The Wonder of Small Things: Poems of Peace and Renewal

by James Crews

Nikita Gill (Foreword)

James Crews, editor of two best-selling poetry anthologies, How to Love the World and The Path to Kindness, presents an all-new collection of highly accessible poems on the theme of celebrating moments of wonder and peace in everyday life. As Crews writes in the introduction: "[A] deep love for the world is present in every one of the poems gathered in this book. Wonder calls us back to the curiosity we are each born with, and it makes us want to move closer to what sparks our attention. Wonder opens our senses and helps us stay in touch with a humbling sense of our own human smallness in the face of unexpected beauty and the delicious mysteries of life on this planet."

The anthology features a foreword by Nikita Gill and a carefully curated selection of poems from a diverse range of authors, including Native American poets Joy Harjo, Linda Hogan, Kimberly Blaeser, and Joseph Bruchac, and BIPOC writers Ross Gay, Julia Alvarez, and Toi Derricotte. Crews features new poems from popular writers such as Natalie Goldberg, Mark Nepo, Ted Kooser, Naomi Shihab Nye, Jane Hirshfield, and Jacqueline Suskin, along with selections from emerging poets. Readers are guided in exploring the meaning and essence of the poems through a series of reflective pauses scattered through the pages and reading group questions in the back. This anthology offers the perfect intersection for the growing number of readers interested in mindful living and bringing poetry into their everyday lives.

• ISBN10: 1635866448
• ISBN13: 9781635866445
• Publish Date: 21 September 2023
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Storey Publishing LLC
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 224
• Language: English

Reviews

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So, to be clear, I'm in the middle of a reading slump and thinking of quitting blogging, but I never turn down the chance to read, review, and promote any anthology by James Crews.

 

(And it was possibly the thing to pull me out of the slump.)

 

I've read and adored The Path to Kindness and How to Love the World, and The Wonder of Small Things has become my favorite of the three. This collection focusing more on poems about nature is the first collection that has forced me to read and love nature poetry; I had just assumed in the past that it wasn't for me.

 

All three of James Crew's anthologies contain reflection exercises, and while those are interesting, my main aim has never been those when the man puts together a phenomenal anthology. Between William Sieghart and James Crews, I never run out of poems when I need them.

 

Thank you NetGalley and Storey Publishing for the chance to read and review this book!