Around My Room - Hardcover

William Jay Smith certainly knows his way around a poem. In this collection, he gathers old and new favorites, and is joined by the talented artist Erik Blegvad to make a poetry compilation sure to tickle anyone's fancy. Couplet and limerick, nonsense and cleverness, short and long... every verse is sheer enchantment. Here's "The Toaster:"

A silver-scaled Dragon with jaws flaming red
Sits at my elbow and toasts my bread.
I hand him fat slices, and then, one by one,
He hands them back when he sees they are done.

Poets and nonpoets alike will be hard-pressed to resist Smith's "Fat-Cat Circus," or any of his 28 other verses in this anthology. His children's poems have appeared in many publications over the decades, and he has won numerous awards for his adult and children's poems. Erik Blegvad has illustrated over 100 books for Charlotte Zolotow, Judith Viorst, Mary Norton, and many others. (Ages 4 and older) --Emilie Coulter

William Jay Smith served as Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (a position now called Poet Laureate) from 1968 to 1970 and was twice a finalist for the National Book Award. He divides his time between Cummington, Massachusetts, and Paris.

Erik Blegvad is the acclaimed illustrator of over a hundred books. He lives in Vermont, London, and the South of France.