Yolen, Jane and Andrew Fusek Peters. Illustrated by Polly Dunbar. 2007. Here’s a little poem: a very first book of poetry. Cambridge, MS: Candlewick Press. 

Yolen and Peters’ collection of poems for preschoolers provides a unique and entertaining assortment of poems that can be read repeatedly, not only to preschoolers, but also to any children who love rhyming and rhythmical text. The contributors include a menagerie of well-known and loved poets including Mary Ann Hoberman, Nikki Grimes, Margaret Wise Brown and Jack Prelutsky. The poems are grouped in a way that cover a child’s world—“Me, Myself, and I,” “Who Lives in My House?,” “I Go Outside,” and “Time for Bed.” The over-size presentation of the book lends itself well to the large text and colorful illustrations that balance the friendly, comfortable poems in the collection. A variety of mediums and techniques in the pictures make each turn of the page an adventure for readers, and the happy, go-lucky children shown are clearly enjoying life. The child-centered poems collected in this book will delight not only the children for whom the works are collected, but also anyone who chooses the book to read aloud with or to a loved one.