J.D. McClatchy here presents a thoughtful selection of Longfellow's verse. Although ignored by contemporary readers and dismissed by the academy, Longfellow is a wrtier who, though never profound, is sincere, engaging, accessible, and humble--qualities rarely associated with modern poetry. It is difficult to read such saccarhine classics as "The Children's Hour" and "A Psalm of Life" without either shrivelling from the sweetness or retreating into a shallow camp perspective, but for the reader willing to make the effort, Longfellow offers the deep rewards of meter, rhyme, and narrative--and the rare pleasure of lines that do not dazzle or daunt by ambiguity. As the poet writes, "Such songs have power to quiet / The restless pulse of care, / And come like the benediction / That follows after prayer."

One's only regret with this volume (a criticism one might make, I suppose, of any selection) is that McClatchy did not include more--specifically, the complete "Tales of a Wayside Inn," which, though represented rather amply, surely should have been included in its entirety as the happiest vehicle for Longfellow's story-based strengths. "The Bell of Atri," one of the most charming of the tales, should certainly be here. Then, too, the editor seems rather determined in his selection to present a more somber presentation of the poet than is warrented by his full corpus. (Perhaps he aims to make Longfellow more attractive to an audience accustomed to the confessional and the dour.) Oh, well. In compensation we do get useful notes, an excellent chronology, and the delightful novella "Kavanagh"--all of which make this surely the most pleasant poetry revival of the past several years.

The Birds of Killingworth is a narrative story based on the poem of the same name by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This story set in the 18th century, tells the story of a young woman, Almira Case, and her quest to save birds from extinction. Almira's father, Squire Case, decides that he is fed up with birds because they eat the town's crops. The Squire hatches a plan to get rid of the birds. Hunters will be paid for every bird that they kill. Almira is shocked by this plan so in secret she and the schoolmaster (whom she eventually marries) with the assistance of school children hide birds in the schoolhouse. Birds in the area become extinct. When insect overrun the town, Almira and the School Master save the day by restoring the birds they hid to the sky. The highlight of the book was the illustrations, which were beautifully drawn by Kimberly Bulcken Root. Root uses natural colors in her illustrations. The illustrations enhance the story and highlight the theme of nature by using mostly blues, browns, and greens. The story is a good adaptation of the poem by Longfellow. Longfellow's poem was based on actual events that happened in a town in the Connecticut colony. The narration was well done and used terms that were used at the time, but wrote the story in Modern English in order to allow it to be easily read. There is a stark contrast between good and evil. Unfortunately the message of the tale is somewhat alarming. San Souci's message (and Longfellow's as well for that matter) is that nature must be put before humanity. Almira's father is vilified throughout the tale and considered to be some out of touch fool who is unable to see any kind of beauty until his life is in peril. Farmers, field hands, millers, merchants, bakers, barrel makers, and goodwives are also inherently evil because they want to protect their livelihood and their families. There is no question that blue birds and robins probably did no damage to the fields, but there is no reason why crows could not be killed. The entire justification given by Almira for the birds to remain alive was that they sounded pretty. Anyone who would listen to that justification more than likely would not have listened. People have to eat after all. San Souci (and Longfellow) also refused to address the possibility that the infestation of insects and the desecration of fields could have been caused by other reasons. Plagues and dustbowls may have been the cause, but this option is not even considered. There was intense judgment made against business people and those that only want to feed their families. San Souci's use of a flighty determined heroine was an ill-made choice. It would have made more sense if the heroine did not want the birds to be killed because it was wrong, but the justification was that they "sound pretty". In terms of an adaptation for today, the book is well done. In terms of the message, the reader is ill served.