Stef Portersmith

I received this volume for my birthday as a child the late sixties. I adored it then and I adore it now. The four poets in question, Eleanor Farjeon, James Reeves, E. V. Rieu and Ian Serraillier were born in the late 19th to early 20th centuries and the verse is of its time, conjuring peaceful (yet occasionally disturbing in a child-friendly way) imagery and atmosphere, much of it pastoral in style. There is a wonderful music to all of the poems and as one would expect with children's poetry you find a wealth of rhyme and rhythm here. I credit this book with sparking my love of poetry which has remained with me throughout my life.