POETRY COLLECTION 1-5. Edited by Fiona Waters. All published by Evans.
Footprints on the Page. pound;12.99 hb, pound;6.50 pb. TES Direct pound;11.99 hb.
Dark as Midnight Dream. pound;14.99. TES Direct pound;13.99.
Poems Then and Now. pound;10.99. TES Direct pound;9.99.
Poems from Many Cultures. pound;11.99. TES Direct pound;10.99.
If the Sea was in the Sky. pound;10.99. TES Direct pound;9.99.
POETRY RESOURCE BOOKS. Footprints on the Page. pound;12.99. TES Direct pound;11.99.
Dark as Midnight Dream. pound;12.99. TES Direct pound;11.99.
Poems Then and Now. Teacher’s Book. pound;10.99. TES Direct pound;9.99
There is a freshness about these anthologies which makes turning the pages an enjoyable journey of discovery. Their numbering is a little misleading, in that number 5 is for key stage 1, while number 1 is for key stages 1 to 2, and the remainder are for key stages 2 to 3. But this aside, the project is sound.
While the books are of varying lengths, all contain a wide choice of poems, so it is easy to avoid the few duff ones and the few that are much anthologised elsewhere. The books are organised thematically, and include poems from different periods, although most are modern.
Those by children stand up very well. In Poems Then and Now, poems from earlier periods, but with related themes, are paired with contemporary poems. While all the books contain poems from a variety of English-speaking cultures, Poems from Many Cultures also includes work from cultures not strongly represented in the UK and many translations.The resource books, by Charles Butchart and Sue Palmer, provide teaching ideas and copiable materials in line with national literacy strategy requirements for key stage 2. Consequently, some of the content seems limited, such is the deadening effect of the National Literacy Strategy, which really hasn’t come to grips with literature at all. However, the advice and extension activities are much more imaginative than the framed activities.
It is a pity that the Poems Then and Now teacher’s book, by David Orme, is so physically flimsy (I doubt it would survive a term’s use) because, although it doesn’t provide copiable materials, its discussion of the aims and methods of teaching poetry, especially using the comparisons that the anthology suggests, is potentially rewarding.
An anthologist has a lovely time, picking and arranging his or her favourite pebbles from the beach. But it is strange that Waters needs to repeat some poems from anthology to anthology. And there is a tendency for the selection to be PC and to offer some fashionable but minor talents as “significant poets”. But, overall, these are books I would like to use.
Nicholas Bielby
