ABSTRACT
I am tempted to say that there is no such thing as poetry for children. There is plenty of poetry about children; and some of the best poetry ever written is about childhood; at some time or other most poets explore that inviting furrow—their own youth and growing up. A great body of the so-called canon of children's verse was never intended for the young at all, but was verse which adults thought suitable for children. The gatekeepers of the canon are the anthologists.
