The Poetry of US

The Poetry of US

More than 200 Poems that Celebrate the People, Places, and Passions of the United States

About the Book

It's all about us! Join former U.S. Children's Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis on a lyrical journey through the United States to experience the wonders of America's people and places through 200+ inspiring poems and stunning photographs.

Celebrate the gift of language and the vibrant culture of the United States with this collection of classic and never-before-published poetry. Poems are arranged by region, from coast to coast, and among them you'll find works by Langston Hughes, Dorothy Parker, Robert Frost, Naomi Shihab Nye, Walt Whitman, and more. From the familiar to the surprising, subjects include people, places, landmarks, monuments, nature, and celebrations. Designed for sharing, but geared to younger readers, this beautifully illustrated treasury is a must-have for the whole family.
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About the Author

J. Patrick Lewis
J. Patrick Lewis earned his Ph.D. in Economics at The Ohio State University (1974) and taught at Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio until 1998. In 1972-73 he and his family spent the academic year in the former USSR, where Lewis completed his doctoral dissertation as an International Research and Exchanges (IREX) Fellow.

He has three children: Beth, Matt and Leigh Ann. The Lewises were the first family to be accepted on this the largest cultural exchange program between the U.S. and the USSR. Lewis returned to Moscow and other Soviet cities for shorter stays in 1977, 1982, 1987, August 1991(during the failed coup), 1993, 1995, 1997 and 1999.

Lewis has published extensively in the field of Economics. His articles and reviews have appeared in numerous academic journals, as well as The Nation, The Progressive, Technology Review, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Cleveland Plain Dealer and other newspapers and magazines. He has had seven short stories and over seventy poems published in literary journals. In 1991 he was awarded an Ohio Arts Council Individual Artist Grant for his adult poetry.

He is now remarried and lives in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, with his wife Susan and step-children, Kelly and Scott Marceau. Lewis makes forty elementary school visits a year, keynotes at literature conferences, and presents teachers' workshops on introducing poetry in the classroom.

Lewis has also published twenty-five children's picture books to date (1/00), seventeen of them children's poetry. Ten more children's books have been accepted and are now in production at Simon & Schuster/Atheneum, Penguin Putnam/Dial, Alfred A. Knopf, Creative Editions, and DK Publishing.

His work for children has also appeared inMS. Magazine, Ranger Rick, Cricket, Spider, Ladybug, Highlights For Children, Your Big Backyard, Storyworks, Storytime, Chickadee (Canada), Ahoy (Canada), Book Links and over sixty anthologies. Lewis was commissioned to write the 1992 National Children's Book Week poem, which was printed on one million bookmarks and distributed nationally. He also reviews children's books for the New York Times.

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