That's how it is in This is Us: Essential Poems for Younger Readers, a celebration of life.
An outstanding collection of poetry chosen by Libby Hathorn and Jude Fell, it contains 61 poems chosen from states all over Australia.
At times, full of nonsense and laughter, they include the sky and Earth, and everything in between.
Lots of free verse is mixed in with rhyming and rhythmic poems - about Nitz, mosquitoes, swans in their majestic beauty, wombats and lyrebirds.
Tender and deeply moving ones such as
Seeing My Parents, by Peter Skrzynecki also appear.Odes to violins and their musical sounds, and to that of rain, prayed for during a drought, its anger expressed through vivid descriptions of thunder and lightning.
A rhyming poem about Bellbirds by Henry Kendall, is filled with assonance, alliteration, and repetition.
I Don’t know What a Poem is For by Alexa Moses, is clever and entertaining. Orb Spider by Judith Beverage draws us close to nature.
The contents are presented in chapters under subject titles, which allows a variation of outlooks on the same subject.
Illustrator Tull Suwannakit decorates the pages with glorious depictions of the poems that translate to visual stories.
There are long and short ones, familiar and unfamiliar, others subtly caressing, or strong and assertive. A few old favourites – The Man from Ironbark by Banjo Paterson, and The Ballad of the Drover with others, remind us of the brilliance of language, and the importance of visiting the past and our memories.
A salute to areas of beauty that excel, highlights of the sky and those of living things of Nature, all bring into focus, the wonderous use of words in poetry, and the pleasure of the sounds that reading them aloud presents.
Ideal for older readers and classroom discussions. Poet biographies, Acknowledgements and an Index of poets and poetry close the book.
Title: This is Us: Essential Australian Poems for Young People
Author: Assorted
Illustrator: Tull Suwannakit
Publisher: NLA, $ 34.99
Publication Date: 28 October 2025
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781922507860
For ages: 10+
Type: Poetry
