Tag: Poetry Review

Posted in Poetry Review

Matt Goodfellow: Let’s Chase Stars Together

Posted on by Liz Brownlee

Every poem in this collection, to misquote Samuel Coleridge, has the best words in the best order, and not a syllable wasted, or placed where there is no need for it. You won’t find empty filler lines here, no weak endings, no derivation. Each poem is precise and picture perfect.

Let’s Chase Stars Together, Bloomsbury Education, was very worthily a CLiPPA shortlisted book this year – the poems which really are ‘to lose yourself in’ are counterpointed by the spare illustrations by Oriol Vidal – just enough to add to the poetry, and nothing to detract.

Matt Goodfellow is at the top of the poetry tree, and I hope his poems continue to drop at this quality to nourish young minds for a long time to come.

This Morning in the Woods

this morning in the woods

as I wonder why the sky

must always fall so hard

I think of that joke you made

and laughter lands in my path

like a leaf

Matt Goodfellow

I think you can probably tell that I think you should rush out and buy this if you don’t have a copy already. Even if you do, get another and give it to someone. It’s lovely.

Posted in Poetry Review

Debra Bertulis: The Moon’s Gorgonzola Review

Posted on by Liz Brownlee

Debra’s second book, The Moon’s Gorgonzola, is published by Troika and illustrated by Zoe Williams. Here is the review of her debut collection, Where Do Wishes Go? , published by Otter-Barry Books, 2022.

The bigger text and charming illustrations make this a good fit for its Key Stage 1 audience, and Debra’s unerring talent for writing pertinent poems is fully realised; there are poems and performance poems, poems about holidays, first days at school, missing mum, lunchtime, teatime, time with granny, celebrations, and chocolate – perfect for this younger age group.

Debra has handily added performance and writing tips for teachers and children with some of the poems.

Definitely recommended for Key Stage 1!

Posted in Poetry Review

Poetry Review: Colin West, Batty Ballads

Posted on by Liz Brownlee

I have spoken before about the delightful Colin West and his poems – his picture books, which were a favourite with my children, still remain on my shelves and will soon be available for my new grandson, when he’s old enough.

This review is about Barmy Ballads, which is his latest book. Refreshingly at odds with most poetry books today, the poems are longer, poem stories, and all take you on a ride through completely hilarious absurdity, richly and charmingly added to with details by Colin’s trade-mark style illustrations (all in colour!).

Where else would you find a poem entitled ‘Some Stuff in a Sack’? Or a tale of ‘Granny’s Green’s’, in which granny grows enormous vegetables of all descriptions on… well, I can’t tell you where, as that would spoil the ending.

My favourite poems are ‘A Crusty Loaf of Bread’, in which Winifred’s journey round a supermarket sadly echoes my own experiences, and ‘The Story of Fergus MacPherson’, whose opinion of himself is belied by one of Colin’s brilliant illustrations.

I look forward to a bit of silliness whenever I see there is a new poem on Colin’s Twitter feed – if you want to follow him he is @mooseandmouse.

If you like poems with masterful rhymes and ridiculousness, then this is the book for you!

Posted in Poetry Review

Review: Where Do Wishes Go, by Debra Bertulis

Posted on by Liz Brownlee
Where Do Wishes Go, Debra Bertulis, Otter-Barry Books

Beautifully illustrated (as is usual with Otter-Barry Books) by Jess Mason, this is Debra Bertulis’ first book.

Where Do Wishes Go? is packed with poems on many of the themes that concern primary school children – such as the death of a grandparent, homework, moving house, and it also includes further experiences that will never be common to all – being a carer, having to move country and learn a new language.

Many of the poems in this book could be used as springboards by teachers and parents to discuss experiences in the lives of children in their care.

There is a lot of humour however – and an overall lightness to the collection that embodies the ‘feel’ of the title, and there are poems that are more whimsical, such as the poem from which the title is drawn.

Here are some examples:

Thinking Places and To Be a Tree, by Debra Bertulis, Where Do Wishes Go, Otter-Barry Books

Recommended!

Posted in Poetry Book Parade, Poetry Review

Review: Little Light, by Coral Rumble

Posted on by Liz Brownlee
Little Light by Coral Rumble, Troika Fiction

Little Light, Coral Rumble, Illustrated by Shih-Yu Lin, Troika Books.

Little Light is an extraordinary accomplishment – a verse novel with a story so engaging and immersing you often don’t notice it’s in verse, even though Coral frequently breaks the boundaries of the page to play with form.

Living in one room with her mum and two siblings after a marriage break up, on the cusp of leaving primary and entering secondary education, Ava is a child lost between worlds, her old school, her old self, her old life and that yet to come. Her discovery of a stray dog leads her into the future.

The light that Ava shines and finds is beautifully kindled by Coral’s luminous writing.

The book is sensitively illustrated by Shih-Yu Lin.

A sample:

Wagging

Wagging is a strange word.

If you’re wagging school –

you’re in trouble,

if a finger is pointed at you –

you’re in trouble,

but when a dog’s tail is wagging –

you’ve got approval.

Coral Rumble

Very much recommended – every school should have a copy. Five Stars.