Listen, Children, Listen: An Anthology of Poems for the Very Young

by Myra Cohn Livingston, Trina Schart Hyman (illustrator)

A collection of poems about the moods and fascinations of childhood.

96 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1972

About the author

Myra Cohn Livingston was born in Omaha, Nebraska. Her family moved to California when she was 12 years old. She studied the French horn from age 12 to age 20, becoming so good that the Los Angeles Philharmonic invited her to join them when she was 16 years old. She had other plans. She knew she wanted to write.

Reviews

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book that I discarded from my elementary public school library, but I had to keep it for myself, because it's illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. Now Hyman was just amazing. She finished the mural that decorates our public library's children's room when the original artist passed away, so I've always felt a personal affinity for her, and her work is just stunning. Not only is it just lovely to look at, but she depicted diversity in her art before diversity was even a thing. I mean, this book was published the year I was born - 1972 - and her pictures show children of every hue. There is even a depiction of the Madonna and child envisioned as African.

The poems that Livingston collected are wonderful as well. So many of them were familiar to me. One in particular, Calico Pie by Edward Lear, reminded me of a song that I learned in elementary music. I hadn't known at the time that it was taken from one of Lear's poems, but as I read the words, the song came back to me as clearly as if it hadn't been more than thirty years since I last sang it. Poetry and music - two arts that go hand in hand - have an amazing ability to recall people to childhood reminiscences. I feel that poetry is a tough sell to most children nowadays, and it's a shame.