I recently picked up 100 Plus American Poems in a used book store. It’s a small thin paperback and easy to carry around in my purse. Handy to have when I have a few minutes waiting somewhere and want something to read. I wouldn’t say it is dominated by any one poet although it does have a fair selection of Langston Hughes, Robert Frost, Ogden Nash and Walt Whitman. It also has Eletelephony by Laura Richards:

One there was an elephant,
Who tried to use the telephant –
No! no! I mean an elephone
Who tried to use the telephone —

I’m sure many people told Laura Richards how much fun it is to read this poem to a child.

And it has Moo! by Robert Hillyer:

Summer is over, the old cow said,
And they’ll shut me up in a draughty shed
To milk me by lamplight in the cold,
But I won’t give much for I am old.

I wonder how many people told Mr. Hillyer how this poem brought tears to their eyes.

What I like best about this little book are the photographs by students matched up to the poems from the Scholastic-Kodak Photography Awards from 1964-1969.

Next time you’re in Half-Price Books or at the library, you might want to check it out, or just stick it on your next Amazon order. There are several pages of used book sellers who have it, even as low as 12 cents. The link I included above is to the page with a picture of the book.

Tags: American