Fantastic introduction to the magic of poetry by a master of joy and heartbreak. These little nuggets are deceptively simple, but if you let your child grow up with this book he'll be ready to write his own poems by the time he's a teenager, as Hughes himself was.

In the brief biography at the end, 'Serious Fun,' by George P. Cunningham, we learn Hughes' own definitions. As a teen, Hughes wrote both verse" and "poems." He later said, "I saw no harm in writing verse if you felt like it and poetry if you could."

The illustrations are wonderful, and are highlighted by excellent book design. Students (credited by name, with photos, at the end of the book) from the Harlem School of the Arts used clay, cardboard, paint, and other simple materials to make vibrant, lively, expressive animals for each letter. The background for each page is simply either black or white, whichever suits the mini-sculptures best.

Accessible to tots, this would make an excellent board book. But it's also perfect for families, and for grade-school students both in reading class and in arts & crafts programs." ( )

A couple of these were family from other anthologies, but the great art and getting to see all the work in their intended context was great. Plus, it was cool to talk about the double meanings in the poems about freedom versus captivity.

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