Traveling the Blue Road: Poems of the Sea - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1633222764 ISBN 13: 9781633222762

Publisher: Seagrass Press, 2017

Synopsis

A 2018 Notable Poetry Book for Children (National Council of Teachers of English)

Selected for Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2018 by NCSS-CBC, a cooperative project of the National Council for the Social Studies and the Children’s Book Council

Traveling the Blue Road is a carefully curated collection of kid-friendly poetry about the ever inspiring subject of the ocean. Themes include pilgrimages, migration, culture, and more.

Prepare to be inspired by the sea with Traveling the Blue Road. This book is packed with gorgeous illustrations that surround a collection of poetry for children on the themes of the courage, beauty, and promise of sea voyages.

Compiled and edited by award-winning poet Lee Bennett Hopkins, the poems describe how the sea has historically shone as a metaphor for both hope and despair, and served as a pathway for people searching for new life. Traveling the Blue Road includes poems about the pilgrims coming to the New World, the Mariel boatlift, the Vietnamese boat people, a Dutch slave ship, the current migration situation in the Mediterranean, and the voyage of the St. Louis.

Contributing poets include Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Paul B. Janeczko, J. Patrick Lewis, Allan Wolf, Marilyn Nelson, Denver Butson, Georgia Heard, Jane Yolen, Naomi Shihab Nye, and G. Neri, and Margarita Engle, the recently named Young People's Poet Laureate.

Named one of Bank Street College of Education's Best Children's Books of the Year, 2018!

About this title

About the Author:

Lee Bennett Hopkins has compiled more anthologies for children than anyone in the history of children's literature. In 2011, Lee Bennett Hopkins was recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's most prolific anthologist of poetry for children, with 113 titles to his credit! He has helped make poetry accessible to young readers in more than 100 volumes of his own writings and compilations. He has won numerous awards including five American Library Association Notable Books, the Mississippi Medallion for "lasting contributions to children's literature," National Council of Teachers of English Excellence in Poetry for Children Award (2009), and a Christopher Award for "affirming the highest values of the human spirit."

Review:

A 2018 Notable Poetry Book for Children - National Council of Teachers of English

"Traveling the Blue Road: Poems of the Sea, collected by America’s formidable champion of poetry, Lee Bennet Hopkins, stunningly illustrated by a father-son team of Bob Hansman and Jovan Hansman is a masterful picture book that captures the scope of the influence of the sea on us....In the current climate of nonstop talk and hyperbole, a dozen poets distill language that speaks volumes, ostensibly to children, but to anyone willing to stop long enough to inhale this 32 page treatise on voyages....The back matter of the book has notes on the historical events of each poem and gives a background on each of the stellar poets who contributed to this volume. The value of such poetry is celebrated by the glorious artwork of Bob and Jovan Hansman with a motif that could be interpreted as endless light dancing on water or the vastness of the starry sky above."--Vicki Cobb - Huffington Post

"This collection of poetry touches on such historic voyages as the Mayflower, the terror of the Middle Passage and the modern-day troubles of desperate migrants. The often serious verse is beautifully illustrated by Washington University professor Bob Hansman and his son, Jovan." - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Hopkins compiles 14 previously unpublished poems connected to major sea voyages in this arresting collection....The Hansmans—a father-son illustrator team—blend archival images into their dramatic mixed-media collages..." - Publishers Weekly

"Glorious poetry, eye-opening history, and a heart-expanding experience. What a book!" - Playing by the Book

"From Columbus’s journey in 1492 to seventeenth-century slave ships, the infamous Titanic, and present-day ocean dwelling communities, the terrible majesty of the sea is celebrated through a collection of poems penned by a bevy of award-winning authors and poets, each with a unique voice and story. Striking mixed-media illustrations feature sailors, explorers, and refugees amid the starry skies and dark waves, conveying all the fluid strength and timelessness of the ocean." - ForeWord Reviews

"Care and research are evident throughout this poignant book, which is much more than its subtitle, "Poems of the Sea"; in essence and in sum, it is a history of inhumanity." - Kirkus Reviews

About this edition

• Publisher: Seagrass Press
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1633222764
• ISBN 13: 9781633222762
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32
• Editor: Bennett Hopkins Lee
• Illustrator: Hansman Bob And Jovan