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The
Instant Poetry Library (by
Anthony Wilson)
Quick,
Let's Get Out of Here, Michael Rosen, illustrated by Quentin
Blake (Puffin)
Fifteen years old and still going strong Quick, Let's Get Out of
Here has saved my life on more wet Wednesdays than any other
book of children's poetry. Why? Because it speaks to children directly,
honestly and with humour about their lives. Resolutely unsentimental,
this is the book that made poems about food and families the boom
industry it now is. Start off with 'Go Kart', 'Orange Juice', 'Chocolate
Cake' and 'The Watch'.
The
Rattlebag, edited by Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes (Faber and Faber)
Defying categorisation and set out in the true democracy of alphabetical
order by title, it's hard to imagine The Rattlebag being
bettered as an all- round introduction to memorable poetry across the
ages. From Shakespeare to Stevie Smith, Holub to Hopkins it contains
classics you'll always want near to hand, and many more you've never
heard of.
This
Poem Doesn't Rhyme, edited by Gerard Benson (Puffin)
A real rarity, this: a poetry anthology that manages to stay fresh from
start to finish without falling back on the old favourites. The opening
section on form is especially useful, taking you through haiku, blank
verse, shape-poems and syllabics. Includes gem-obscurities like Carl
Sandburg's 'Buffalo Dusk' and 'The Mother's Song' (from the Eskimo) up
to new favourites 'Fishbones Dreaming' (Matthew Sweeney) and 'The Shoes'
(John Mole).
A
Caribbean Dozen: Poems from Caribbean Poets, edited by John Agard
and Grace Nichols, illustrated by Cathie Felstead (Walker Books)
Thirteen
poets, including well-known names like James Berry and Valerie Bloom and
introducing poets who should be as recognisable, among them Marc
Matthews, whose 'I Love The' is one of the great food poems from this or
any other culture. Lavishly illustrated and with useful introductions by
each poet, it's a great taster for the diversity of Caribbean
poetry.
The
Walker Book of First Rhymes (Walker Books)
A
Greatest Hits from the Walker back-catalogue, this includes verse from
authors as diverse as Shirley Hughes, Grace Nichols, Michael Rosen and
Catherine and Laurence Anholt. Ideal for very young children, you
encounter playground rhymes collected by the Opies, nonsense from Sarah
Wilson and 'Caveman Dave' from Nick Sharratt: "Dave really
is/extremely brave -/but Dave's sister/Ava is braver!" Enormous
reading-out-loud-fun.
The
Oxford Treasury of Classic Poems, edited by Michael Harrison and
Christopher Stuart-Clark. (Oxford University Press)
The Puffin Book of Classic Verse, edited by Raymond Wilson.
(Puffin)
It
really is hard to distinguish between these two excellent anthologies.
Ideally you should have both on your shelf, the former for the
gorgeousness of its production, the latter for its breadth and range.
They do cross over into one another, but this should not trouble you: if
it's a classic you're after, it's in these two books. Including: 'The
Night Mail', 'Adlestrop', 'Jabberwocky', 'Tarantella' and 'Dover Beach'.
Collected
Poems for Children, Charles Causley, illustrated by John Lawrence
(Macmillan)
Few
poets, if anyone, have written as memorably for children this century,
or with as much range. From 'Timothy Winters', 'My Mother Saw a Dancing
Bear' and 'I Saw a Jolly Hunter' to 'Colonel Fazackerley' and 'Who?'
Charles Causley's gift is for taking the ordinary and twisting it, in
Ted Hughes' phrase, into "a final strangeness of elegance".
You must read him.
A
Ring of Words, Roger McGough (Faber, 1998)
For
my money the best anthology of children's poetry for at least a decade
-and not all of it is 'children's poetry'! Marvellously illustrated by
Satoshi Kitamura (of Angry Arthur fame), the book is divided up into
'chapters' with titles like 'Be Like the Bird', 'Chalks of Many Colours'
and 'Thoughts Like an Ocean'. The result is a thoughtful but hugely
entertaining wander through poetry down the ages. Includes names you
know (Larkin, Rossetti, Kipling) and those you will want to get to know
better (Stanley Cook, Jackie Kay, Theodore Roethke).
-
list compiled by Anthony Wilson (2000)
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