Description

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"Children are poets before they grow up and they should live with poems. I hope this book will encourage them to do so."—Eleanor Roosevelt

Beloved and treasured for over 60 years, here is the only poetry collection your family needs—brimming with favorite, classic poems carefully selected to inspire young readers. 

Over 700 classic and modern poems written by poets from William Shakespeare to J. R. R. Tolkien, Emily Dickinson to Langston Hughes, and covering a range of favorite topics—pets, playtime, family, nature, and nonsense—ensure that there’s a poem to please every child. A truly comprehensive collection that is the ideal way of introducing children to the joys of reading poetry.

"If your children think they don't like poetry, expose them to this collection . . . and I defy them to resist its magic."—Kirkus

"A fine book for parents to read aloud to their children."—Library Journal

"This volume stands out for the comprehensiveness of its selection."—The Horn Book

About the Author

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Leonard Weisgard (1916-2000) was a beloved and award-winning illustrator of more than 200 children’s books, perhaps best known for his collaboration with the author Margaret Wise Brown. His books include The Little Island (for which he won the Caldecott Medal in 1947), The Golden Egg Book, and The Golden Bunny.

Helen Ferris (1890-1969) edited numerous books for young readers and was editor-in-chief of the Junior Literary Guild from 1929–1959.

Praise For…

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"Favorite Poems Old and New is a book of family poems. Those of us of an older generation will remember reading many of them around a fire on a winter's evening or perhaps in summertime resting under a tree and having someone read them aloud to us. I hope that young people will keep this book available for frequent 'dipping.' Children are poets before they grow up and they should live with poems. I hope this book will encourage them to do so."—Eleanor Roosevelt

"If your children think they don't like poetry, expose them to this collection . . . and I defy them to resist its magic."—Kirkus

"A fine book for parents to read aloud to their children."—Library Journal

"This volume stands out for the comprehensiveness of its selection."—The Horn Book