Hopscotch.” Of course, some poems are just sheer fun—especially the beloved ode to our national pastime, “Casey at the Bat.”
47 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2004
125 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 8, 2019
Casey At The Bat is about a baseball game that is like happening and Casey kind of had to ''pick up the slack'' of his teammates because they had gotten 2 outs on first base. This book is a quick poem book and I would recommend if you like poetry. This was just one poem I chose to write about it.
Poetry for Young People by Langston Hughes is also another quick poetry book. This certain poem that I chose was about freedom and liberty. Basically how black people should have freedom and well and be treated equally.
Poetry for Young People by Carl Sandburg is another poetry book. This certain poem I chose was on page 40 and it was about this young lady who is a singer and she is saying the moon remembers her voice and the moon is ''kind'' to her. This was an okay poetry book. I would recommend if you want a challenge.
Poetry for Young People by Langston Hughes is also another quick poetry book. This certain poem that I chose was about freedom and liberty. Basically how black people should have freedom and well and be treated equally.
Poetry for Young People by Carl Sandburg is another poetry book. This certain poem I chose was on page 40 and it was about this young lady who is a singer and she is saying the moon remembers her voice and the moon is ''kind'' to her. This was an okay poetry book. I would recommend if you want a challenge.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 11, 2018
Most of these patriotic poems are familiar to many adult Americans, or at least some lines are. I found out my husband only knows the last lines of Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening, so he just got educated. Good selection. Not overly gung-ho/ we're #1, just why we are grateful to live here.
Includes, for example, a poem by a native american, at least one by an immigrant, and the one on the Statue of Liberty that welcomes the "huddled masses." Remind me again why the heck my taxes are going to build a border wall?
(Rhetorical rant, no reply desired.)
Entire series, including this, highly recommended.
Includes, for example, a poem by a native american, at least one by an immigrant, and the one on the Statue of Liberty that welcomes the "huddled masses." Remind me again why the heck my taxes are going to build a border wall?
(Rhetorical rant, no reply desired.)
Entire series, including this, highly recommended.
July 2, 2009
I got a four or five of these books at once. I got them to help when I teach poetry, but since buying these, I haven't had time to do a fully poetry unit again. The set up of these books are nice. They don't dumb down the poems, which I like, but I also feel like some of the poems were too hard for children. I did like how each poem was surrounded by an illustration to help make it come to life. Though some of the illustrations were more literal than I would like, that probably wouldn't help with comprehension.
I wound up using this with one of my practicum students for the fourth of July. We read this the session before the holiday. It was a great book for picking out vocabulary words to look up and illustrate. We looked at the national anthem for that in particular.
Overall, I really enjoyed how this book gives a broad definition of American. Now, its doesn't embrace every aspect of "the melting pot," but it isn't just poems like the national anthem either. When I first bought this book, I thought it was a collection of American poets, not poems about America. I might not have purchased it if I had know, but now I'm glad I did after using it successfully.
I wound up using this with one of my practicum students for the fourth of July. We read this the session before the holiday. It was a great book for picking out vocabulary words to look up and illustrate. We looked at the national anthem for that in particular.
Overall, I really enjoyed how this book gives a broad definition of American. Now, its doesn't embrace every aspect of "the melting pot," but it isn't just poems like the national anthem either. When I first bought this book, I thought it was a collection of American poets, not poems about America. I might not have purchased it if I had know, but now I'm glad I did after using it successfully.
March 18, 2010
This poetry anthology is rich with some of the most beloved and well known poems from the nineteenth and twentieth century and have a central theme of the "nation" of the United States being "conceived in liberty." Poems featured include; I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman, Casey at the Bat by Ernest Thayer, and The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes.
I really liked this book because it not only introduces students to a variety of well known American poetry, but also because of the brief introducation before each poem that offers the reader a little background knowledge before reading that no doubt make the reading of the poem more meaninful. I know it did for me.
I highly recommend this book to upper grade students, especialy students in an American Literature class. Some of the poems could also be taken and read-aloud on their own to younger students.
I really liked this book because it not only introduces students to a variety of well known American poetry, but also because of the brief introducation before each poem that offers the reader a little background knowledge before reading that no doubt make the reading of the poem more meaninful. I know it did for me.
I highly recommend this book to upper grade students, especialy students in an American Literature class. Some of the poems could also be taken and read-aloud on their own to younger students.
November 13, 2019
This collection of poetry includes all the most treasured American poets from Walt Whitman to Robert Frost to Emily Dickinson. All of the poems are put together to celebrate American history and are paired with an illustration.
I chose this book because it is a wonderful way to introduce American poetry to older children. Each poem is paired with an illustration, an introduction paragraph that gives context for the poem, and a list of defined vocabulary words from the poem. This makes reading and understanding poetry that was written in another time much more accessible.
Grades 5 & 6
I would use this in the classroom when teaching about American History. I could use this book to supplement social studies learning and provide context for certain historical events. Poetry provides students feeling and often that is what is missing from history lessons.
I chose this book because it is a wonderful way to introduce American poetry to older children. Each poem is paired with an illustration, an introduction paragraph that gives context for the poem, and a list of defined vocabulary words from the poem. This makes reading and understanding poetry that was written in another time much more accessible.
Grades 5 & 6
I would use this in the classroom when teaching about American History. I could use this book to supplement social studies learning and provide context for certain historical events. Poetry provides students feeling and often that is what is missing from history lessons.
May 31, 2021
This is a collection of classic poems geared toward sharing with younger readers (upper elementary to middle school). The best thing about this book is that each poem has a glossary which is so helpful to students who are reading some of these words for the first time and do not have background knowledge of some of the events captured. I of course recognize the line, "O captain! My captain!" from the movie Dead Poet's Society so it is nice to be able to read the actual poem in its entirety. The collection has some tough poems that would be good to really try to break down for understanding.
December 4, 2017
Genre: Poetry
Grade Level: 4 (in class)-6
I noticed that this anthology has many famous poems, and could be a great resource in the classroom. I also really liked the unique aspect of explaining the context of the poem, the vocabulary of the poem, and including a variety of perspectives on America in the poetry.
Grade Level: 4 (in class)-6
I noticed that this anthology has many famous poems, and could be a great resource in the classroom. I also really liked the unique aspect of explaining the context of the poem, the vocabulary of the poem, and including a variety of perspectives on America in the poetry.
March 15, 2019
The best of the selected poems were "America" by Claude McKay,
"Indian Names" by Lydia Huntley Sigourney,
"The Negro Speaks of Rivers" by Langston Hughes, "The Great Figure" by a William Carlos Williams, "The Engine" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, and "Harlem Hopscotch" by Maya Angelou.
Otherwise white voices, male voices, and saccharine U.S.A. patriotism are entirely overrepresented.
"Indian Names" by Lydia Huntley Sigourney,
"The Negro Speaks of Rivers" by Langston Hughes, "The Great Figure" by a William Carlos Williams, "The Engine" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, and "Harlem Hopscotch" by Maya Angelou.
Otherwise white voices, male voices, and saccharine U.S.A. patriotism are entirely overrepresented.
December 17, 2025
After having read other books in the Poetry for Young People series. I was interested to see how they did a collection, in this case of American poetry. It contained quite a few poets that I recognized from other books in the series such as Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Robert Frost, etc. But they're also some new posts that I did not recognize. It was an interesting read.
Read
May 8, 2020Great collection of poetry! This book would be super useful to have on your shelf for poetry unit.
November 15, 2021
Read over the course of two weeks to curate collection for 7th grade poetry project.
August 16, 2018
Love the classics. This collection of classic poetry allows the veteran or even the new reader of poetry to read a collection of poems that helped shape American culture. Casey at bat is a favorite of mine. This is something that I would have in my classroom library, and would refer to this when covering different eras.
November 19, 2012
I enjoyed this book's selection of classic American poetry; it was nice to actually read these classics for once. It's technically for young people, but I liked reading the small excerpts about each author and learning a little about each poem before I read it. The book also includes a selection of vocabulary and definitions under each poem. I liked this set-up and must admit that I'd appreciate this being done in an "adult" poetry book. The illustrations were lovely as well.
Read
April 30, 2015This collection of poems is great because it presents several classic poets and their works. I want it in my classroom so students can learn about the classics in addition to silly poems written for kids.
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
Read
November 6, 2012I think it was great for many of the poems, but favortie takes the cake. It is 'O Captin! My Captin! and 'Casey at the bat'.
September 13, 2016
Notes:
this book is great, we just don't love the poems; we prefer frost, whitman, dickenson... poems about nature I guess
this book is great, we just don't love the poems; we prefer frost, whitman, dickenson... poems about nature I guess
April 28, 2016
Lots of great poems to use as a tie-in with class.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews