"...Collect words!...Be yourself. Do not imitate other poets. You are as important as they are...", counsels Gwendolyn Brooks in a short personal statement preceding her poem "Computer". Page layouts with generous amounts of open space invite young readers and writers to discover what 39 contemporary poets say about their work as well as to sample on or two of their poems. The black and white photograph introducing each poet provides a visual immediacy corresponding to the upbeat tone of the anthology. Other poets represented include Paul Fleischman, Russell Hoban, Felice Holman, Maxine Kumin, Karla Kuskin, Myra Cohn Livingston, Naomi Shihab Nye, Gary Soto, John Updike and Ron Wallace. (Age 10 and older)