The Aliens Have Landed at Our School

By: Kenn Nesbitt
Illustrated by: Margeaux Lucas
ISBN-13: 978-0689048647

Price: $9.95

Kenn Nesbitt's work spans the poetic universe from the mere silly to the imaginatively hilarious. By capturing rhyme and rhythm in the everyday life of school, he appeals to both reluctant and voracious readers. His rollicking poems add a touch of whimsy to Poetry Alive! shows.

Includes: The Aliens Have Landed
Grades 3-5

archy and mehitabel

By: Don Marquis
Illustrated by: George Herriman
ISBN-13: 978-0385094788

Price: $10.95

First appearing in 1916, archy the cockroach makes a life of philosophy while observing the world through an insect's point of view. Mehitabel, cat in her ninth life, has found a way to enjoy every one. This constant cult favorite and a strong example of free verse serves students studying different forms of verse.

Includes: the lesson of the moth
Grades 6-8

Best Tales of the Yukon

By: Robert W. Service
ISBN-13: 978-0762414598

Price: $12.95

Robert Service captured the world of the Yukon frontier with poetry that captured its myth, wonder, and excitement. This chronological collection includes the colorful characters Sam McGee, dangerous Dan McGrew, and Hard-Luck Henry to name but a few. Through their tales unfolds a world of savage beauty and unforgettable legends.

Includes: "The Cremation of Sam McGee"
Grades 6-8

Casey At the Bat

By: Ernest Lawrence Thayer
Illustrated by: Christopher Bing
ISBN-13: 978-1929766000

*** A Caldecott Honor Book ***

Price: $17.95

This amazingly illustrated edition of the classical poem captures the emotions of the poem in detailed woodcuts supplemented by newspaper articles and ads that reflect the time. This title is great for baseball enthusiasts and poets alike.

Includes: Casey at the Bat
Grades 6-8

Chants

By: Pat Mora
ISBN-13: 978-0934770247

Price: $8.95

Winner of the Southwest Book Award and the Best Book of Poetry from the El Paso Times.

Includes: Elena
Grades 6-8

A Child's Introduction to Poetry

By: Michael Driscoll
Illustrated by: Meredith Hamilton
ISBN 13: 978-1579122829

Price: $19.95

Not just a beautifully illustrated collection of poetry but also an anthology that introduces students to the joy of many different types of poetry. Driscoll covers genres from nursery rhymes to sonnets, limericks to free verse in a style that is entertaining and fun. A cd included with this anthology serves as an extra supplement to the Poetry Alive! experience as students see poems acted out then get the chance to hear them as well.

Includes: Little Miss Muffet - Mother Goose, What Is Pink?, Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 (Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?), Shakespeare's Witches Chant (from Macbeth), I'm Nobody - Emily Dickinson, Life Doesnt Frighten Me - Maya Angelou
Grades K-2, 3-5, 9-12

Something Is Going To Happen: Classroom Packet

Price: $79.95

Includes: one Something Is Going To Happen: Teacher's Edition, 15 Something Is Going To Happen: Student's Editions, and a Poetry Alive's Greatest Hits CD - Volume Two

Grades 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

Something Is Going To Happen: Classroom Packet

Price: $69.95

Includes: one Something Is Going To Happen: Teacher's Edition, 15 Something Is Going To Happen: Student's Editions, and a Poetry Alive's Greatest Hits Cassette - Volume Two

Grades 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

The Collected Poems of Octavio Paz: 1957-1987

By: Octavio Paz
Edited and translated by: Eliot Weinberger
ISBN-13: 978-0811211734

Price: $23.95

The bilingual collection contains the best of Paz's work, many with new translations. Showing the range of Paz's work while maintaining the breadth of his style, this wonderful anthology will appeal to English and Spanish speakers alike. Since it provides the poetic text in both languages, it also serves as an excellent resource for those looking for performance ideas.

Includes: Between What I see and What I Say: Poem for Roman Jakobsen"
Grades 6-8, 9-12

The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou

By: Maya Angelou
ISBN-13: 978-0679428954

Price: $24.00

Maya Angelou's poems grip our imagination and make us hope for better. This complete collection gives us the breadth of her early work including her inaugural poem "On the Pulse of Morning". This is a must-have collection for any library.

Includes: Life Doesn't Frighten Me, Alone
Grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8

Cool Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Growing Up in the United States

Edited by: Lori M. Carlson
ISBN-13: 978-0805031355

Price: $16.95

This powerful collection includes poems in both Spanish and English with rhyme, rhythm, and sounds that capture the glory and pain if being Latino American. This is a wonderful addition to those who serve a bilingual population because many of the poems appear in both English and Spanish.

Includes: "The Calling" by Luis Rodriguez
Grades 9-12

Ego-Tripping And Other Poems for Young People

By: Nikki Giovanni
Illustrated by: George Ford
ISBN-13: 978-1556521898

Price: $10.95

This updated collection includes ten new poems and a world of thought-provoking verse. Nikki Giovanni creates a world that celebrates while not glossing over the hard times. It's a great collection that has stood the test of time.

Includes: Communication, Alone, Kidnap Poem, Knoxville Tennessee
Grades 3-5, 6-8

Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir - 1969-1980

By: Lucille Clifton
ISBN-13: 978-0918526595

Price: $17.50

As a poet, Lucille Clifton captures great depths of emotion with sparse rhyme and rich rhythm. Her language is accessible, her words, heartfelt, and her subjects form beautifully crafted, evocative stories of humanity. A beautiful collection and a great complement to a Poetry Alive! performance.

Includes: The First (Eviction)
Grades 6-8, 9-12

Hormone Jungle: Coming of Age in Middle School

By: Brod Bagert
ISBN-13: 978-0929895871

Price: $23.95

Brod Bagert focuses on the wills, whims, and wants of middle school students in this collection that captures a variety of poetic voices within a story of students caught in the midst of their important growing up years. Complemented by drawings and illustrations from a middle school in Gainesville Florida, this book may serve as a source for inspiration to jump start creative writing projects as well as hook students into the emotional texture in their own ups and downs. This book also serves as a wonderful partner to Sara Holbrook's and Allan Wolf's More Than Friends.

Includes: No lo Se!
Grades 6-8

Hour of freedom: American History in Poetry

Compiled by: Milton Meltzer
Illustrations by: Marc Nadel
ISBN-13: 978-1841213972

Price: $16.95

The 61 poem collection takes readers through American history with verse and rhythm. Arranged in seven roughly chronological sections, this anthology travels through time to tell the story of the United States by marking the moments and the people who made those moments. At times an unflinching look at our past, it contains the poetry of our darkest times as well as the brightest.

Includes: O Captain! My Captain!
Grades 6-8, 9-12

It's Show Time: Poetry From the Page to the Stage

By: Allan Wolf
ISBN-13: 978-1883731007

Price: $12.95

This is the perfect book to get for following up a Poetry Alive! performance because it contains the ideas, methods, and inspiration that inform our shows. Developed for elementary level, this title includes 26 poems scripted and ready for performance. It also includes director's notes and teaching ideas for those who want to take Poetry Alive Alive! experience just a bit further.

Includes: To Satch - Samuel Allen, Wilbur Wright and Orville Wright - Rosemary and Steven Vincent Benet, Sometimes I Feel This Way - John Ciardi, maggie & millie & mollie & may - E. E. Cummings, Some One - Walter de le Mare, Music - Eleanor Farjeon, The Quarrel - Eleanor Farjeon, Sunshine - Rose Flint, The Panther - Ogden Nash, Mummy Slept Late & Daddy Fixed Breakfast - John Ciardi, Wynken, Blynken, and Nod - Eugene Field, The Base Stealer - Robert Francis, Solution - Leland B. Jacobs, The Little Turtle - Vachel Lindsay, Humpty Dumpty - Mother Goose, Little Orphant Annie - James Whitcomb Riley, Who Has Seen the Wind? - Christina Rossetti, Dust of Snow - Robert Frost
Grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

Jabberwocky

By: Lewis Carroll
Illustrated by: Joel Stewart
ISBN-13: 978-0763620189

Price: $15.99

This illustrated version of Carroll's wonderful classic serves up one artist's interpretation. This is a great addition to libraries and classrooms making the transition between poetry and art as well as those seeking to delve further into the world of Lewis Carroll.

Includes: Jabberwocky
Grades 6-8, 9-12

Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices

By: Paul Fleischman
Illustrated by: Eric Beddows
ISBN-10: 0-062018525

Price: 15.99

Newberry Award Winner

This remarkable collection of poems about bugs and insects is truly intended for two people to read aloud and enjoy together. The rhymes here also serve well as challenging and boisterous performance pieces. Paul Fleishman has captured the rhythm and movement of the creepy-crawly world with imaginatively crafted verse.

Includes: Chrysalis Diary, The Moth's Serenade, A Requiem, Whirligig Beetles
Grades 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

Knock At a Star: A Child's Introduction to Poetry

Selected by: X.J. Kennedy and Dorothy Kennedy
Illustrated by: Karen Lee Baker
ISBN-13: 978-0316488006

Price: $12.99

Children of all ages will find something that delights and inspires in this title. The poetic sections are arranged topically as the world of poetry and poetic forms emerge from the classic and contemporary selections. A timely supplement to the Poetry Alive! performances, this anthology includes many of our favorite poets.

Includes: Dreams - Langston Hughes, The 1st (Eviction) - Lucille Clifton, In Just - E. E. Cummings, I Am Rose - Gertrude Stein, Mummy Slept Late & Daddy Fixed Breakfast - John Ciardi, A Word is Dead - Emily Dickenson, We Real Cool - Gwendolyn Brooks, The Eagle - Alfred Lord Tennyson, Sidwalk Racer - Lillian Morrison
Grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

The Llama Who Had No Pajamas

By: Mary Ann Hoberman
Illustrated by: Betty Fraser
ISBN-13: 978-0152055714

Price: $8.00

Hoberman captures the silliness, the thoughtfulness, the delight and the joy of all children in this extensive collection. As a poet that we return to for inspiration and creativity, Hoberman continues to write verse that is both witty and contemplative. This wonderful collection serves as a wonderful source of inspiration for students and teachers alike.

Includes: "Permutations" by Mary Ann Hoberman
Grades 3-5, 6-8

More Than Friends: Poems from Him and Her

By: Sara Holbrook and Allan Wolf
ISBN-13: 978-1590785874

Price: $16.95

This he wrote/she wrote collection of poems track the blossoming, blooming, and fading of first love told through the poems of two teenaged characters. Sara Holbrook and Allan Wolf capture the drama, passion, conflict, and bliss in a story told strictly through the verse of these accomplished poets. As favorites artists within the Poetry Alive! family these two continue to write works that delight children of all ages. This book will serve as an excellent complement to a Poetry Alive! performance and inspire students to put their own thoughts into verse. This book also serves as a wonderful partner to Brod Bagert's Hormone Jungle.

Includes: Veggie Panini Is the Answer To Everything
Grades 6-8

New Found Land

A novel by Allan Wolf
ISBN-13: 978-0763621131

Price: $18.99

Allan Wolf, a great friend and fan of Poetry Alive!, has written a compelling, insightful story of the courageous Americans who set out with Lewis and Clark. Told in a poetic format, the omniscient eyes of Seaman (or Oolum), Lewis' Newfoundland dog, oversees all. It's a great introduction to the journeys of Lewis and Clark as well as a reminder of the power of poetry to tell a story.

Grades 6-8, 9-12

Nothing's the End of the World

By: Sara Holbrook
Drawings by: J.J. Smith-Moore
ISBN-13: 978-1563971983

Price: $7.95

Sara Holbrook deals with life's little miseries and its greatest joys with wonderful finesse of rhyme and reason. For this reason she continues to be a Potery Alive! favorite. Her work speaks to us and through us capturing a slice of poetry in the midst of growing up. This collection stands as a wonderful addition to any collection.

Includes: Angry
Grades K-2

Poems: American Themes

Collected by: William C. Bassell
ISBN-10: 1-567650236

Price: $13.50

Not just a collection but also a primer on poetry. This is a great resource for teachers who have students in exploring the role of poetry and poets in their lives as well as the rich history of poetic traditions. This collection includes many lesser-known poems by well-known poets. It will serve as a great resource as an anthology and a reference work on poetry

Includes: The Double Play - Robert Wallace, The Little Turtle - Vachel Lindsay, To Satch - Samuel Allen, The Base Stealer - Robert Francis, Mending Wall - Robert Frost, The Flower-Fed Buffaloes - Vachel Lindsay, Annabel Lee - Edgar Allen Poe, Richard Cory - Edwin Arlington Robinson, Chicago - Carl Sandburg, Jazz Fantasia - Carl Sandburg, Women - Alice Walker, This is Just to Say - William Carlos Williams, My Papa's Waltz - Theodore Roethke, Lucinda Matlock - Edgar Lee Masters, Much Madness is Divinest Sense - Emily Dickenson,
Grades 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

Rainbows Are Made: Poems by Carl Sandburg

By: Carl Sandburg
Selected by: Lee Bennett Hopkins
Wood Engravings by: Fritz Eichenberg
ISBN-13: 978-0152654818

Price: $13.00

As one of America's great writers, Carl Sandburg is remembered for writing verse that tells the story of the American spirit. This collection delivers seventy of his poems grouping them together in six sections headed by Sandburg's own definitions of poetry. It's a well-rounded introduction to the quality and depth of Sandburg's work.

Includes: Grass, Fog, Phizzog, Little girl Be Careful What You Say, Buffalo Dusk, Arithmetic
Grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

Random House Book of Poetry for Children

Selected by: Jack Prelutsky
Illustrated by: Arnold Lobel
ISBN-13: 978-0394850108

Price: $22.99

Gives a taste of the best poets writing for children. Booklist, starred review ****

We are proud to offer this treasury of poetry that continues to be a stand-by in our office for reference and pure joy. Prelutsky has selected diverse and compelling poems that delight and inspire. As a complementary supplement to the Poetry Alive! experience all readers will find something appealing in this lively and lovely selection.

Includes: Mud - Polly Chase Boyden, Keziah - Gwendolyn Brooks, Mummy Slept Late & Daddy Fixed Breakfast - John Ciardi, The Base Stealer - Robert Francis, Foul Shot - Edwin Hoey, Dreams - Langstn Hughes, The Muddy Puddle - Dennis Lee, Arithmetic - Carl Sandburg, Buffalo Dusk - Carl Sandburg, If I Were in Charge of the World - Judith Viorst, This is Just to Say - William Carlos Williams, Dust of Snow - Robert Frost, I am Rose - Gertrude Stein, Me I Am - Jack Prelutsky, Me - Karla Kuskin, Accidentally - Maxine Kumin, The Little Turtle - Vachel Lindsay, maggie & millie & mollie & may - E. E. Cummings, A Visit from St. Nicholas - Clement Moore, Who Has Seen the Wind - Christina Rossetti, I Eat My Peas With Honey - Anonymous, Poor Old Lady - Anonymous, What is Pink? - Christina Rossetti, Witches scene from Macbeth - William Shakespeare
Grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

Reflections On a Gift of Watermelon Pickle and other modern verse

Compiled by: Stephen Dunning, Edward Lueders and Hugh Smith
ISBN-13: 978-0688412319

Price: $19.99

We were very excited that this collection of modern poetry for middle and high school students is once more available. Spanning a diverse variety of poets and poetry, readers will find classical poets as well as the less well known; lighthearted verse alongside deeply profound. This sublime collection inspires and enlightens our shows and is one we still suggest to students searching for their own performance material.

Includes: How to Eat a Poem - Eve Merriam, Southbound on the Freeway - May Swenson, Fifteen - William Stafford, Lyllaby - Robert Hillyer, The Base Stealer - Robert Francis, Foul Shot - Edwin Hoey, Dreams - Langston Hughes, Resume - Dorothy Parker, Arithmetic - Carl Sandburg, This is Just to Say - William Carlos Williams, In Just - E. E. Cummings Grades 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

Selected Poems of Langston Hughes

By: Langston Hughes
ISBN-10: 0-67972818X

Price: $13.95

This collection of poems contains works that Langston Hughes selected from several of his works. A classic selection selected by a classical poet.

Includes: Daybreak in Alabama, Mother to Son, Madam and the Rent Man, Life is Fine, Poem, The Dream Keeper, Harlem (A Dream Deferred )
Grades 6-8, 9-12

Something Is Going To Happen: Student's Edition

By: Allan Wolf
With Assistance from: Jim Nave

Price: $4.95

As an excerpt from the Teacher's Edition, this will help students with their own ideas and performances as they prepare for a show. It contains the scripted poems, a selection of unscripted poems, and the stages of poetry performance. It's a great resource for those who want to develop their own programming.

Includes: I'm Nobody - Emily Dickenson, A Word is Dead - Emily Dickenson, Dawn - Paul Laurence Dunbar, Casey at the Bat - Ernest Lawrence Thayer, We Real Cool - Gwendolyn Brooks, Jabberwocky - Lewis Carroll, A Bird Came Down the Walk - Emily Dickenson, The Glove and the Lions - Leigh Hunt, Eldorado - Edgar Allan Poe, The Blind Men and the Elephant - John Godfrey Saxe, The Eagle - Alfred Lord Tennyson, Fog - Carl Sandburg

Grades 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

Something Is Going To Happen: Teacher's Edition

By: Allan Wolf
ISBN-10: 1-883731038

Price: $9.95

Targeting middle and high school teachers, this book helps others produce their own poetry show as well as supplement classroom activities following a Poetry Alive! Performance. Included are handy scripts, director's notes, and basic ideas relating to poetry performance.

Includes: I'm Nobody - Emily Dickenson, A Word is Dead - Emily Dickenson, Dawn - Paul Laurence Dunbar, Casey at the Bat - Ernest Lawrence Thayer, We Real Cool - Gwendolyn Brooks, Jabberwocky - Lewis Carroll, A Bird Came Down the Walk - Emily Dickenson, The Glove and the Lions - Leigh Hunt, Eldorado - Edgar Allan Poe, The Blind Men and the Elephant - John Godfrey Saxe, The Eagle - Alfred Lord Tennyson, Fog - Carl Sandburg

Grades 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

Swimming Upstream: Middle School Poems

By Kristine O'Connell George
Illustrated by: Debbie Tilley
ISBN-13: 978-0618152506

Price: $14.00

Kristine O'Connell George captures the excitement and confusion, joy and tragedy of middle school through the eyes and voice of an unnamed female protagonist. Through a wide variety of poetic forms, readers will experience the most mundane of middle school moments to the most thrilling. As an excellent supplement to a Poetry Alive! performance, this book will enthrall readers as they make connections between the performance, the poetry, and their own lives.

Includes: Which Lunch Table
Grades 6-8

The Place My Words Are Looking For

Selected by: Paul B. Janeczko
ISBN-13: 978-0027476712

Price: $18.95

This book captures the inspiration behind the verse as poets share their own thoughts, anecdotes, and memories as well as their poetry. Thirty-nine poets share pieces of themselves in this collection that will easily supplement the Poetry Alive! performance as a jumpstart for both creative writing and performance activities.

Includes: Valentine for Ernest Mann by Naomi Shihab Nye
Grades 6-8

Transcircularities

By: Quincy Troupe
ISBN-13: 978-1566891356

Price: $20.00

This collection of new and selected poems capture Troupe's rhyme and rhythm in an evocative jazz dance of words. Troupe's poetry is ripe with imagery and style that beg to be read and performed. As a new addition to the Poetry Alive! archive of poet's Quincy Troupe work serves as well as captures the imagination.

Includes: "Forty-One Seconds on a Sunday in June, in Salt Lake City, Utah"
Grades 6-8

Way To Go!: Sports Poems

By: Lillian Morrison
Illustrated by: Susan Spellman
ISBN-13: 978-1590784815

Price: $9.95

A fine blend of poetry and art that celebrates the joy and excitement of sports. -- School Library Journal

Both action packed and lyrical, the poems in this book capture the excitement, joy, and poetry of the athletic world. Lillian Morrison covers sports as diverse as basketball and surfing, snowboarding and baseball as she appeals to those who love activity. The vocabulary, action, rhythm, and style complement the Poetry Alive! show as readers feel the excitement of performance reflected through the written word.

Includes: The Women's 400 Meters
Grades 6-8