iF Poems

PreS Up—A robust collection of more than 260 poems, many of which are narrated. There are a number of access points to the works including: categories, age level, author, title, first line, and sometimes, first word. In all, 102 poets are featured in 12 categories ranging from "Growing Up" and "Short and Sweet" to "War, History & Death" and "About Poetry." Under each section the poems are sorted by age (0–6, 7–12, or 13+). While the focus is both classic and British (Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Brontës, Robert Lewis Stevenson, William Wordsworth, William Shakespeare), there are surprises (Tim Burton's "Stick Boy And Match Girl In Love"); a bit of mischief (Mary Howitt's "The Spider And The Fly"); and plenty of humor (13th century Saadi's "Observe This Precept Whenever You Can"). A paragraph-length biographical note on the author of the poem precedes each selection, and Natasha Low's image of a tree trunk filled with words and letters frames it.The app's repertoire of readers includes Helena Bonham Carter, Bill Nighy, Tom Hiddleston, and Harry Enfield, all of whom do a superb job evoking the emotional content of the works—and their timelessness. Carter carries many of the humorous selections (A. E. Housman's "Amelia Mixed the Mustard"), Nighy some of the more serious (Rupert Brooke's "The Soldier"); all the readings are superbly delivered and will draw listeners deeper into the collection. They will also remind readers of the pleasures of listening to spoken poetry.Users can choose to record their own readings of the works, and/or save, or share their favorite printed selections via email. In a reverse publishing trend, the poems are now also available in book form, iF: A Treasury of Poems for Almost Every Possibility (ipg Books, 2013).—Daryl Grabarek, School Library Journal