Pause for Poetry: Blow a Kiss, Catch a Kiss

This is a delightful collection for babies and toddlers which offers poems about their everyday experiences. Gathered into four sections- All About Me, Out and About, What Do I Feel? and At Home- Joseph’s poems capture the essence of the things which shape a little one’s day and the simple joy of these experiences.

The poems play with sounds and word families, making them easy to learn and even easier to interact with. You can’t help but join in with the ‘Dancing Families’, use the bubbles in a bath to follow the actions of ‘Bubble Pop’ or gather your own imaginative collection after reading ‘Collecting’.

There are poems which share love and hugs and those which help develop empathy and understanding of feelings. Many of the poems could be used as action rhymes- Stomp, Sneak, Dance, Blow a Kiss- which families could add their own ideas and verses to. ‘Take a Deep Breath’ is a wonderful poem for encouraging calm and could easily become part of a daily routine just as ‘Dreamtime’ is the perfect poem for ending a busy day.

Each poem is worthy of comment, but two of my favourites are ‘Take a Book from The Shelf’ and ‘Some Words’ which offer plenty to chat about as well as being great poems! Nicola Killen’s illustrations are full of fun and energy, perfectly capturing the essence of the poems.

Brilliant for home and school- a collection for everyone!

Blow a Kiss, Catch a Kiss

Joseph Coelho, illustrated by Nicola Killen

Andersen Press ISBN: 978-1839131363

Originally reviewed for Reading Zone.

You can read my review of The Boy Lost in the Maze here.