April 2018 Book of the Month Beautifully illustrated by Jo Riddell, this collection of poems and stories is a perfect gift book. It’s ideal for dipping into, for quiet reading and for reading aloud; indeed, unusually amongst the stories, haikus and poems, there are a couple of rhyming plays too, great fun for the family or a group of friends. Single collections of poems are relatively rare these days, and it’s lovely to find one that gives the poet the space and time to explore ideas and return to themes. Poetry speaks to children directly, and this should become a real favourite, a book, to quote Rachel Rooney’s review, ‘to spark the imagination’.
Firecrackers is a hum-dinger of a book, packed full of wonderfully off-the-wall and out-of-this-world poems, raps, haikus and loads more. This 208 page turner is an Aladdin's Cave of magical words and gorgeous drawings just waited to be discovered. Reading it will not just spark the child's imagination, it will send it soaring. Jo Riddell's wonderful illustrations and her evocative line drawings draw the child in even deeper into that mysterious world where the everyday becomes magical.
