Former U.S. Children's Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis (National Geographic Book of Nature Poetry), has selected traditional and contemporary poems to reflect the regions of the United States in this handsome volume, wittily titled The Poetry of US. The works of a diverse group of poets--Douglas Florian, Bobbi Katz, Lee Bennett Hopkins, Joseph Bruchac, Pat Mora, Gwendolyn Brooks, Rita Dove and many more--are included here, covering topics like patriotism, gay pride, civil rights and immigration (several offered with bilingual texts). The placement of poems often makes as powerful a statement as the poems themselves, as in a double-page spread featuring "You're a Grand Old Flag" by George M. Cohan on the left-hand page and an excerpt from Langston Hughes's "Let America Be America Again," with its strong refrain reminding readers "It never was America to me," on the right. The poems, presented in varied layouts with an incredible array of color photographs, create an excellent gift for older children. --Melinda Greenblatt, freelance book reviewer