Selected by a distinguished independent panel of experts including our editorial expert, Julia Eccleshare, for Diverse Voices - 50 of the best Children's Books celebrating cultural diversity in the UK. A thought provoking and wide reaching collection of poetry for children that explodes from the page begging to be read aloud.
Wanna be in our gang? We cause Peace, Fighters fear us, On de streets. This is the very first ground-breaking children's poetry collection from street poet Benjamin Zephaniah.
Wanna be in our gang? We cause Peace, Fighters fear us, On de streets. This is the very first ground-breaking children's poetry collection from street poet Benjamin Zephaniah.
Playful, clever and provocative, this is performance poetry on the page at its very best.
Zephaniah is the reigning king of children's poetry... He has an unselfconscious relish for language and word-play that never strays into the patronising dee-dum-dee-dum-dee-dum territory of so much of children's poetry: his are poems that bounce up from the page and demand to be read, rapped, sung and hip-hopped aloud. Independent on Sunday
This is poetry with attitude. The Times
A delight to read aloud. Brian Patten
Author
About Benjamin Zephaniah
Dr Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal ZephaniahBenjamin Zephaniah was born in Birmingham and then spent some of his early years in Jamaica. He came to London when he was 22 and his first book of poetry for adults was published soon after. He appeared regularly on radio and TV including a Desert Island Discs appearance, literary festivals, and has also taken part in plays and films. He was most well-known for his performance poetry with a political edge for both children and adults and gritty teenage fiction. His collections Talking Turkey, Wicked World and Funky Chickens broke new ground in children's poetry. He is the only Rastafarian poet to be short-listed for the Chairs of Poetry for both Oxford and Cambridge University and has been listed in The Times' list of 50 greatest postwar writers.
He has sixteen honorary doctorates and the Eailing Hospital in west London has named a wing after him in recognition of his work.
Benjamin was passionate about issues that were both global and local, and his work focused on themes such as human rights and protecting the environment. He was widely considered to be among the first poets to address the climate crisis.
Benjamin died on December 7th 2023 at the age of 65.
