Classic Poems for Boys

Gr 5–7—This collection of two dozen mostly 19th-century poems have themes of interest to boys. Some of the poems, like Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "The Charge of the Light Brigade" and Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ozymandias," are serious and dramatic. Others, like "The Walrus and the Carpenter" by Lewis Carroll, are humorous. The collection features a nice variety in theme and length. The poems are read by a number of different voice actors, both male and female. Most have pleasant British accents, but some of the poems are read with a brogue, and Benjamin Zephaniah reads his own poem with a Jamaican accent. All the performers read clearly and with entertaining expression and appropriate interpretation. The collection is sprinkled with musical excerpts from Debussy, Elgar, and Ciurlionis that match the time period of the poems but might not appeal to listeners. The selection of poems here is very similar to Naxos's earlier CD, Favourite Poems for Children (2010), and contains several of the same ones. A good resource for introducing classic poetry to children.—Donna Cardon, Provo Library, UT