Lovely, but... Probably not appealing to the majority of young readers. The selections are too brief and the pictures too iconographic for most ppl I know to be able to appreciate what's going on with the language & imagery. Heck, I am proud of my ability to 'hear' poetry, and yet these didn't floor me like they should have.

One thing to remember about Whitman's poetry is that he explored nature before electricity, before light pollution made it rare for ppl to be able to see myriad stars. Until you've been in the outback on a clear night, you're not ready to fully appreciate the woodcut that goes with these lines:

from 'Sea-Drift: On the Beach at Night Alone

On the beach at night alone,
As the old mother sways her to and fro singing her husky
song,
As I watch the bright stars shining, I think a thought of the
clef of the universes and of the future." ( )