All the World's a Stage

Gr 4 Up—Building from Shakespeare's "Seven Ages of Man" monologue from As You Like It, Hopkins organizes this collection of poetry according to the seven ages, labeling them: "Entrances," "Childhood," "Love," "War," "Adulthood," "Aged," and "Exits" and allotting three poems for each. Every section opens with a spread of a theater with each life stage portrayed inside, beginning with "At first the infant…" and taking readers through to the "Last Scene" stage. The stark, surreal art delivers small bites of emotion and symbolism. The 21 selections come from a range of poets, mixing Walt Whitman and Lewis Carroll with modern children's poets such as Janet S. Wong and Kate Coombs. The unique concept behind this book allows readers to look at both the monologue and the poetry in a new way. While the picture book trimsize suggests younger readers, the content will resonate most for those with more life experience to bring to it. An explanatory introduction is included.—Julie Roach, Cambridge Public Library, MA