More Pocket Poems - Hardcover

Bobbi Katz has published numerous books, and her individual poems are widely anthologized. She lives in New York City and Upstate New York.

Deborah Zemke is a designer, illustrator, and writer of children's books. She lives in Missouri with her family.

A sequel to Pocket Poems (2004), this brightly illustrated anthology presents 44 short poems for children. The first selection, “Put the World in Your Pocket” (one of 4 by Katz), sets up the volume’s thematic arrangement by season, cycling from spring to winter. Other writers represented include Eve Merriam, Emily Dickinson, Alan Benjamin, Langston Hughes, Arnold Lobel, Myra Cohn Livingston, Betsy Franco, Aileen Fisher, Jack Prelutsky, and John Ciardi. Lively, upbeat paintings illustrate each verse. One or two poems appear on every page, and each poem is individually illustrated. Though that might sound like a potential jumble of pictures, similar colors and forms unite the images on each double-page spread. As the anthologist’s appended note states, this is a good resource for teachers celebrating “Poem in Your Pocket Day” and a nice bridge between Mother Goose rhymes and “big kid” poetry. Like its predecessor, this attractive collection of light verse lends itself well to reading aloud. Grades K-3. --Carolyn Phelan