Pause for Poetry: Yapping Away: Poems to Fill the World with Laughter
Joshua Seigal is well known for his humorous and inspiring poems and his most recent collection is every bit as wonderful as the others. Full of excellent poems, it is perfect for sharing at home, school or for curling up with on your own. With the start of the new school year rapidly approaching, it is well worth having to hand for those odd moments which need a poem or two!
The poems are playful, drawing on the everyday and inviting the reader to look at things differently. Like many, ‘Fill the World’ would be great fun to perform, adding actions – and/or creating new verses and performing these. The use of word play and pattern mean that children will pick many of the poems up without any effort, joining in with repetition- Icky Sticky Choccy Biccy, Happy or Sleepy Dust, for example, and thoroughly enjoying deciding how to present them. ‘Magic!’ is another which is calling out to be shared and which children would really enjoy using the structure to create their own versions.
These really are poems which will fill the world with laughter, but Joshua Seigal also offers places to pause and think. Drawing my Grandma is full of lovely images, but ends with a poignant thought. Sad perfectly encapsulates that inexplicable feeling of sorrow which hit us all from time to time- great for initiating discussions and exploring feelings.
Many of the poems here would be perfect for inspiring children to create their own and Joshua Seigal has included ideas at the end of the book for the reader to try. Some of these would make great getting-to-know-you activities for the first days back to school.
Although aimed at a younger audience, these poems would work well with children of any age, helping them to explore poetic techniques and offering enjoyable examples. Even the subjunctive seems less hideous when in a poem! Other poems like ‘Lots’ are just perfect for PSHE for exploring ideas and encouraging discussion in these lessons or as the basis for an assembly.
With illustrations by Sarah Horne adding to the humour of the poems, Yapping Away’ is a wonderful collection- a must have addition to any teacher’s collection!
Yapping Away: Poems to Fill the World with Laugher
Joshua Seigal, illustrated by Sarah Horne
Bloomsbury ISBN: 978-1472972743
