The Puffin Book of Utterly Brilliant Poetry

This is a delightful, bright and gorgeously presented collection of poetry featuring the work of 10 popular and successful poets.

The selection has lots of different styles of poetry to enjoy and most poems are charming, funny or ridiculous. Some poems are familiar and probably already well-loved, but all are great fun and children will love the mad, surreal qualities of many verses featured. Each poet's section is accompanied by the work of different illustrators, making the book a wonderfully varied and colourful read.

Distinctive features of this collection are the interviews with each poet at the beginning of their sections which give the reader an interesting sense of their personalities and the roots of their poetry.

A wonderful high-quality selection sure to fire children's imaginations, this glossy book is amazing value. (Age 8-11) --Rachel Ediss

Amazon.co.uk Review
In a future life, Kit Wright would like to be "a brilliant painter, an ace musician, or a really great fast bowler." Spike Milligan went to school in a tent way off in the Indian desert. When he first arrived in England it felt like "living under an inverted bowl of grey." Michael Rosen calls himself "the best thief in the world." What and who does he steal from? Stories and jokes from his own children. If Michael Rosen wasn't a human being, he'd like to be a cockroach.

In this colourful, musical approach to children's verse there are 10 sections, each devoted to a poet and an illustrator. Accompanying each section is a short interview with the poet. So, along with poems about squirdles, sneaking slice after slice of chocolate cake, and having an itch in your nose when your hands are covered with glue, you'll learn cool stuff about the poets too. --Martha Silano