From Publishers Weekly
Panzer, a director of educational programs at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American Art, pairs American poems with paintings, sculpture, drawings, photographs and other works of art from that museum, in the hopes of forming "a kind of synergy... a complementary way of expressing the dynamic rhythms of American life." Toward that end she also takes pains to represent artists and poets of both sexes and various socioeconomic groups and cultures. Although the intent is praiseworthy, the volume overall is weak. Neither the design nor the pairing and selection of poems and art seems apt or thoughtfully considered. The blaring typeface used for the titles and the narrow margins make many pages look too busy, and the integration of art and text can seem perfunctory; for example, Joy Harjo's poem "Remember," about the "dance that language is, that life is," is teamed with a fan quilt. The emphasis here is on inclusivity rather than excellence, on art that fits particular categories rather than art that will be accessible to children. Interested parties might prefer Charles Sullivan's brilliant selection of American art and poetry in Imaginary Gardens. Ages 10-up. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 6 Up-This anthology of about 50 poems and reproductions of art works is a metaphor for the collective attributes that constitute this nation and demonstrates the constructive possibilities of pluralism. Short poems by both well-known poets like Langston Hughes, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Eve Merriam as well as many less-familiar writers are grouped in five sections with rather poetic headings: "A Place of Eagles"; "Remember the Sky You Were Born Under"; "A Great Pulse Beating"; "Lift Every Voice"; and "Timeless Is the Wheel." They tell about the Japanese relocation of World War II; life on the Mexican border; a Mississippi African American. They also describe a baseball game, traffic in a city, a corn harvest, and assorted historical events. Each piece focuses on a quality of our lives in a positive, even celebratory fashion. The artwork is matched with the poems in ways that are mutually complementary rather than merely illustrative. Helen Lundeberg's painting of pioneer women adds solid substance to Margaret Walker's "Lineage" about her grandmothers. William Johnson's "Jitterbugs 1" gives visual vitality to Langston Hughes's "Juke Box Love Song." Not that poetry needs any visual analog, nor do pictures demand verbal amplification. But this collection offers ideas about our nation and its varied peoples in a tandem, collaborative fashion that honors both forms of communication. Browsing through this cleanly designed book can be both aesthetically rewarding and also thought-provoking. It surely lives up to its title.Kenneth Marantz, Art Education Department, Ohio State University, ColumbusCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 4-7. Purists may dislike illustrated poetry books, but even those taking a firm stance might be swayed by this thoughtfully conceived volume with paintings, sculpture, drawings, and photographs from the National Museum of American Art at the Smithsonian. With diversity as her cornerstone, editor Panzer has divided the book into five sections: the country's landscape, its melting pot makeup, city and rural life, American history, and American pastimes. There's a terrific cross-section of writers and illustrators--Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Winslow Homer, Thomas Hart Benton--and there is special pleasure in the pairings. Antler's poem "Raising My Hand" ("How often I knew the answer / And the teacher (knowing I knew) / Called on others I knew") gets an extra dimension when it is illustrated by Allan Roahn Crite's painting School's Out, in which schoolgirls, mostly African American, walk, skip, argue, and run past their traditional red brick school. How many girls, both white and of color, have had the feeling of their waving hands being invisible in the classroom? May Swenson's "Analysis of Baseball" ("Ball hates / to take bat's / bait. Ball flirts, bat's late") is fun to read on its own, but there's also lots to see in Morris Kantor's eye-catching painting Baseball at Night. Poetry weaves its web through images, but even with pictures nearby, those images, that crystalline use of language, remain. The art has its own role. Pictures can bring children to the poetry, give a face to it, or be a parallel focus. Combined, the art and words are exhilaratingly more than the sum of their parts. Ilene Cooper

Card catalog description
A collection of American poetry that celebrates over 200 years of American life and history as illustrated by fine art from the collection of the National Museum of American Art.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

More than fifty works by America's finest poets are offered with a framework of paintings, sculpture, and photographs from the collection of the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Among the noted poets and artists included in this beautiful volume are Maya Angelou, Robert Frost, Nikki Giovanni, Langston Hughes, Li-Young Lee, Winslow Homer, William H. Johnson, Larry Yanez, and Malcah Zeldis. Together the poetry and art extol the beauty of the American landscape, reveal the wide-ranging cultural makeup of its citizenry, and impart a lively and honest understanding of how Americans have come to see their country and themselves.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly