"I didn’t speak English when I started school, and at home we spoke Italian. My mother told stories in Italian, but it was in school that I first heard poetry read aloud in English and I was thrilled by the sound of the language and by its ability to move me. Because my teachers in second and third and fourth grade read those poems in a way that showed how much they loved the words, I learned to love the words as well and to hear the music of language as a special gift. When I read Igniting the Poetry Flame, [Stoking the Poetry Flame, and Keeping the Poetry Flame Alive] I hear again that music that I heard for the first time in Public School #18 in Paterson, New Jersey, so many years ago. I think of another generation of children who will be changed by this music, who will learn to hear the voices inside themselves and the stories they need to tell. [This three-volume book series] serves as a map for teachers [and parents] to follow in leading their students [or their children] into an appreciation of poetry and toward finding the poet inside themselves. The pied piper’s tune that the author whistles make the journey easier for teachers and students.

   The necessary journey toward understanding what poetry is and what it means has become more enjoyable. The activities within and the author’s suggestions for reading and writing poetry will enrich both students and teachers for years to come. I only wish my own teachers who so loved poetry could have had a wonderful textbook and reference like this when I was a child."