The Beasts of Bethlehem

X.J. Kennedy

Aug. 2014 · StarWalk Kids Media

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In 19 poems, leading American poet X.J. Kennedy imagines what those creatures present at the Nativity might have said on that nighteach animal speaking according to its nature. With compassion, irony, wit, and reverence, these insightful poems portray animals large and small, and each poem is accompanied with a fullcolor illustration.

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Joseph Kennedy, better known to his readers by the pseudonym X. J. Kennedy, is a selfconfessed "schizophrenic" as regards his writings. Kennedy noted to Contemporary Authors that "I write for three separate audiences: children, college students (who use textbooks), and that small band of people who still read poetry." But there is unity in all of Kennedy's writings—underlying it is a love of poetry and meter, a playfulness verging on the absurd, and a fervent regard for the possibilities of language. That "small band" of adults who still read poetry may very well be swelled by Kennedy's verse for children—both nonsensical and serious. By using verse to speak to middle graders, Kennedy is certainly creating a new audience for poetry of all forms.