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Title: Do children need adult poetry?
Review: This series is lacking in several respects. The illustrations are beautiful but are geared more toward nostalgic adults than children. This particular book reflects what is wrong with several titles in the series: poems chosen because adults have an affinity for them rather than because they will appeal to children. One of the poems in this book is "The Emperor of Ice Cream" about the death of a poor woman, possibly a prostitute, surrounded by her poor neighbors trying to spiff up her house by bringing in flowers wrapped in month-old newspapers while the "roller of cigars" whips "concupiscent curds"in plain old cups in her kitchen. In which world do our children care to read about "concupiscent curds" and the death of a poor old woman? Let us hope they don't understand these words just yet. If you choose any of these titles, the least offensive is about Robert Louis Stevenson.
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