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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 |
Living By Wonder: The Imaginative Life of Childhood