The Kingfisher Book of Children's Poetry
by Michael Rosen (chooser)
Illustrated by Alice Englander
This is an newly-jacketed edition of an old favourite. This book has been around since 1985 but children grow up and new ones take their place and good poems don't go off with age. Michael Rosen is now the Children's Laureate, which offers a perfectly reasonable excuse to send this book out into the world once more.
In it you will find a fantastically wide choice of poems, ranging from Milton and Wordsworth to Milligan and Ted Hughes. There's truly something here for every taste and it seems to be the ideal book to keep handy on a school bookshelf simply because it covers so much good ground.
The illustrations are very effective too. Englander is not an artist I'm familiar with but she brings a touch of distinction to the book with her very darkly-printed pictures which appear on almost every page. The word 'classic' seems to be appropriate for such a long-lasting and distinguished collection.