In “The Invisible Ladder,” Liz Rosenberg’s thoughtfully edited anthology of contemporary American poetry for children, she makes sweetly explicit the profound connection between grown writers and young readers. But it’s the inclusion of these writers’ sophisticated work — about teenage jobs, music, nature and parents, not written expressly for children — that honors young readers’ abilities to parse complex ideas. The lovely, imitative lines offer evocative introductions to the work by these celebrated poets, and function as writing prompts, too. The challenge to commit verse to memory grows in later sections, though rhyming and silliness give the longer poems a mnemonic boost. After exchanging lines of verse while you are apart, I imagine that it will be poetic to hear your voices together.

Source: New York Times February 06, 2018 09:56 UTC