Pause for Poetry: And Everything Will be Glad to See You

Nosy Crow have set a real precedent for beautifully presented poetry anthologies and this is no exception. The striking cloth bound cover with its stunning illustration is both tactile and tempting.

The collection contains a wealth of poems from well-loved, familiar voices to newer poets whose work is a treat to discover. However, this anthology only contains poems from women and girls. Ella Risbridger, the writer who selected these works, offers a full explanation for her reasons for this in a passionate, enthusiastic introduction (and afterword) to the reader so I will not dwell on this here, but will focus on the poems!

Although not organised into sections, there is a cohesive feeling to the anthology as the poems seem to flow from one to the next. Each spread glows with Shepeta’s beautiful illustrations which capture the essence of the words they accompany. A number of the poems are not only by women, but about women such as Rosa Parks, Malala Yousafzai and Harriet Tubman. Readers can discover the power and beauty of poems such as ‘Carving’ (Imtiaz Dharker), ‘Stars and Dandelions’ (Misuzu Kaneko), ‘Dancing’ (Yang Kuei-Fei) and ‘Remember’ (Joy Harjo) alongside the classic joy of Eleanor Farjeon’s timeless ‘Cats’.

There are many poems here which teachers could thread into their teaching or share as part of a story time, exposing their classes to the wonderful range of poets and their work. The beautiful presentation of the collection makes it the perfect gift to pass on the love of poetry.

And Everything Will be Glad to See You: Poems by Women and Girls

Selected by Ella Risbridger, illustrated by Shepeta

Nosy Crow ISBN: 978-1788009218

Originally reviewed for Reading Zone.