Stories and Poems for Extremely Intelligent Children of All Ages

I expected this book to be hard work. I didn't know I'd love it.I bought it because, now an adult, I realize I've let too many classics get by me while I've read comparative garbage just because it seemed more fun. I KNOW the difference between good and bad literature, but I've been lazy since college or even before.I wanted to start back at the beginning and re-train my mind to want better things. Maybe I'm finally feeling my mortality or something.So this morning in a fit of insomnia, I picked up this book. WOW. So much fun! Every single entry leaves you with something to think about. This is what good children's' literature should be. It reminds me of why I preferred the 19th century authors when I was a child: there's a certain kind of whimsy in the language that modern authors just don't have. If I recall, even Edith Nesbit's books that weren't actually about magic still had that magical quality that excited me, and it's the language, not the content, that really matters.I think that's the real secret when it comes to helping a child want to read. So much of what is written for beginning "reading levels" has laudable content but no style, and that's plain boring for a kid. I remember. Heck, it's even more boring for the adult helping them to read, so everybody winds up unhappy. When you think about Kipling's Just So Stories, most of the actual information in them is absurd. The words give you a new angle on old material, one in which the rules are all different; it leads you to wonder WHY you think a certain way about a certain thing, and to laugh at the conventions of life and language, and maybe also to notice that the real world is as absurd as the fictional one.Bloom is right too that exposure to good children's literature prepares the way for appreciating good adult's literature. Though I've forgotten a lot, I DID read much of this stuff as a child. And when I pick up an adult classic expecting, as I did with this, to find it dry, I'm usually surprised to find the same qualities in it.In some ways this book is best as a kind of portable library or reminder list. You're better off owning the complete works of most of these writers (not to mention many more: this is still a very limited collection) but this is a decent shorthand version. If it sends a child out looking for more poetry by the same author she loves from this book, or if it excites comparisons, even unconscious ones, with other authors and leads her to make aesthetic judgments, it's done the job it was intended for.

Harold Bloom is not only a leading literary critic and analyst; he is also a reader almost beyond measure. He has read more than even an avid reader would find possible in a couple of lifetimes. This makes it very easy for us to find things of value to learn from his writing and thinking about literature. At least it does for me.Bloom has such passion and love for prose and poetry that it infects me and I find his bold pronouncements an invitation to question and my own conclusion and preconceptions. Of course, Bloom wouldn't expect you to agree with him simply because he said it. He would invite challenge and argument, but be prepared in your challenges!This is a collection of forty-one stories and eighty-three poems that Bloom particularly loves and considers wonderful foundational reading. As he says, he does not believe in children's literature and these pieces wouldn't be found in most contemporary public primary school readings. But the poems are mostly short enough that a younger reader could go over them enough times to begin possessing them by heart in your memory. This is not a process of rote memorization, but of taking a kind of ownership through bonding with the material.What a great body of material Prof. Bloom has given us here. It is a bound series or riches offered as a gift for us to return to again and again and draw from throughout our life.Thanks, Prof. Bloom!

This book is incredibly fun for adults and children. I bought this for myself because I love reading well done children stories, and I was highly curious about what Harold Bloom thought would be good for children. This was beyond my expectation. It has some of the great poets and storytellers through the ages. My niece just turned five and she loves it when I read her this collection of stories even though there are really no illustrations.

Let's get back to classical education. You can't go wrong with this book...a must have. Add this to your homeschool library asap!

I bought three of these as gifts for summer reading and gave them to the children I tutor. They were underwhelmed as was I. I expected to be thrilled by extraordinary and beautiful language, but I discovered gnarled prose and poesy, instead of interesting, well written short stories and poetry. I imagine it would appeal to readers who doesn't differentiate between art and artifice. Save your money. Don't rely on the blurbs.

We are using Lightning Literature and this is required reading. I am so happy that we had to but this now I would tell every parent to get a copy even if they don't homeschool. Seriously,this is a great compilation of the best poetry and short stories!

Arrived in good condition!

This book was very disappointing. I was looking for good stories and poems to read aloud to elementary school children (I volunteer in a school library). Can honestly say there wasn’t a single story I would read to my students.

Comprei para acostumar meu pequeno de um ano já com o inglês e fiquei encantada. Meu filho se diverte muito ouvindo os poemas de Edward Lear e Lewis Carroll, enquanto eu aproveito os textos maiores.

I have to confess I bought this piece of work to myself, once my child has not even born yet. It's mesmerazing. Be aware that is a collection of poems (most of them of just one page) and short stories (most of them with 5 pages) selected by the renowned Yale Literature professor Bloom in response to what he calls "poor child literature" of Harry Potter and others. The collection is, in matter of fact, not easy to read, but it is highly pleasant. Through the pleasure of reading your children will challenge themselves to overcome de complexity of some pieces - what can only be a good thing. From anonymous poems to Shakespeare piece, from Lewis Carol to Rudyard Kipling your child can only smile in this amazing door to the fascinating world of erudit (and good) reading.

Excelente coleção de contos e poemas escolhidos por Harold Bloom.

Have you ever tried to buy a birthday present for the super bright child, above and beyond all things digital? Although the title of the book is not necessarily all-reader-friendly, it helped me find it when I was looking for a book for my nephew's 10th birthday. It's an anthology of stories & poems written by authors I loved as a child and continue to like today. Mostly 19th century. From Hans Christian Anderson to Guy de Maupassant to Melville to Lewis Carroll to john Keats. Bloom's selection is beautiful and includes those less well known but absolutely entertaining stories. My nephew tells me he likes it. I'll only know when I see him & look in his eyes. I promise not to get him to write a book report, something I used to do when my son was little!