Lives: Poems About Famous Americans

by Lee Bennett Hopkins, Leslie Staub (Illustrator), Leslie Staub

Overview

Poetry that makes us appreciate the magnitude of lives filled with courage, enthusiasm, inspiration.

Lives: Poems About Famous Americans is the ideal introduction to sixteen American personalities who have changed the course of history. Favorite anthologist Lee Bennett Hopkins has brought together the work of a number of accomplished writers and poets, among them Jane Yolen, Nikki Grimes, and X. J. Kennedy, to portray such figures as Sacagawea, Babe Ruth, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Leslie Staubs portraits contain a poetry of their own, capturing a bit of history in the glint of smile or the reach of a hand. Lives is a book for all readers to savor.

Notable Children's Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies 2000, National Council for SS & Child. Book Council

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060277673
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	04/28/1999
Edition description:	1 ED
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	384,105
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.34(d)
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

About the Author

Noted poet Lee Bennett Hopkins has edited or authored numerous books for children, including the I Can Read Books Hamsters, Shells, and Spelling Bees; A Pet for Me: Poems; and the ALA Notable Children's Book Surprises. The recipient of a Christopher Award and the University of Southern Mississippi's Medallion for "lasting contributions to children's literature," Mr. Hopkins lives in Florida.

Leslie Staub is an accomplished artist whose work has been exhibited nationwide. In addition to Lives: Poems About Famous Americans, she has also illustrated Whoever You Are by Mem Fox. She lives in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Read an Excerpt

Walt Whitman
David Bouchard

He said that he would leave us
To go searching for his fancy
On the open road--the dark brown path
We all will come to know...

No matter if he was a man
A woman or a falling star
A kiss was left for us to share
A song was left to understand
A message sung through life then death
That he dared dream aloud...

Editorial Reviews

Gr 4-8Hopkins has added another engaging collection to his impressive list of anthologies. This one gathers poems about 16 significant Americans. The volume opens with Lawrence Schimels energetic This Bell Rings for Liberty about Paul Revere: I quench the heated metal shell/and fiery red begins to fade,/the way we drove Redcoats to sea/and quenched them from our homes and land. Alice Shertles Abe conveys in free verse the sorrow and power of the man, concluding with a breath-taking image: wrapping his strong hands/around a nation,/trying to hold the bleeding halves/together/until they healed. Selections by Nikki Grimes, X. J. Kennedy, and Jane Yolen bring other individuals to life through a range of poetic forms. There is a good balance of men and women represented as well as a variety of personalities from Eleanor Roosevelt and Rosa Parks to Neil Armstrong and Langston Hughes. Hopkinss eloquent introduction praises the power of poetry. Concluding Notes on the Lives give readers useful biographical information. Full-page portraits feature Staubs distinctive, flat, primitive style, and their backgrounds have details particular to the subject: laboratory bottles for Thomas Edison, people-filled stands for Babe Ruth, a Harlem scene for Langston Hughes. A winning combination of poems and illustrations.Lee Bock, Glenbrook Elementary School, Pulaski, WI Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal