Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg - Hardcover

Sandburg, Carl

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0806908181 ISBN 13: 9780806908182

Publisher: Union Square Kids, 1995

Synopsis

"The surrealistic illustrations, which appear to be rendered in pastels, are appealing; the soft edges and warm tones work well with Sandburg's imaginery."--SLJ. "The full-color illustrations are nothing short of breathtaking."--Parents. "...displays the range of everyday topics in which Sandburg found beauty, humor, or pathos....Unfamiliar words are helpfully defined in footnotes...and an introductory biographical essay establishes a context for the poems. Arcella makes a grand debut; his intensely colored sculptural forms, carved from dramatic shadows, have a distinctly '30s look to them...."--Kirkus Reviews. 48 pages (all in color), 8 1/2 x 10.

About this title

About the Author:

Carl Sandburg was an American poet, biographer, and editor who won three Pulitzer Prizes (two for his poetry). Three of his most famous volumes of poetry include Chicago Poems, Cornhuskers, and Smoke and Steel. His poems are accessible and incredibly visual.

Kate Benzel, PhD, is a Carl Sandburg scholar and professor emerita at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, where she is currently transcribing and annotating Sandburg's early unpublished notebooks.

Robert Crawford is an illustrator and fine artist living in the northwest hills of Connecticut. He works in his own unique style, which he says influenced is by magic realism and the regionalism of post-World War II artists like Grant Wood and Thomas Hart Benton. His work has been on the cover of major magazines, including Fortune, Business Week, The Atlantic and U.S. News and World Report, Newsweek and Rolling Stone. He has also illustrated four children's books, including T Is for Taj Mahal: An India Alphabet and The Legend of the Old Man of the Mountain.

From School Library Journal:

Gr 3 Up—This addition to the series, which began with Emily Dickinson, showcases the poetry of Carl Sandburg, the singing bard of America. Arranged in two categories, poems about people and places, the 36 free verse selections follow a brief biographical introduction by Benzel, who is noted for her work on the Sandburg Project: Prayers for the People. Acrylic illustrations are paired with the poems and are most effective when portraying the natural world. Least successful are Crawford's simplistic renderings, such as the letters that spell out the word soup in a bowl of broth, which accompany the poem of the same name. While much of the artwork is stunning, it depicts the surface layer of the poems without revealing any of the subtle imagery beneath. Many of Sandburg's classic poems, such as "Fog" and "Jazz Fantasia," can be found here. More complex pieces such as "Psalm of Those Who Go Forth Before Daylight" and "Sunset from Omaha Hotel Window" have been chosen instead of delightful nonsense poems such as "We Must Be Polite" or "Arithmetic," which seems odd in a volume meant for kids. Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg, edited by Frances Schoonmaker Bolin, is a more comprehensive overview that features some of Sandburg's nonsense poetry. Benzel's book is best suited for reading aloud. A table of contents and an index of first lines are also included. VERDICT A weaker offering than Susan Snively's Emily Dickinson (the first title in the series), though it is an acceptable, additional purchase for those wanting to update their poetry collections.—Rachel Zuffa, Racine Public Library, WI

About this edition

• Publisher: Union Square Kids
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0806908181
• ISBN 13: 9780806908182
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 48
• Editor: Bolin Frances Schoonmaker
• Illustrator: Arcella Steven