The Washington Talking Book & Braille Library is proud to present the following list of poetry books for youth and adults.
National Poetry Month was started in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets. The power of poetry transcends all ages and the poems of your youth can be enjoyed again when you are 100 year-olds. Take a moment to discover the poetry gathered in this collection.
Best American Poetry, 2008 edited by David Lehman and Charles Wright
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award selects seventy-five representatives of the best of "various factions and inclinations of American poetry." Louise Gluck shares lyrical impressions of a day's work in the fields in "Threshing." Includes verse by John Ashbery, Marvin Bell, Jorie Graham, and Charles Simic. 2008. Digital Book DB 67706. Also available as a downloadable book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.67706.
Breaking Ground by Paul Hunter
This work of 32 poems in free verse reaches back to 19th century rural practices and values, and by the end leaps ahead to agribusiness and suburban sprawl of the 21st century. Washington State Book Award winner. 2004. Braille Book BRW 1135. Cassette Book CBA 7834.
Collected Poems of Robert Service by Robert Service
Ballads, rhymes, and humorous and melodramatic verse written by a Canadian prior to 1940. Contains several of his most popular poems, including "The Spell of the Yukon," "The Cremation of Sam McGee," "The Shooting of Dan McGrew," and the "Bar Room Ballads." 1940. Cassette Book RC 34257. Digital Book DB 34257 is available as a downloadable book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.34257
The Complete Poems of Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne
Originally written to entertain the author's son, Christopher Robin, some of the verses are about the boy's stuffed animals. This volume contains both the first collection, When We Were Very Young, published in 1924, and the second, Now We Are Six, published in 1927. For grades K-3. 1927. Braille Book BR 12911. Cassette Book RC 51545.
The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni, 1968-1998 by Nikki Giovanni
The complete works of three decades by African American poet Nikki Giovanni (born 1943)--from her first published volume Black Feeling Black Talk through Those Who Ride the Night Winds. Contains an introduction, chronology, and notes by Virginia C. Fowler. Includes 2006 interview by Jill Scott. 2003. Digital Book DB 69494. Also available as a downloadable book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.69494.
Fooling With Words - A Celebration Of Poets And Their Craft by Bill Moyers
Moyers interviews 11 American poets, including Robert Pinsky, Mark Doty, Shirley Geok-lin Lim, and Paul Muldoon, whose voices echo the diversity of the United States- a wonderful jumble of genders, ethnic groups, and religions. Interviews (accompanied by the interviewee's poetry) focus on the poet as an individual, the creative process, and enjoying poetry and reveling in its sound. 1999. Braille Book BR 14341. Cassette Book CBA 4110.
I Too Sing America: Three Centuries of African-American Poetry by Catherine Clinton
Thirty-five selections by twenty-five prominent poets spanning American history from colonial days through modern times. A brief biography and explanatory notes precede each work. For grades 5-8 and older readers. Braille Book BR 1224. Cassette Book RC 48399. Digital Book DB 48399 is available as a downloadable book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.48399.
A Light In The Attic by Shel Silverstein
A fat collection of poems that range from exhilarating nonsense to tender sadness. Includes "How Not to Have to Dry the Dishes," "Prayer of the Selfish Child," "Adventures of a Frisbee," and "Hiccup Cure." For grades 4-7 to share with younger children and adults. 1981. Braille Book BR 11934. Cassette Book RC 17732. Digital Book 17732 is available as a downloadable book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.17732.
Love to Mama: A Tribute to Mothers by Pat Mora
Thirteen Hispanic heritage poets express love and respect for their mothers and grandmothers in this collection of poetry. A glossary of Spanish words used in the poems is included. PRINT/BRAILLE. For grades K-3 and older readers. 2001. Braille Book BR 14015
My Very First Mother Goose edited by Iona Opie
A collection of over sixty of the most popular nursery rhymes that bring joy and music to everyone's ears. Includes such favorites as "Jack and Jill" and "Humpty Dumpty," as well as some lesser-known rhymes. For preschool-grade 2. 1996. Cassette Book RC 45285. Digital Book DB 45285 is available as a downloadable book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.45285.
Native Universe: Voices of Indian America edited by Gerald McMaster and Clifford Trafzer
Indian scholars, writers, and leaders celebrate their cultural heritage through three main topics: "Our Universes" examines the diversity of beliefs and ceremonies, "Our Peoples" probes historical events such as the arrival of Christopher Columbus, and "Our Lives" offers stories and poems on contemporary identity. 2008. Digital Book DB 70128. Also available as a downloadable book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.70128.
A Night Out with Robert Burns: The Greatest Poems by Robert Burns
Representative poetry by Scotland's famous poet Robert Burns (1759-1796), selected and introduced by Scottish author Andrew O'Hagan. Organized in four overlapping categories with biographical and textual notes, the selections include the New Year's favorite "Auld Lang Syne." 2008. Braille Book BR 18302. Digital Book DB 70443. Also available as a downloadable book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.70443.
One Hundred Essential Modern Poems by Joseph Parisi
Anthology arranged chronologically by the poets' dates of birth. Biographical sketches provide historical background and brief commentary. Includes selections from William Butler Yeats, Robert Frost, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Ogden Nash, Dylan Thomas, Allen Ginsberg, Seamus Heaney, and Rita Dove. For senior high and older readers. 2005. Digital book DB 65015 is available as a downloadable book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.65015.
The Poetry Of Robert Frost The Collected Poems, Complete And Unabridged by Robert Frost
Clear, simple poetry sings of rural, democratic joys and the love of nature. Writing in traditional verse forms, however, the poet creates a tension of thought and feeling. For Frost, the poem is "a momentary stay against confusion." 1975. Cassette Book RC 18824. Digital book DB 18824 is available as a downloadable book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.18824.
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
Prose-poem reflections by the Lebanese mystic poet, Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931). Meditations on such subjects as love, marriage, joy and sorrow, crime and punishment, pain, and self-knowledge. 1923. Braille Book BR 4258. Cassette Book RC 54107. Large Print Book LP 4822. Digital Book DB 54107 is available as a downloadable book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.54107.
Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters
From their graves the dead speak of the true secrets and motivations of their former lives in a small Midwestern town. The epitaphs are presented as free verse monologues aimed at tearing the veil of respectability from small town life. First published in 1915. Cassette Book RC 18045. Digital Book DB 18045 is available as a downloadable book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.18045.