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Richard Lewis knows kids already have imagination – in contrast to the many well-intentioned teachers who seem to think it has to be (and can be) instilled into them by formulaic exercises which only result in a jokey, false surrealism. Granted imagination can be squashed and almost wiped out, and may need to be restimulated even at an early age; but children should not be taught to identify poetry with verbal clowning. Such teachers need to absorb Lewis’ respect and high expectations for a child’s inner life and expressive capacities; it is clearly his attitude that has elicited so many remarkable poems from children of different ages, many living in grim inner-city neighborhoods. His work should be required reading for teachers and parents. -Denise Levertov, poet and essayist, author of O Taste and See Throughout this marvelous collection, the author leads us by example with his sensitive, softly embroidered prose, modeling a reverence for the unfolding of a child’s intelligence that is fast being buried under an avalanche of hype and hysteria concerning educational goals and standards…..A stirring defense of the wonder that is the birthright of every child. - Chris Mercolgiano, teacher and author of Teaching the Restless …The language of poetry is Lewis’ medium, and….he places poems by well known masters with the writings of his students, making no distinction between them, illustrating the richness of children’s interior worlds. - Lynn Neuman, Lincoln Center Institute |
Living By Wonder: The Imaginative Life of Childhood