This was a really sweet collection of poems that focus on finding joy and awe in the little things. From nature to mundane tasks, changing seasons to seasons in one's life, there was a poem that represented it. I found this to be a very charming collection. I also really appreciated the reflective pauses, and the invitations for writing were a nice touch. It all was very well organized and put together in a way that flowed nicely and I really enjoyed myself as I went along.

The Wonder of Small Things is a beautiful and soothing collection of poems. Between every few pages, small reflective pauses made me slow down and inspired me to write. I felt my mind quiet while reading this collection and noticed how I became more content and mindful throughout the day.

The poems covered themes of nature, animals, human connections, joy, food, stillness, gratitude and even grief, and were arranged in a way that flowed together nicely, some poems even complemented each other. Despite varied styles of poetry, the poems had an overarching calmness and softness to them.

Some of my favourite poems from this collection:

- Locust by Julia Alvarez (tells a story about happiness, the beauty of nature and art);
- Lately by Laure-Anne Bosselaar (the beauty of the minuscule moments in nature);
- What Did You Imagine Would Grow? by AE Hines (a poem full of empathy);
- Nothing Wants to Suffer by Danusha Lameris (another poem full of empathy, this one extends to objects);
- Ask Me by Sue Ann Gleason (a poem about cooking and love);
- Meditation by Emilie Lygren (adored the comparison in this one);
- Breathing Peace by Cristina M. R. Norcross (a poem about peace);
- After the Heartbreak by Tyler Mortensen-Hayes (heart-breaking and heard-mending).

There are many more that I took notes of, and I will definitely return to some of these poems again and again.

Thank you very much, NetGalley, for the chance to read this ARC!

This was a lovely collection of poetry that focuses on the wonder of life in little details, small moments, nature, nostalgia. I highlighted so many poems to come back to, many really spoke to me.

I have been dipping in and out of this book for weeks now. Each time I find a new uplifting or comforting marvel. This is definitely one of those book that you buy for friends and loved ones.

I have a hard time getting into poetry but I really liked this collection. Obviously I connected more with some than others, but there were quite a few I truly loved. I liked that most of them felt like memories I was privileged to experience.

A really interesting anthology collection of poetry.

It is always hard to review poetry, as my opinion varies greatly depending on the poem.
There are inevitably some poems I enjoyed more than others and, of course, there were a few I really wasn't fond of.
However, overall, this is a really good collection focusing on the beauty of living and enjoying the world around us.
A great collection to read when you feel like you need to rest and just marvel at the world we live in.

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

i loved this! I really liked the writing and felt like certain poems really spoke to me. I’m obsessed with how pretty the cover is too, this would be such a pretty book to have physically on my shelf i almost want to buy it.

I had such a hard time finishing this collection of poems... I found that most of them were too different from each other to really be read within the same book. I couldn't be moved by most of them, and sometimes I didn't understand what the theme of the poem was. Fortunately, some of them saved the day.

"the wonder of small things" is a really great book of poems. it's easy to understand and connects with everyday life. the poems make you appreciate the little things and remind you of the wonder we felt when we were young. the book has a wide range of poems by different writers from all over the world. most of the poems focus on the beauty of nature and the things around us. i liked every poem in the book, which is rare for an anthology with different styles. each page had something beautiful to offer. i didn't know any of the poems before, so i feel lucky to have discovered so many new authors. it's a fantastic book.

i want to thank netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read an early copy of this book.

As a high school English teacher, I’m always looking for poetry collections that are approachable but still beautiful, profound, and full of wonder. I’ve often found that students appreciate poems that allow them to see the beauty in the everyday and allow them to see the profundity in the most simple of things. So many of the poems in this collection satisfy this description, and I particularly appreciated the notes and ideas for additional thought and writing, prompts that would be a great point of entry for anyone interested in thinking deeply and life, meaning, and purpose—but also for use with students. This is an absolutely lovely collection that will give you much to ponder as you go about your day.

It's difficult to summarize the writing of this book, because the great diversity of authors makes it impossible to pin down a single distinct style of prose. However, in one word, The Wonder of Small Things is delightful. The hopeful, tender poems within this collection have clearly been chosen with great care, and the reflections between poetry allow for a more interactive and engaging reader experience. To anyone needing more light in their life, this book is for you.

** A copy of The Wonder of Small Things was provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review **

The Wonder of Small Things is a perfect companion to Crews' previous edited collections: How to Love the World and The Path to Kindness.

The Wonder of Small Things is a great anthology, which quiet, and approachable poems. I appreciated the thoughtful pauses/writing prompts between some poems.

What a lovely collection of joyful poems.! The variety of little things that bring folks joy is truly amazing; my favorite has to be An Ode to Butter. There is surely a poem for everyone in this collection and the reflection check points are refreshing for the reader. Thank you to Storey Publishing & Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review of content.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publishers and editor James Crews for this advance reading copy. The Wonder of Small Things is a poetry anthology designed to help the reader recover the wonder and awe in everyday life. It reminds us of the perspective that we all have when young and which familiarity dulls, what Patrick Kavanagh described as 'the newness that was in every stale thing/when we looked at it as children'. There are poems on the beauty of a blade of grass, on mud, on the almost-over-ripe scent of a bag of garbage, as well as those on more familiar subjects of poetry such as trees, cranes or ducks.

This is such a lovely, restorative anthology. The poems have been really thoughtfully arranged, with ideas from one poem picked up in the next, so it's as if the poems were in conversation with each other. Interspersed amongst the poems are 'reflective pauses', which include writing prompts, allowing you to continue the ideas that the poems have prompted in your own work.

One notable feature of this collection is the poems' accessibility. Most are short, simple, conversational pieces in the first person. They're also on concrete, everyday topics. You certainly don't need to be familiar with classic poetic techniques to enjoy them, so it's perfect for those who want to start reading more poetry. I've also recommended it to a friend who teaches ESOL and literacy to adults. The final section of the book contains reading group questions and prompts for discussion, so it would be perfect for a book club or a creative writing class. I think many of the poems could also work well for those teaching teenagers or even younger children.

I really loved this collection. I think I bookmarked at least 40% of the poems for re-reading, and I will definitely be buying a copy for myself when it is released.

This is an anthology of poetry by numerous different authors from around the globe. Most focused on the beauty of existing, the natural world, and appreciation for all that is around us.

I did not dislike any of the contents, which can be an expected part of an anthology given its varied nature, but I did find beauty on every single page. None of these poems were known to me and I feel so honoured to have read from so many collated names, many of which I have jotted down to explore more from in the future.

Firstly, as an educator, this collection has voices from all American communities. It is a mix of new voices and dear friends. Grouped by universal topics; seasons, oceans, stillness, memory, it is immensely useful. A student could simply flip through and find a poem to read, or as a teacher I could lead a discussion on a focus poem. I love love love the gentle invitations throughout that ask the reader to join the dialogue. And there are additional writing and thinking prompts at the back. I’m marking this early on the list of things I will order for my classes.

There are so many poems related to nature in this collection as well as some writing prompts based off of selected poems. I would recommend this for secondary English teachers for use in the classroom, as well as any fans of poetry. The poems are varied and accessible for many readers.

This anthology of poetry is amazing. I liked the different topics and the different ways the poets spoke about them. I was highlighting sections and bookmarking pages in my kindle to reread. I also liked the discussion parts throughout to take time to talk about the poems and poetry in general.
Such a great book.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

James Crews is my without a doubt my favourite poetry anthologist and I have him to thank for introducing me to so many of my most-loved poems through his collections 'Healing the Divide: Poems of Kindness and Connection' (2019), 'How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope' (2021) and 'The Path to Kindness: Poems of Connection and Joy' (2022), the latter two published by Storey Publishing who have now produced this latest compilation, subtitled 'Poems of Peace and Renewal.'

As Nikita Gill's foreword and James Crews' own introduction outline, wonder is the theme of this collection and we are treated to over 100 poems which consider this topic from almost every possible angle, finding wonder in the natural and the man-made, in relationships and rituals, in moments and in the passage of time. A handful of the poems were already familiar to me - the collection appropriately begins with Wendell Berry's sublime 'The Peace of Wild Things' and I was delighted to see Maggie Smith's 'First Fall', Ross Gay's 'Sorrow Is Not My Name' and Ada Limón's 'Joint Custody' included. But the vast majority were new to me, and yet again I was in awe of the consistent quality of these poems. It would be easy to imagine a collection with a title like 'The Wonder of Small Things' featuring its fair share of the trite and the twee, but almost all these poems achieve profundity and yet do so with a sincerity and deceptive simplicity which will appeal to the widest possible audience.

I bookmarked so many wonderful poems as I read that I will resist the temptation to quote from them all, but I do want to mention a few highlights to showcase the range and beauty of this selection. In James Crews' own poem 'Awe', he reflects that 'wonder and awe / are decisions we make daily, hourly, / minute by minute in the tiny offices / of the heart'. Reflecting on seeds in 'Essence', Kai Coggin asks 'did you know these tiny sprouts / these little leaves and baby greens / already hold the heavy flavours of their final selves?' I adored Alison Luterman's love poem 'Heavenly Bodies' in which she describes her and her partner's hands as 'two mis-/ matched puzzle pieces, / sanded down to fit.' In another love poem of sorts, 'Sunrise Sonnet for my Son', Joanne Durham celebrates the shared ritual of unloading the dishwasher each morning which unites them across four hundred miles, 'this man I raised, who hums as he sorts / the silverware, noticing how each spoon shines.' And Dorianne Laux's ode to 'My Mother's Colander' celebrates how such an ordinary item can become 'the baby's / helmet during the cold war, / a sinking ship in the bathtub, / little boat of holes.'

There are so many more gems I could mention, but this gives a flavour of many sources of wonder articulated within this volume. It is also an exquisitely arranged collection with poems juxtaposed for effect. There are enjoyable sequences of poems on topics as diverse as trees, swimming, grandparents, cancer and tomatoes, all of which become mutually enriching when read side by side. As with Crews' last two collections, the poems are also interspersed with occasion 'Reflective Pauses' offering meditations on certain poems and writing prompts. At the end of the volume, reading group discussion questions are included about other poems, as well as biographies of all the poets featured. I read this anthology in electronic form but I am assuming that it will also be a physically beautiful book to possess like its two predecessors.

This is a stunning anthology full of such riches, guaranteed to introduce all readers to many wonderful new poems. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC to review.