Poetry Pizza
Simon Mole, illustrated by Tom McLaughlin
Otter-Barry Books

There’s a plethora of playful poems and some more serious ones to be found in this first collection for older children by Simon Mole.

Of the light-hearted offerings, one I particularly like is The Blop. It starts by describing a hot bath and its effects: ‘When the bath’s so hot / that your cheeks turn pink / and the steam is so thick / you can’t see.And your eyes are only half open anyway / because they feel so droopy / because you feel so droopy / that you can’t get out of the bath / … In our house, we call that / The Blop.’ If anything should encourage children to invent their own words for things, that’s surely it.
I love too the playfulness of LOL, which begins thus: Lemurs On Lawnmowers! LOL! / Labradoodles on Lavatories LOL!’
There’s further fun in BRB, a great demonstration of the use of abbreviations: examples given are ‘Baking Raisin Biscuits’ and ‘Babysitting Ryan’s Buffalo’.

Of the more feeling centred poems my favourites are I Need A Hug and 60 Second Spell For Being Here And Being You – that’s one for people of all ages.

I could go on enthusing but I’ll finish by saying, there’s lots here for everyone, some accompanied by a fun drawing by Tom McLaughlin and whether or not you’re already a poetry enthusiast, get your hands on a copy of this, it’s full of tasty offerings.