Green Poetry

In honor of Earth Day and Poetry Month, check out these anthologies of green-minded poems:

	The Earth is Painted Green, A Garden of Poems About Our Planet: This colorfully illustrated volume, arranged in sections focusing on planting, growing, seasons, and the risk to the land, contains poems by both contemporary (Zolotow, McCord, Merriam) and classic (Sandburg, Roethke) poets. Ages 3 and up.
	Other Goose: Recycled Rhymes for Our Fragile Times : 22 new-fangled Mother Goose rhymes with an environmental twist. Jack and Jill “fetch” bottled water because of pollution. Little Miss Muffet chokes on second-hand smoke. The poems are humorous, but the underlying message is one of deep concern for the preservation of our planet. Ages 8 and up.
	River of Words : Young Poets and Artists On the Nature of Things : edited by Pamela Michael. This inspiring volume, a collection of poetry and art from over 100 children ages six to seventeen, is sponsored River of Words, a nonprofit organization that encourages children to learn about the environment by studying local watersheds. Ages 6 and up.
	All the Wild Wonders, Poems of Our Earth: With poems about the sun, trees, water and animals, the 30 poets in this anthology celebrate the beauty of the wild and warn of the danger that threatens the environment. Ages 6 and up.
	The Tree That Time Built: A Celebration of Nature, Science, and Imagination: edited by Mary Ann Hoberman and Linda Winston. This collection of over 100 poems celebrates both the facts and the mysteries of the natural world. Includes an audio CD featuring readings of 44 poems. Ages 8 and up.
	Mother Earth, Father Sky : edited by Jane Yolen. This diverse collection of 40 nature poems includes works by Christina Rossetti, N. Scott Momaday, the Teton Sioux people and even Jane Yolen herself. The poems are organized into sections titled "Celebrate the Earth," "Sacrifice the Earth" and "Save the Earth." Ages 6 and up.
	Toad By the Road: by Joanne Ryder. In this collection of poems, Ryder traces the life cycle of toads through the seasons. The toads speak for themselves, describing the wonder of catching flies with sticky tongues, molting dead skin, and fooling predators by playing dead. Readers gain a new appreciation for these amazing, but endangered amphibians.