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Longlisted for the UKLA Book Awards 2020 | Another insightful and compassionate free verse novel from the queen of this increasingly admired form, this time exploring the transformative relationship between an abused runaway teenager and an elderly lady with dementia. Allison has grown up “stepping on eggshells” to circumvent her father’s violence. While she often wonders whether his behaviour was “all my fault”, one of his outbursts compels her to run away. With nowhere to go, she finds sanctuary in the house of an elderly woman called Marla. Marla has dementia and thinks Allison is Toffee, her best friend from childhood. After spending some time in Marla’s company, Allison decides to “stop correcting her… I like the idea of being sweet and hard, a girl with a name for people to chew on.” Moreover, in meeting Marla, Allison has found an unlikely kindred spirit: “I am not who I say I am. Marla isn’t who she thinks she is… Here, in this house, I am so much happier than I have ever been”. Returning the favour, Allison enriches Marla’s life – she listens, she indulges Marla’s desire to dance - while Marla’s carer and son show no real regard for her happiness, as if she’s beyond life, which makes Allison’s attentiveness all the more heart warming. Both vulnerable, they find strength through each other. With incredibly moving insight, Marla says of Allison’s dad, “none of it was about you. It was about him. It’s always about him. Surely you know that.” The writing is compellingly fluid, flowing freely between Allison’s precarious present and the tragic, abusive circumstances that sent her careering down this path. While fleeting, the impact of their time together is monumental, and I felt privileged to have spent time in their company.
Encompassing works from ancient sages, classic poets, well-known thinkers and emerging contemporary innovators from all walks of life, this involving, inclusive collection inspires, entertains, enthrals and emboldens. Alongside enjoying the work of widely-esteemed names (including Sappho, George Eliot, Sylvia Plath, Carol Ann Duffy, Jackie Kay, Christina Rosetti, Maya Angelou, Emily Dickinson and Margaret Atwood), it was a pleasure to discover contemporary poets whose work I shall seek out, among them Ruth Awola and Remi Graves, and lesser-known names from the past, for example Edith Södergran and Astrid Hjertenaes Andersen. If the diversity of voices is rich, so too are the themes, with growing up, friendship, love, nature, body image and protest covered in staggering depth and diversity. This varied chorus of bold, incisive voices makes for a collection to be savoured and shared.
Greenaway winner in 1981. A Judge said: Each time I re-read this book I get shivers down my spine for the quality and beauty of the words – you name it, it has it, from startling adjectives and metaphors to alliteration and onomatopoeia. The poem is completely gripping, full of suspense and is beautifully complemented by the vibrant yet monochromatic illustrations.To find out more about this book CLICK HERE to visit the Carnegie Greenaway site
Age 7+. This funny collection of poems for the 8-11 age group is all about one school. The verses cover such things as playtime, the school outing, the school nurse, French lessons, the three R's, nicknames, best friends - and a host of other topics all familiar within the school context.
A delightful board book with simple rhyming text and engaging interactive pictures. Children will be able to find characters that are mentioned in the text, such as Mother Hubbard and Cinderella. Wonderful detail in the illustrations provides endless entertainment in that with each view you find yet more in them – so clever and yet so simply done. Janet was an artist extraordinaire whose life was sadly cut short by illness some years ago. ~ Julia Eccleshare
A collection of poems about school, which are full of typical classroom events such as the candid revelations in a pupil's newsbook, the problem of copycats, bickering, making up, swaps, picking teams and forming gangs.
A delightful board book with simple rhyming text and engaging interactive pictures. Children will be able to find characters that are mentioned in the text, such as Mother Hubbard and Cinderella. Wonderful detail in the illustrations provides endless entertainment in that with each view you find yet more in them – so clever and yet so simply done. Janet was an artist extraordinaire whose life was sadly cut short by illness some years ago. ~ Julia Eccleshare Kate Greenaway Medal winner in 1978.
A delightful board book with simple rhyming text and engaging interactive pictures. Children will be able to find characters that are mentioned in the text, such as Mother Hubbard and Cinderella. Wonderful detail in the illustrations provides endless entertainment in that with each view you find yet more in them – so clever and yet so simply done. Janet was an artist extraordinaire whose life was sadly cut short by illness some years ago. ~ Julia Eccleshare
A delightful board book with simple rhyming text and engaging interactive pictures. Children will be able to find characters that are mentioned in the text, such as Mother Hubbard and Cinderella. Wonderful detail in the illustrations provides endless entertainment in that with each view you find yet more in them – so clever and yet so simply done. Janet was an artist extraordinaire whose life was sadly cut short by illness some years ago. ~ Julia Eccleshare Kate Greenaway Medal winner in 1978.
Age 7+. This funny collection of poems for the 8-11 age group is all about one school. The verses cover such things as playtime, the school outing, the school nurse, French lessons, the three R's, nicknames, best friends - and a host of other topics all familiar within the school context.
A collection of poems about school, which are full of typical classroom events such as the candid revelations in a pupil's newsbook, the problem of copycats, bickering, making up, swaps, picking teams and forming gangs.
A review by Liam Parkin Poetry for a younger audience is often ‘shunted in the realm of schoolwork’ as Allie Esri and Rachel Kelly notice, but this beautiful anthology reminds us of the resonance that particular poems, verses and lines can have throughout our life. Accompanying the diverse selection of poets are fun little facts capturing the childlike wonder within this collection, which will even make the most seasoned reader stop and think. Ranging from ‘Humour and Nonsense’ to ‘Lessons for Life’, William Wordsworth to John Agard, this anthology instils in us all the power of poetry that is often taken for granted, and is one of those books that will always be close to you, no matter how old you are. To get the IF poetry app for your iPhone click the big button or click this smaller button for the iPad version
One of our Books of the Year 2016 | A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month September 2016 A fabulously rich anthology of 366 poems - one for every night of the year as promised in the title. Or for everyday if you would rather read your poetry and perfect for reading aloud and sharing with all the family. it. The anthology ranges widely through classic and modern poetry and, where there is a link to a particular date, it appears on that page in the book. Fittingly therefore, J. K . Rowling’s The Sorting Hat Song which first appears in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, is the poem for 10 September – the start of the school year for many, even those not at Hogwarts. ~ Julia Eccleshare A message from Gaby Morgan, Editorial Director at Pan Macmillan A beautiful collection of 366 poems from familiar favourites to exciting contemporary voices, one to share on every night of the year. All the poems havea link to the date on which they appear, and the collection will take you on a journey through history, the season, and festivals and traditions from many different countries, cultures and religions. A message from the author, Allie Esiri William Wordsworth once wrote of beauty ‘felt along the heart’, like waves beating along a shore. We feel poems along the heart – they wash over us and, though we might not notice the impact they make, they leave the shores of our hearts a little changed. Great poems make us more human. They introduce us to new ways of seeing the world. They force us to imagine what it might be like to be someone completely different – and they show us that someone completely different is just as human as we are. When I discovered poetry as a child, I remember stumbling over weird and wonderful words whose meaning I felt far from understanding, but I think I knew then that poetry held an extraordinary power. My childhood private passion has become my career: I spend most of my time reading poetry, writing about poetry and banging the metaphorical drum for poetry. Over the past few years I’ve tried to remind people how remarkable and exhilarating poetry is. Poetry will stay with you for life. We use it to help us come to terms with the big things in life: love, friendship, loss, nature, beauty and the passing of time. People write and read poems for landmark events – weddings, funerals, political uproars or tragic disasters. But I wanted to share in this collection that poetry can also be for the small things in life, for the everyday. This anthology contains a poem for each and every night of the year. More than being just a sequence of beautiful poems to share at Introduction bedtime, however, this is a journey through culture and history and the seasons. Near April Fool’s Day are poems that are complete nonsense but huge fun to read aloud, such as Lewis Carroll’s bizarre ‘Jabberwocky’. And there are poems on certain dates that tell us about the traditions of other cultures and religions. There are poems written about historical events, like the sinking of the Titanic or the seminal moment in the Civil Rights Movement in America when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus. I hope that there is a poem here for everyone – something for every night and every mood and every person, whose lines never leave you but remain inside the private library of your brain, and whose beauty you feel as Wordsworth did: along the heart. Julia Eccleshare's Picks of the Month for September 2016 A Poem for Every Night of the Year compliled by Allie Esiri Gruffalo Crumble and Other Recipes by Julia Donaldson A Child of Books by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston Beck by Mal Peet and Meg Rosoff Tom's Midnight Garden Graphic Novel by Philippa Pearce and Edith Jinks and O'Hare Funfair Repair by Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntryre
In a nutshell: 366 poems, an inspiring new anthology ‘Poetry powerhouse’ Allie Esiri follows up the bestselling A Poem for Every Night of the Year with another lively, inspiring collection. There’s a huge range of poems included, by poets old and new, and from across the world. Each poem is linked to a particular day, some very closely – Mary Elizabeth Coleridge’s I Saw a Stable for Christmas Day, Valentine by Wendy Cope for 14th February – while other connections are more tangential: Blake’s Jerusalem for 12th July, the day James Hargreaves applied for a patent for the spinning jenny. Esiri tells us to think of these poems as ‘a boost of words for the day ahead’, and they are just that, a short connection with another human being. The more poetry in our lives, the better, and this is a book everyone in the family will enjoy. ~ Andrea Reece
Age 14+. Former Children’s Laureate Anne Fine’s own passion for poetry spills out of this collection and its pair. Choosing a dazzling selection of poems from across the centuries – some very well-known and others less so - Anne Fine has gifted readers ready access to the treasure trove of poems that she loves herself. In her added notes to some of the poems, she offers useful background information and a glossary of the less familiar words. Both volumes are an ideal and handy way into poetry for all.To view Lovereading4kids’ latest poetry selection click here.
The title poem launches a witty and varied anthology made the more tempting by the suitably benign monster on its attractive cover. Brian Moses writes entertainingly about a funky crocodile called Burt, What An Ardvark Likes to Do Best and When The Queen Came to Tea.
A fantastic collection of modern poems all about school from the talented poet Brian Moses. There are rhyming poems and funny poems and lots of poems about teachers - and exactly what they get up to behind the staffroom door and that's just the beginning of the school adventure in this brilliant collection of poems.
Brian Moses is one of our most widely read and popular poets, a regular visitor to schools and festivals. This collection gathers together over 100 of his best poems. It includes some of the poems that make his public performances such barnstorming hits – Walking With My Iguana, What Teachers Wear in Bed – but also more thoughtful poems, such as the beautiful title poem Lost Magic, with its mournful refrain ‘but there are no unicorns now’. My favourite is probably The Bonfire at Barton Point, a vivid description of a particular moment of childhood, but everyone will have their own. ~ Andrea Reece
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