Poems to See By

Poems to See By illustrated by Julian Peters is a collection of illustrated poems broken into groups of seeing -- nature, love, time, death and others. Julian Peters is an illustrator and comic book artist living in Montreal, Canada, who specializes in adapting classical poems into graphic art.

Many of the best poems are presented in the collection from Invictus to The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.  Some of the poems and art combine to produce emotions such as Conscientious Objector by Edna St. Vincent Millay others light and with a touch humor like e.e. cummings' May My Heart Always be Open.  Maya Angelou's Caged Bird appears to be embroidered on a quilt, and watercolors illustrate Langston Hughes' Jukebox Love Song.  Wordsworth, The World is Too Much With Us is illustrated with a modern theme of cell phones, and Shelley's Ozymandias has a historical twist. 

Great poetry supplemented with a variety of art from pen and ink to manga gives an added appreciation to the original work and sometimes adds a modern touch or interpretation without changing the poem's intent.  A very well done selection of poems and inspiring artwork to match. 

Available March 31, 2020

This book contains 25 classic poems converted into comics. I loved how the artist used different colours, panel structure and drawing style for each poem. Each comic is interpreted in a way that suits the theme of the poem.

As someone new to poetry and a comic lover, I appreciated how this book illustrated lines from classic poems as comics followed by the full text of the poem. This book would be of interest to ardent poetry lovers and poetry newbies alike.

Julian Peters' Poems to See By collects 24 popular poems and pairs them with illustrations drawn by Peters based on his interpretation of the poems' meanings.

I found this collection to be a refreshing reread of poems by Maya Angelou, Christina Rossetti, W.H. Auden, Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes and others. While Peters included some of the most well-known poetry taught in high school and college-level classes, he also featured lesser-covered poets and their works, which I appreciated.

Peters' idea of illustrating popular poems will be useful for English teachers and poetry readers--close readings are enhanced by being able to actually see what is going on in the scene itself. His illustrations offer new images to go along with these poems, as well as a new spin on how to interpret them in more modern times.

I was shocked at how many different art styles Peters was able to do; they not only seemed to fit the overall style and tone of the poems, but furthered the experience of the reading. It was as if continued meaning was being given to them.

Overall, this is a book I'll be recommending to faculty who teach poetry and high school English teachers. I'm excited to go out and get a finished copy when it's released in March!

I LOVE the originality of the concept behind Poems to See By: A Comic Artist Interprets Great Poetry. What a wonderfully creative, unique way to introduce/reintroduce some of the great poems to new generations!

Julian Peters' visual interpretations really help bring these "old" poems to life, and make them very understandable. I was immediately spellbound by the book and couldn't put it down until I finished it.

An absolutely delightful read. I'd like to see more of this type of book available to our youth. Well done, Julian Peters!!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Plough Publishing House for allowing me to read an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions expressed here are my own.

What a great way to read poetry, especially those who may not like poetry. Graphic art accompanies each poem to illustrate the ideas, and makes great sense to visual learners. This is in short clips, like a book of short stories. This would be amazing to use with those with dyslexia, ESL students, reluctant readers, or those who have to read poetry but wouldn't be caught dead doing it. Loved this title. Would love to see more.

I can’t believe this isn’t done more often. It’s a magnificent way to experience poetry. Great for visual learners. Very diverse artistic styles. A great selection of poems. I hope the quality of the printing and binding reflects the work.

In Poems To See By Julian Peters pays tribute to 24 classic works of poetry written by well known poets by presenting them with inspiring artwork to match each poem. I loved the way he used different styles of art for each poem. For me this was an amazing and very original way to experience poetry. Love this collection! I would like to thank Netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with an advance reader copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion of this book.
#PoemstoSeeBy #NetGalley

This book is a collection of classic poetry, beautifully illustrated for kids and adults alike to enjoy. Ports like Edgar Allan Poe, William Wordsworth, Emily Dickinson, and more are featured in this fun collection. I would use this book in a classroom to expose students to classic poems and to increase their interest in poetry.

"Poems to See By" by comic artist Julian Peters put new images to classic poetry. He tells a story of pictures put to words that have for decades captivated readers' imagination. His images and scenes revitalize some of the greatest works of poetry ever written and inspire readers in new ways.

Some of the poets featured in this new collection include: Maya Angelou, Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes, Seamus Heaney, Thomas Hardy, William Wordsworth, e.e. cummings, Dylan Thomas, W.B. Yeats, and T.S. Eliot, among many others.

The illustrations with the words bring out new meaning that you might not have "seen" before or ideas that you didn't realize were there. I thoroughly enjoyed both the works chosen and the accompanying artwork. This was a great find!

I received this eBook free of charge from Plough Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. I did not receive any fiscal compensation from either company for this review and the opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.

"Poems to See By: A Comic Artist Interprets Great Poetry" takes 24 classic poems written by well-known authors and turns them into a powerful visual interpretation. I truly loved the illustrations, and they made me appreciate the meaning of each poem. It's not every day that we get the chance to experience something so unique and special. Julian Peters did a wonderful job bringing every poem to life. He gave each reader the opportunity to revisit classical works with themes that can be applied to our everyday lives.

Without giving any spoilers, I would say that my favorite illustration was the one accompanying the poem by Emily Dickinson. I truly felt all the emotions, and my imagination was left wondering.

This is a fantastic book, and I recommend it to anyone who loves poetry or who wants to experience poetry from the point of view of a visual learner.

#PoemstoSeeBy #NetGalley

Thank you NetGalley, Plough Publishing House, and Julian Peters for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

This was a wide collection of 24 poems with beautiful comics attached to them. I really loved the different styles of comic art for each poem. The art felt like it was tailored to the poems and really brought each of them to life. I really enjoyed this collection because while I knew some of the poems, most of them were new to me. And the poem’s that i did already know were brought to life with the comic strips.

This was a wonderful collection of poems that I believe would be appealing for both kids and adults. I feel this could be the perfect way to introduce poetry to kids without overwhelming them. This is also a great way of understanding what a poem is actually talking about and understand the meaning behind the words.

*ARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review.*

Have you ever read poetry with illustrations? Written like a comic but instead of dialogues, there are verses of poems, Poems to see by is a beautiful collection of artist, Julian Peters' interpretation of some well known poems. I loved how in the preface of this book, he talked about the similarities between poetry and comics - something I had not thought of before. He also mentioned how teachers have used his work to help students understand a poem and I can totally see the scaffolds that art offers to the young mind to understand the complex ideas in many of these poems.

The illustrations were in multiple mediums, drawn in crayons, water colours, felt pen, I loved seeing how each brought a different feel to the poems, while matching the mood at the same time. It has been a long time since I have done any proper art (the drawings for my bullet journal aren't very detailed) and Poems to see by was a visual journey into the feel of many of the works.

This is an amazing collection I would go back to to feast my eyes. I am thankful to the publisher for making the ebook available through NetGalley.

This small poetry collection features the poetry of Western classics such as Maya Angelou, Emily Dickenson, T. S. Elliot, and Edgar Allan Poe- but through the lens of the author's art interpretations. The art styles were beautifully done with intricate detail; each poem's art takes on a different mood and style that fits the poets' aesthetics. I would recommend this for poetry readers of all levels.

Poems to See By art Julian Peters, 160 pages. POETRY, GRAPHIC NOVEL
Plough Publishing House, 2020. $24.
Language: PG (1 swear, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG
BUYING ADVISORY: MS - OPTIONAL, HS - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH
Peters takes 24 classic poems and breathes new life into them by illustrating each work in a comic-strip format. The poems cover a variety of topics, but all of them invite the reader to look at the world and themselves differently.
I was captivated from the very first poem, excited to see what amazing things Peters would continue to do with the poems he had chosen. By using illustrations to help readers visualize the poems, readers gain new perspectives to consider. My favorite thing about this book is that each unique poem also gets a unique illustration; Peters uses all different art styles throughout the book, and the variety only made me more excited to see what would come next.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

This Just Blew Me Away

I wasn't quite sure what I was in for when I downloaded this book. O.K., illustrated poems - I get that. Who didn't grow up with ripping action illustrations accompanying a school days classic like "...the midnight ride of Paul Revere"? I sort of expected something along those lines, and just hoped I'd like the artist's style. I was totally out of line on that.

The book opens with a brief foreword/essay about how poetry and sequential comics art complement each other. The essay felt a bit like the author was trying too hard to justify his effort, but I'm glad I read the whole essay. It got me thinking about the relationship between the poetry and the sequential art, and it turns out that there's a good bit to think about while enjoying this book. As the author/artist suggests, consider rhythm, stress, repetition, juxtaposition, contrast, and the challenges of translation and interpretation. By the end of the book I almost felt like I owed the author/artist an apology for doubting him.

I was amazed to see that for each poem Julian Peters adopted a different, distinct style and medium. Impressionistic, realistic, collage, watercolors, oils, pencils, inks - each poem is treated in a completely distinct fashion unlike anything that came before or comes after. It looks exactly as though each poem was illustrated by a different artist.

And each treatment suits, complements, and enhances the poem. So, for something like "Invictus" we get a muscular, ripping, pen and ink adventure sequence. For "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" we get just lines of colors and naif collages that suggest freedom and captivity, with the poem carefully penciled into the lines. In "Hope is the Thing With Feathers" a brightly colored bird flies through black pencil sketches of scenes of hope and despair. Hughes's "Jukebox Love Song" looks like someone sent Edward Hopper to Harlem with a box of watercolors and an order to lighten up. Wordsworth's "The World is Too Much With Us" rendered in iPhone text messages? Inspired.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. This is a playful, deadly serious, creative, marvelously accomplished book that will delight those who like their poetry with a side of Della Robbia Blue. And if you wonder how it could even be possible to present T.S. Eliot or Dylan Thomas in a comics or graphic form, well this book has those answers. A wonderful find.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

I requested this because it looked interesting. I am blown away. The poems, many I knew, some I did not, are all beautiful. But the art. Oh the art! All different styles from pen and ink, to anime to watercolor. All amazing at encompassing the feel and style of the words. The modern interpretation of Wordsworths "The World is Too Much With Us" was impactful. The use of a quilt like design for Maya Angelou's "Caged Bird" was stirring. Just wow.

In Poems To See By, comic artist Julian Peters introduces us to his visual translation of poems by such greats as Shelley and Yeats, Bishop and Angelou. The book cover introduces the artist’s purpose where a boy lifts a book toward an expansion of sea, sky, and stars beyond his personal space on a ship’s deck. In this collection, the artist renders his own response to great alphabetic texts through his rich visual language that expands and enriches each poem. Peters uses his comic art not only to pay tribute to the beauty of the selected poems but to “pull them in as close as possible.”
We are struck by the artist’s personal vision as we move from the last page of his comic art to the traditional text of each poem, thus shaking up our response to poems with which we believed ourselves comfortably familiar. This stylistic arrangement upends our expectations and expands our discoveries, for example Maya Angelou’s “Caged Bird” that begins with a series of variously colored squares and rectangles that form bars, surprisingly empty of birds until the later panels.
Image and word texts flow into each other to be absorbed into the reader’s experience. In “Musee des Beaux Arts,” a traditional ekphrastic poem, Auden engages Brueghel’s painting of the fall of Icarus as a starting point for his contemplation of human suffering. In choosing Auden’s poem, Peters will turn this pattern around, as his visual panels engage the poem’s text, layering a rich juxtaposition of 16th century painting, 20th century poetry, and 21st century comic art, opening new avenues for the reader.
In this unique collection, we are invited to see poems we meet for the first time or rediscover in new ways. As we respond to this interplay of visuals and texts, we obtain a new scope, both greater and yet more intimate, as we bring our own life touchstones, memories, and symbols to discover each poem’s expanded beauty and possibilities. This is a marvelous book.
Judith M. Robinson

I didn't know what to expect with this title, but I ended up absolutely loving it. Julian Peters has taken a number of classic poems and put them to art. Each poem has a distinct art style that fits it perfectly and tells the story of it. I was a little bummed that the eARC didn't have all the artwork yet since I would have loved to see the art that went with the rest of the poems. It's also nice that each poem is printed separately after the poem with artwork so that you can absorb the poem with or without the art.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free comic book / poetry collection.*

"Poems to See by" is the graphic illustration of world famous poems by Emily Dickinson, Thomas Hardy, T.S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas and many more. We find the text embedded in the panels, it's quite beautiful. The style of the different poems is mirrored in the drawing style. Each illustrated poem is followed by the text of the poem without any drawings in order for the reader to read the poems once more without the pictures. I personally loved the choice of poems (T.S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas, Emily Dickinson! <3) and how well the drawings fitted the poems. The pictures are, of course, a sort of interpretation of the poems, but I liked that.

5 Stars!

Seeing great poems illustrated in this way was absolutely incredible. As a very visual person myself, it definitely added a lot to the already beloved poems.

What a fascinating idea to create a graphic "novel" of classic poems! I could see how this might draw in readers who find poetry confusing or daunting or too highbrow. It was interesting to see the illustrator choose to portray the poet in a lead role for some of the poems, even though they may not be autobiographical poems. I'd love to see more of volumes like this. I also appreciated that every poem wasn't illustrated in the same manner, but the drawings seemed to be connected to topic or voice of the individual pieces.

I love how Julian Peters took 24 popular poems and by using a comic book format breathed fresh light into them, and gave the me a visual way of enjoying them. The full poem is also printed on a page following the artistic version.

The poems are grouped around themes such as family, identity, creativity, time, mortality, and nature. This is a truly original idea, and I hope that the author creates more books like this.

This, to me, is a fascinating way to read poetry. I like it. It helps the reader to see what the author actually meant to say, not only through text, but through pictures; and the art work is amazing! These poems are great! I picked out a few to talk about, even though I liked all of them.

One of my favorite poems, in this selection, is ANNABEL LEE, by Edgar Allen Poe. This poem is so sad, and so are some of his poems, which enhances his style of writing. That could be why so many people love and are still reading his poems today.

In this poem he is mourning his true love that has gone on, and is waiting to be with her in Heaven. So much so, that he sees her face in everything, and his soul is so deeply hurt by her leaving, that he is waiting by her sepulchre until his passing. This poem also made me wonder if Edgar Allen Poe had a deep abiding love for someone that maybe he had lost. It is a beautiful poem.

In another poen titled, BEFORE THE BATTLE, by Siegfried Sassoon, he seems to be in prayer. but not that fear would leave him, but he also hates the fight and that he would be able to survive the night, if not, then prepare him for the battle. He is so sad, that even his soul cannot rest.

And yet, in another poem titled, CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR, by Edna St. Vincent Millay, Even though she was a spy, she would rather die, than betray a trust. Such a true friend.

Last, but certainly not least is, THE LOVE SONG OF J. Alfred Prufrock, by T. S. Eliot. The illustrations, by Julian Peters, were amazing! The step by step pages of his work showed as well as told a story through a love song. And T. S. Eliot told a great, but sad love song through poetry.

Thank you to NetGalley and Plough Publishing House for providing an eARC copy of the book for me to provide an honest review.

This is a wonderful collection of fantastic poems - and the art is absolutely wonderful as well! I wasn't sure what to expect when I chose to look over the book. Some of the poems read as comics might - with panels and text to go with them. While others are whole works of art in themselves. I could almost imagine that many artists had their hands in this book not just Julian Peters. His style for the poems varies here and there. Ink, watercolors, pencils.

It's a wonderful collection of beautiful poems that everyone should read at least once, and I feel that the illustrations only enhance the poems and make them that much more enjoyable. It's always wonderful to see artistic interpretation of classic works of literature and poetry, and this certainly doesn't disappoint at all.

If you're a fan of classic poetry and beautiful art and comics, then I can certainly suggest picking this book up.

Got this ARC on Netgalley.

Julian Peters surprises and delights the senses with his incredible renditions of old poems (many of which I had never read before and was glad I hadn’t because the experience was additionally beautiful supplemented by art). His colour palette and his stylistic range are diverse and stunning. Highly recommend for anyone who loves poetry and art/graphic novels.

Beautiful poetic work by Julian Peters. This book is ideal for lovers of verse and one I would be glad to share.

Poems to See By is a unique and beautiful collection of classic poems. I received this as an incomplete advanced digital copy so I do not know what the final form will be, but it would be a lovely book to keep on a coffee table or end table to enjoy from time to time. Many of the poems were familiar to me, but others were not. I don't read much poetry and the artwork and comic book style layout was engaging and helpful in understanding the rhythm. The artist, Julian Peters, states in the preface "The poetry comics included in this book set out to adapt or, it could be said, translate great poems into the visual language of comics." As a visual learner, I found the artwork a powerful aid to understand the poems. In particular, the artwork accompanying the poem Buffalo Dusk by Carl Sandburg is especially moving and impactful. I reccomend this collection to any poetry lover and to anyone who desires to develop a greater appreciation for poetry.
Thank you to Netgalley and Plough Publishing for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

It is a refreshing take on famous poetry.
What Julian Peters does. He gives shape to couplets of a poem in form of a soulful illustration. And he paints a whole story out of it.
He has drawn illustrated pieces of 24 famous poems.
Poems by Yeats, TS Elliot, William Wordsworth and many others.
Soul of the book is artwork.
Every poem has different style of painting. Few are watercolors, few are pencil shadings , few are like Japanese Magna and even abstract art.
All poems are soulfully depicted.
I liked art related to very long Elliot's poem the most, which is called, The love song of Alfred Frukrock.
Wonderful art and wonderful poems form a interesting combination.
If you are looking for different styles of art in single volume and read few great poems alongwith it, pick up this book. Each segment is painstakingly constructed to keep the quality of work excellent.
Thanks netgalley and publisher for review copy.

This was a lifechanging book. This added so much to the poetry and the meaning of the phrases and words in them. I really fell for this book. I fell hard. Along with the pictures and interpretations of the poetry, this book is fresh and new and wonderful. I recommend to everyone. Not JUST lovers of poetry. ANYONE.

I received an arc from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest opinion.
This is a beautiful collection of classic English poems accompanied by comics in various styles. I really enjoyed the way that the poems have been brought to life with this visualization. While I am no fan of mangas and comics on classics, with poems it seems to be another thing for me. I especially love the different parts of the collection, for example seeing nature or seeing death. Also I think it was the right decision to add the original poem after the comic strips, as sometimes the text was a bit hard to read on the images and also this provides the awesome experience of being able to compare both ways of reading the poem - with and without the comics.
A great short read that introduced me to some poems that I did not know yet. I wished that the selection of poems would have been a bit broader though - most had quite a melancholy and negative undertone and I would have enjoyed to see some more poems which are celebrating the beautiful and positive sides of life.

This book was so cool. If you've ever struggled with understanding or immersing yourself into some of the "great" poems, Peters' comics and imagination will take your hand and bring you into them as the poems come alive. What a neat idea!

It's hard to put into words how breathtaking and splendid the illustrations are alongside classic poems, and understandably so. Not only do they add meaning and life into the works of literary icons, it's also interesting to note the artist's interpretation of such symbolic poems. The drawings also match the mood of each poem, with some boasting a vibrant blend of colours and others being dark and sombre. Highly recommended!

I loved the premise of this. The illustrations were incredible and really added a new layer to these poems. Highly recomend this one.

I loved this little book of poetry. The illustrations were amazing. Each artist had a unique interpretation of the poems. I was amazed and enthralled by their talent and insight.

*I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Confession time: I love classic poetry.

You can often catch me quoting famous lines, gesticulating wildly with my hands. My students roll their eyes, embarrassed on my behalf, but I digress. There is something charming in the familiar, magic in re-reading known works, in studying the sentences that have endured and enamored us, and witnessing how they change: every generation comes back to the classics and “sees” them anew. That’s the thing about poetry, perhaps; the poet writes and decides and means, but the readers read and feel as they see fit. Readers interpret. And these interpretations can become essays and extensive analyses, but they can also become other forms of art. Maybe a song, maybe a drawing. Why not a comic? Julian Peters certainly asked himself that.

“Poems to See By” is an illustrated anthology of classic poems —24, to be exact. Each poem is accompanied by the author’s visual interpretation in the often breathtaking, sometimes amusing form of a comic. As a graphic designer, this sounded like the perfect marriage of two beloved passions. Excited, I requested the collection.

I wasn’t disappointed. This book is exactly what it promises to be, and more. I thought that a single artist tackling 24 poems would result on repetitive styles or obvious recurrences of motifs. Peters did neither. Overall, the breadth of variety in this book is frankly impressing. So is the use of colors and shapes, the different lines and shades. I would’ve never guessed that this was the work of a single artist; despite knowing it was, I still did a double take on more than one occasion, hurrying back to the start to verify that, yes, Peters was the only illustrator. His love for these poems, and the respect with which he approaches each drawing, is crystal clear. His reverence doesn’t stop him from imagining new meanings, and the results are much stronger for this: “As much as it’s true that a picture is worth a thousand words, it’s also the case that a single word can conjure up as many pictures as there are people who read it”.

The book is divided into six sections: Seeing Yourself, Seeing Others, Seeing Art, Seeing Nature, Seeing Time, Seeing Death. The poetry selection for each, in itself, is lovely, with works from a wide variety of familiar names: Dickinson, Angelou, Cummings, Poe, Hughes, among others. Though many of the poems are extremely familiar, others are overlooked jewels of their author’s. I was happy to find some of my favorites among the selection, and I think everyone will find at least one of theirs.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to fans of poetry and visual arts. Moreover, it would be a lovely addition to every high school English classroom, and a great reference for classes that study and analyze the intersection of visual and textual art-forms. I know I will use it in my own classes. I leave you with Peters’ preface:

“The truth is, I did it all for love of beauty. A beautiful poem is pretty much the most beautiful creation I can imagine… I wanted to pay tribute to the way these poems made me feel, to spend time with them, to pull them in as close to me as possible in the way that, as someone who draws comics, felt the most natural”.

I have never seen anything like this! This is a unique and gorgeous collection of classic poems that is just as appealing to the poetry major as it is to the person who hasn't looked at a poem in 20+ years. The use of different art styles for each poem added depth so there's a little something new even for those who are already familiar with all of the text itself. The selected poems are all fairly famous and relatively (as far as poetry goes) straightforward to interpret, plus the illustrations help as well, further making this a great choice to introduce (or re-introduce, or use to spark discussion about) poetry overall, for people of any age or educational background. I highly recommend this book to everyone, and look forward to more publications from Peters.

I received a copy of #PoemstoSeeBy for review from #NetGalley :)

This was a wonderful take on some of the great poems I worked on in school, that I enjoyed reading, that I had to explore and dissect in detail for my school exams and that I learned and recited in front of examines during Speech and Drama exams and classes. It brought back so many memories for me of Dickinson, Wordsworth, Hardy, Angelou, Heaney and Yates to name but a few. It was a novel idea, imaginative, just brilliant. I loved it and I would highly recommend this book of 'Poems to See By' to all!!!

Twenty four English language poems from the 19th and 20th centuries, illustrated with sequential art, some color some black and white, to portray the development of the poem's theme. Most of the poems are well known, but the artistic interpretation is an open invitation to revisit the book again and again.

I loved that the artist's renderings of each poem fit the style and content of the poem; this was not an attempt to claim all the poems from one perspective, but rather the artist viewing the poet's world from the poet's perspective. The art is beautiful and I loved reading it.

This is a great poetry anthology that covers a lot. I applaud the artist's choice of poems; there's everything from Maya Anglou to ee cummings to Langston Hughes to Carl Sanburg to Chistina Rossetti. Every poem had its own distinct art to it that mirrored the poet's background or the theme of the poem. This collection definitely gives readers a great selection of poetry and makes it very accessible.

However, as a teacher, I really appreciated the fact the poems were organized by genre, which makes them very easy to match with a current concept based curriculum. As mentioned before, the pairing of images to classic poetry really make the texts more accessible to all learners and all peoples. Additionally, I love the inclusion of the original poem at the end of the artist's interpretation. This book has so many applications in the classroom that I definitely recommend English teachers check it out!

Damn what a nice idea for a book. Thanks, Julian!
I enjoyed most of the interpretations of the poems to comic, some went over my head but you know, that's life.
Some of them got me so good that I'm currently buying collections of the authors that I liked lol.
Overall a good read for those who love poems as well as comics.

The description of Poems to See By interpreted by Julian Peters is described as “a fresh twist on 24 classic poems” and that “these visual interpretations by comic artist Julian Peters will change the way you see the world.” The description is accurate if somewhat understated. The visual appeal of the book should be lauded.
Peters has chosen his poems well. Some of my favorites as reimagined by Peters include the following: “Hope,” “Caged Bird,” “Those Winter Sundays,” and “The World is Too Much With Us.” As a comp professor, I almost always included these poems in a study of poetry. Having Peters’ book to go along with our discussions would have enhanced the discussions.

Poetry discussions in a classroom can be difficult. Finding ways to show students how to relate the poetry through different lenses is valuable. Peters does that by pairing poems one might not expect to fit together except on more careful examination.

Peters has created new dimensions for readers of poetry in his Poems to See By. It is a delight.

Poems to See By is the perfect book for any poetry lover. The visuals can make you interpret and see the poems in a new light or different perspective and it is interesting to view the artists interpretation of the classic poems. This book is also perfect for those who wish to dive into poetry for the first time or any younger readers starting out. the visuals can make poetry easier to be read and 'understood' for many and bridges a gap that many people face, where they are intimidated by poetry. This would be a good introduction for many people or even seasoned readers, as the broad amount of authors almost guarentees readers will find a new poet they havent read from before. A well put together book with stunning visuals that everyone can enjoy

This is a beautiful book. I’m familiar with most of the poems in the book, but the illustrations added another level of beauty to them. I also love the variety of the artwork, everything from manga-style to colorful quilt style drawings. My favorite is the illustrations used for Edna St. Vincent Millay’s Conscientious Objector. This would be a wonderful introduction to poetry for kids.

I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

An absolutely stunning combination of classic poetry linked with and presented through incredible illustrations. It was wonderful to see the different art styles used throughout and what those lent to each interpretation. I'd love to see more of this!

Poems to See By is an illustrated anthology of two dozen classic poems that will be familiar to many readers. They are organized into six sections that consider different ways of seeing: Seeing Yourself, Others, Art, Nature, Time, and Death. You can see examples on Julian Peters’ website, such as “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allen Poe or “Before the Battle” by Siegfried Sassoon.

The newest poem is “There Have Come Soft Rains” by John Philip Johnson while the oldest is William Wordsworth’s “The World Is Too Much with Us.” Of course, it is impossible to select a perfect sampling from 220 years of poetry, but I cannot think of any that should be excluded. There are two poems from Emily Dickinson but her poems are so short that seems more than fair.



Poems to See By is a great collection of poems and is beautifully illustrated. What is most impressive is the many varied styles of illustration. Peters masterfully fitted his illustrations to the emotional context of the poem. You can look at these examples and see Peters’ incredible ability to adapt his style to suit the poem.

Poems to See By will be released March 31st. I received an e-galley from the publisher through NetGalley.

Poems to See By at Plough Publishing
Julian Peters author site

https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2020/03/30/9780874863185/

I want this book!

Thanks to NetGalley, I received a digital galley to review, and this is definitely a book that I would love to own,

The collection of classic poems blended well with the very striking illustrations.
I love the fact that the comics are completely different styles to match the diversity of the imagery of the poems.
If I had to pick my favorite section, it would be "Seeing Nature".

I thoroughly enjoy this collection, and I would recommend this to any poetry lover.

Peters is a comics artist based in Montreal. Here he has chosen 24 reasonably well-known poems by the likes of e.e. cummings, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Seamus Heaney, Langston Hughes, Edgar Allan Poe, Christina Rossetti and W.B. Yeats and illustrated each one in a markedly different fashion. From black-and-white manga to a riot of color and music, from minimalist calligraphy-like Japanese watercolor to imitations of Brueghel, there is such a diversity of style here that at first I presumed there were multiple artists involved (as in one of my favorite graphic novels of last year, ABC of Typography, where the text was written by one author but each chapter had a different illustrator). But no, this is all Peters’ work; I was impressed by his versatility.

The illustrations range from realistic to abstract, with some more obviously cartoon-like. A couple of sequences reminded me of the style of Raymond Briggs. For “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou, lines are inlaid on the squares of a painted patchwork quilt. Other sets look to have been done via wood engraving, or with old-fashioned crayons. You could quibble with the more obvious poetry selections, but I encountered a few that were new to me, including “Buffalo Dusk” by Carl Sandburg and “Conscientious Objector” by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Peters has grouped them into six thematic categories: self, others, art, nature, time and death. Teenagers, especially, will enjoy the introduction to a variety of poets and comics styles.

AMAZING ! ! !

Thanks for Netgalley & respective publishers for sending a copy.

This poetry graphic books was delightful and exceptional. It comprises 24 classic poems and the comical-graphic was used that was so pure and linked which made you to feel ecstatic with poetry and scenes.
I've enjoyed those verses with pictures which were so thoughtful and visionary.
Highly recommended for poetry lovers.

I love the idea of taking poems and setting them to comics. Wow. The artist mentions in the beginning that both comics/graphic novels and poetry have a rhythm, which I totally agree with. I’m a huge (ok, maybe not huge YET.....but someday) manga fan, and seeing some of my favorite poems set to a comic style is awesome!

Some of my favorites were:
Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden
In a Station of three Metro by Ezra Pound
When You Are Old by William Butler Yeats
Juke Box Love Song by Langston Hughes
The Given Note by Seamus Heaney
The World is Too Much with Us by William Wordsworth
Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley
There Have Come Soft Rains by John Philip Johnson
Birches by Robert Frost

Ok I’m gonna stop listing them because there are too many. The point I’d like to make is that some of these I liked as just poems before reading this, and some of them I didn’t like as just poems, but this book makes them beautiful! So beautiful!

'Poems to See by: A Comic Artist Interprets Great Poetry' with art by Julian Peters is a collection of 24 pretty famous poems interpreted visually by the artist.

Divided in to different categories of seeing, like yourself, art, death, etc., the book presents the graphic version of the poem followed by a text version only. There are some very famous poems in here by Emily Dickinson and William Wordsworth and Edgar Allan Poe, and some less familiar (to me anyway) works. All are presented in different ways as the artist interprets.

As a child, I remember there was a man who would come to our library on occasion and read us poems. We had our favorites, but this early exposure to poetry harbored a lifetime interest. I liked this collection of poems and it's approach. It shows how visually poems can be, and maybe it will help another young person to appreciate these poems and others.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Plough Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

Brilliant and beautiful. This collection of poems offers the text of each as well as a beautifully illustrated version. It’s a wonderful way to enjoy favorite poems, discover new ones, and share them with young people who enjoy the format as well.

My Thoughts
This book includes a wonderful selection of 24 beautiful classic poems that are organized into categories of “seeing,” which include Seeing Yourself, Seeing Others, Seeing Art, Seeing Nature, Seeing Time, and Seeing Death. It includes works from a diverse set of poets: Wordsworth, Yeats, Angelou and Hughes among others. I discovered new poems by poets I enjoy reading (Thomas Hardy’s The Darkling Thrush, Poe’s Annabel Lee), favorite poems (Shelley’s Ozymandias, Emily Dickinson’s Hope), and wonderful poets I had not read before(Seamus Heaney, Siegfried Sassoon).

I started taking notes as I read each one over and over again, so I could list a couple of favorites. But I soon realized the futility of that exercise. It was just impossible – I love each one for its uniqueness – in the selection of the poem, and the wondrously suited art style as if made for the poem. We see manga, familiar comic strip styles and black-and-white film strips playfully included with whimsical watercolors, folk artsy crayons and more. It is almost impossible to believe it is all the work of a single artist (but it is!)

The artist’s rendering can help readers “see” the poems in a whole new way, and also opens up ideas for more inspiration. Like Peters says, “As much as it’s true that a picture is worth a thousand words, it’s also the case that a single word can conjure up as many pictures as there are people who read it”. On a side note, I felt I would have had a different feel if the original poems were included before the artists’s interpretation.

In Summary
I am going to get this book for myself, and I know you will thank me if you do too – get the book for yourself and for a loved one or two who enjoys comics or poetry or reading!!

<a href="https://www.ladyinreadwrites.com/">Check my blog - LadyInReadWrites - for more reviews</a>

Disclaimer: Thank you to NetGalley as well as the publishers for the digital ARC of the book; these are my honest opinions after reading the book.

Loved it. The art really helps to visualize the poems. It’s great to help student’s a see the figurative language of the poems.

Just a lovely book! An interesting mix of poems paired with artwork in a different graphic style for each poem- one of my favorite's was Maya Angelou's Caged Bird over Gee's Bend quilts. I enjoyed every one of the spreads, and this is definitely a book I'll go back to again and again.

#PoemstoSeeBy #NetGalley

Poems to See By: A Comic Artist Interprets Great Poetry by Julian Peters collects 24 poems along with Peters' visual interpretations. Most readers won't necessarily connect with every one, maybe even very few of them. But it is still an interesting way to understand poetry.

On Edelweiss, where one of the categories is to suggest target age groups, they suggest 13-18, grades 8-12. Like any anthology, the key is going to be how it is used by the instructor, the book, any book, is not what is doing the work of helping students learn, it is a dynamic between teacher, student, and any texts used. That said, the range mentioned seems about right. When I taught at university I might have considered using a couple of the poem/comic sets but I would not have assigned the book.

Like any interpretation of works literature, everyone will see things a little different. Even though I was not crazy about a few of the comics, I didn't think he was untrue to the text. Or, to put it the way most of us have heard it, it can be grounded in the text itself. So I don't have a lot of complaints just because I don't read a few of the poems the same way he does. That kind of “criticism” is really a statement of entitlement, namely that such a person feels entitled to state what is and is not proper for someone to get from a text. I don't presume to be God-like nor quite that narcissistic, so I simply don't see some poems as he does. These are his interpretations, not things drawn to meet someone's particular agenda priorities. Yes, a couple things might be problematic, but if you can read a book of interpretations, comic or otherwise, and not find some things problematic, then you're either not paying attention or you're reading something that is adhering to some dogmatic manifesto so as not to offend anyone.

This book would also be something that readers who don't usually feel comfortable with poetry might enjoy. The value in this work, as something to help people, is to show that there is more than one way into any work of art. Even these classics can be approached from perspectives that once would have been shunned for being too common or too masculine/feminine, or any of the other ways that people have kept others marginalized. Unfortunately, many who are marginalized feel the need to then marginalize to compensate rather than inclusively embracing and debating.

I think I like the idea of this book better than the actual execution but I do still believe this volume can be enjoyable for many and used to help grow appreciation of poetry for many more. With that in mind, I do recommend this for both the ages mentioned above as well as any adult who wants to read more poetry but hesitates because of the way it may have been presented to them in school.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

The artwork is phenomenal and breathes life into poems that students find boring and uninteresting. Being able to see the poems aids in students’ comprehension because they can see what the poem is conveying. The grouping of the poems by theme is another plus for students. Will be asking the librarian to purchase for school.

"Poems to See By" is a collection of 24 classic poems, and breathes new life into them by illustrating each work in a comic-strip format. The poems cover a variety of topics, but all of them invite the reader to look at the world and themselves differently.

Although I am not a graphic novel reader, I thought the idea of this one was very good--to illustrate "classic" poems that otherwise might never be read and appreciated. While the pictures are not the beautiful illustrations that maybe we are used to in poetry picture books or anthologies, they look very graphic novelish that teens will appreciate. I did order it for my hs library; two teachers have checked it out to have in their classrooms so it is being exposed to many students.

This was a gorgeous read from start to finish. Julian Peters has collected together dozens of the most well known and lauded poems of the decades, setting each to comic, but not only that. Each comic's design, style, and layout is different from all of the others around it, and it's chosen specifically to fit the feel and messages of each of the poems. I deeply, deeply, deeply loved read this.

This is a beautiful book that reimagines classic poems. I like the graphic novel format because it provides a new way to look at poetry that is more accessible to a lot of students. My students in particular are drawn to graphic novels as a format, and are more likely to pick up a book like this, which is why I bought it for my library.

The illustrations are beautiful, and I really liked that the art style was slightly different for each poem and also matched the poems, in a way.

Overall, this was a great book and a great addition to my library. One of the teachers at my school really liked it as well and found it to be helpful in her teaching of poetry