ANOTHER POETRY BOOK

Yes, I've been looking at poetry books again--a favorite pasttime, I admit.

Caroline Kennedy's anthology "A Family of Poems: My Favorite Poetry for Children" is worth a look. Or two. Or going back and looking at again and again. Though it's a fairly tight anthology--logging in at around 125 poems--the range is impressive. From Shakespeare's "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" sonnet, to "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Frost, to Jack Prelutsky's "Today Is Very Boring," you'll find old and new, humorous and thought-provoking.

And then, there's the artwork. Take a look at the illustration for William Blake's "The Tyger." Just gorgeous. Then try the smaller painting for Ogden Nash's "The People Upstairs." Are you smiling? Jon J. Muth--who also illustrated and wrote "The Three Questions," "Zen Shorts," and "Zen Ties"--has done a dazzling job with this collection of poetry. His beautiful watercolors, along with Caroline Kennedy's poem choices, make this anthology well worth a read.