This book does exactly what it sets out to do..it is a brief biography of a poet, an example of their work, beautifully read and then a chat about the poem and suggestions for further reading. The poets are in alphabetical order and that helps because you don’t feel inclined to miss out bits you don’t THINK you will like.
In 2021 I have been trying to read more poetry but with libraries closed right now during lockdown, it is not always easy to know what direction to branch out into next. This book was excellent for showing me poets I had not read or listened to and helping me determine what it is that I like in poetry and what, not so much. That discovery really surprised me. I feel so enthused to carry on with my poetry odyssey.
I am not sure what it means to say it is ‘a family friendly’ anthology in the blurb for the book...I don’t think it is really, it is however, perfect for an inquisitive and adventurous new reader of poetry.
Of course all of a single persons favourites are not going to be in this...but that is sort of the point I think. For me this was about branching out and discovery.
The book says it there is an analysis of each poem, again I don’t think that is a good description but there is an overview of each piece read and in some ways that was better than a line by line clinical analysis. It gave scope for interpretation and thought.

So this book gets five stars from me because it really has helped me discover new poetry and poetry I would have said, before reading this book, that I was not sure was for me. The bad bit about this book is that it cost me a lot in my local bookshop because I have had to buy loooooads more books.