Colin West writes wonderfully funny poetry for children and deserves to be a household name alongside Roger McGough and Michael Rosen. This collection is divided into sections including Dotty Ditties, Tricky Tongue-Twisters, Vicious Verses and Curious Creatures and is jam-packed with poems to make the reader laugh. As well as the eponymous budgie (A budgie’s not for nudging/and a budgie bears a grudge), there are hedgehogs, giraffes, alligators, jugglers and pirates – a huge variety of subjects - there are one hundred poems in fact, and each one is a little gem. Colin West’s own illustrations accompany his verses and add to the many pleasures of this book. ~ Andrea Reece
Colin West, the master of comic verse, has written and illustrated his funniest collection yet: Never Nudge a Budgie. The book is divided into seven sections and contains a hundred poems of different kinds - limericks, nonsense, tongue twisters, shape poems and rhymes. They are on a surprising and entertaining range of subjects, from the ogre doing yoga in a toga and the hedgehog's valentine to whether or not to be a bee. Some are old, some new; all are infused with Colin's wit and his quirky view of the world. And each poem is accompanied by a wonderful witty picture by the poet himself - don't miss his portrayal of the Blunderblat or of Betty eating spaghetti!
Colin published his first collections of nonsense verse in 1975, shortly after graduating from The Royal College of Art, and since then has written over 60 children's books. His talent for off-message, anarchic laughter has brought him many fans, including America's Children's Laureate, Kenn Nesbitt, who calls him a master of the art of humorous poetry for children. Colin lives in Battle, East Sussex. Visit his website at www.colinwest.com
