Collected Poems for Children

by Ted Hughes, Raymond Briggs (Illustrator)

Overview

This collection brings together the more than 250 children's poems Ted Hughes wrote throughout his career. They are arranged by volume, beginning with those published for younger readers and progressing to more complex and sophisticated poems that he felt were written "within hearing" of children. Throughout, Hughes reveals his instinctive grasp of a child's insatiable wonderment and sense of humor as well as his own instinctive and illuminating perspective on people and other creatures of the natural world.

With drawings that capture the wit, range, and richness of these poems, acclaimed illustrator Raymond Briggs helps make this a book any reader can return to again and again for amusement, inspiration, and reassurance.

Collected Poems for Children is a 2008 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780374413095
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	03/20/2007
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	7 - 11 Years

About the Author

TED HUGHES (1930–1998) published numerous volumes of poetry and prose for adults and children. He received the Guardian Award for Children's Fiction in 1985 and was appointed Poet Laureate of England in 1984. RAYMOND BRIGGS has produced some of the most cherished and admired picture books of our time, including The Bear, Father Christmas, and The Snowman. He lived in London, England.

Read an Excerpt

Collected Poems for Children

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By Hughes, Ted

Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Copyright © 2007 Hughes, Ted
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0374314292

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From Collected Poems for Children
Skunk
Skunk's footfall plods padded
            But like the thunder-crash
He makes the night woods nervous
            And wears the lightning-flash –
From nose to tail a zigzag spark
            As warning to us all
That thunderbolts are very like
            The strokes he can let fall.
That cloudburst soak, that dazzling bang
            Of stink he can let drop
Over you like a cloak of tar
            Will bring you to a stop.
O Skunk! O King of Stinkards!
Only the Moon Knows
You are her prettiest, ugliest flower,
            Her blackest, whitest rose!

Continues...

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Excerpted from Collected Poems for Children by Hughes, Ted Copyright © 2007 by Hughes, Ted. Excerpted by permission.
All rightsreserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Reading Group Guide

Discussion Questions

1. How do you imagine the squirrel in the Valerie Worth poem? In the Ted Hughes poem?

2. Compare and contrast the descriptions of the two squirrels. How are they similar? Different?

3. What season do you think it is in the Worth poem? How do you know this? Can you tell what season the Hughes poem takes place in? Explain.

4. Discuss the poetic form of each "Squirrel" poem: narrative, lyric, free verse, other?

5. Both poets use rhyme in their poems. What effect does rhyme have on each poem?

6. Imagery is used to create the mood and setting of a poem. It also affects the reader's senses. How does imagery affect the mood and setting of each poem? What senses are engaged when reading the poems?
7. Does either poem make you think of or look at squirrels in different ways?

Editorial Reviews

Gr 2–6
Hughes penned more than 250 poems expressly for children, which were previously published in The Mermaid's Purse, The Cat and the Cuckoo, Season Songs , and others. Now they are gathered together in one book beginning with the volumes most suited for elementary-age children and progressing in complexity. Some of Hughes's witty and irreverent verses require sophisticated and patient readers because he includes creative grammar when he wants them to rhyme ("Far undergrounded, Moon-miners dumbfounded") and uses mixed cadences within a single poem that confound reading aloud without practice. Words more commonly used in England, "your telly's there," and "pans spitting by sixes" may slow some American children; however, the sheer variety of poetic styles will please many others. Briggs's stellar ink, mostly realistic illustrations suffuse the sections for younger children, where animals and family are the subjects, and become sparer for longer narrative poems. Although the audience may be somewhat limited, this is an important addition to any large poetry collection.
—Kirsten CutlerCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Amazing things happen on the page when giants write and illustrate for little people. This volume collects and arranges the poetry of Ted Hughes by subject and degree of complexity. Considerately edited, poems sit right next to Briggs's charcoal drawings, which wryly illustrate them. Subject matter of the verse-animals, "my folks," planets and the seasons-offers much to ponder for inquisitive minds and for teachers who wish to integrate poetry with their content area instruction. Hughes's love of monsters can connect to the work of Roald Dahl and allows for much imaginative-and literary-exploration. For educators, the word that best describes this collection is lagniappe. Young readers will find much to fall in love with, to read and re-read and to read aloud. A necessary antidote for today's youngster who might be missing out on an affirmation of youth and innocence as well as an experience of complex, playful lyrics composed by a master of word music. (Poetry. 8+)

Kirkus Reviews