The arrival of a new poetry collection from one of Britain's greatest children's poets Michael Rosen is always cause for great excitement - and this collection promises to be one of the best. Coinciding with his laureateship and very welcome public promotion of the need for children's poetry in our education system, this brand-new collection of poetry for Puffin will delight readers young and old with Michael's famous sense of humour, wonder and pathos.
When I was eight I don't remember loving poetry much. The ones we used to do at school never seemed to grab my attention in the same way as a great story, a character that I could follow through amazing adventures. I'm guessing that this would have been different if I'd known about Michael Rosen back then. He was first published in 1974 so I have no excuse really!
This collection of poems is diverse; there are entertaining ones, funny ones but also very stark ones like We're Walking or Perhaps. Some of the poems address issues such as being unable to move on and let go (Please Leave) which gives great advice for any age group. Many of the poems are funny and quirky and would be great read out loud like What's in Your Bag? Rosen's wordplay makes these poems a joy to read. This is also a great collection for reluctant readers which could be dipped into on-and-off.
I'll leave you with one of my favourites: -
The Tents
The tents were worried it was going to rain.
The tents were tense.
We said,
"Relax tents, relax."
But these tents were tense
They were so intense.
Perhaps
the tents were worried about us.
Would we get wet?
After all,
we were in tents.
HAHAHA. If that poem wasn't written by a true camper then he knows how to fake it. I hope the rest of the poems are that cute:)
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