Poetry: Enda Wyleyon poems to engage all ages
A poem is either good or bad. And the best of poetry can often be enjoyed by both adults and children alike. So, although ostensibly the following four collections of poetry are children's books, the energy, imagination and sheer wit of the writing is so apparent throughout that readers of all ages will be easily engaged. Each of these books celebrates what poetry at its very best can achieve - as is impressively demonstrated in The Oxford Book of Children's Poetry (Oxford University Press, £14.99). These poems, compiled by Michael Harrison and Christopher Stuart-Clark, are sure to make avid readers recall their own childhoods and the excitement of first encountering the work of poets like Eleanor Farjeon, Charles Causley, Walter De La Mare and Edward Lear. And of course, children will be wooed, as the anthology is an excellent introduction to many of these poets. But the collection is also highly contemporary.
In Solidarity, Benjamin Zephaniah has an "An army of militant greens/in bio-degradable genes/shout 'Give peas a chance'".
Funny, compassionate, memorable poems complimented by fine illustrations, this book is an absolute pleasure to read.
Glasgow-born Carol Ann Duffy has published seven books of poetry for adults, most recently winning the TS Eliot Prize in 2006 for her collection Rapture. In The Hat, a new collection of poetry for children, Duffy demonstrates the forthright, uncompromising and often tender tone which, over the years, has marked all of her poetry as original. But it is her love of mischief which most endeared this reviewer to the collection. In Harvey Nicks, just one of a series of short poems about Mancunian cows, she writes, "A girl called/ Annabel Jessica Pickles/ bumped into a cow/ in Harvey Nichols".
Great fun is also to be gleaned from a poem like Great Cow Artists, where the litany "Piccowsso/ Moonet/ Michelangelow . . . " is perfect proof as to why Carol Ann Duffy was once employed as a joke writer for Granada Television.
In The Hat, the imaginative title poem, a hat journeys through history, blowing from one literary head to another, quoting famous lines from its owners.
"I was on Chaucer's head when he said He was a verray,/ parfit gentil knight". A collection of poetry as inventive and educational as it is entertaining, it is also wittily illustrated by David Whittle.
In the absorbing CD accompanying her new collection, Red, Cherry Red, Jackie Kay tells of a little girl in Ireland who demanded at a reading, "What do poems mean? Are they about love or pity, sadness or revenge?".
Kay answered that they were about all that, later writing a poem as powerful as the child's question, called Double Trouble, which can be read in this new book.
The poem is just one of the many in this excellent collection demonstrative of the imaginative powers inherent in Jackie Kay's poetry - work which, from her debut collection, The Adoption Papers, has never failed to engage. The very first poem in Red, Cherry Red, centres on children with facial deformities and Kay tackles the theme ingeniously. The child's face in the poem is a map of Australia. "When people gaped and gawped and gawked/ I thought they were trying to find Alice Springs".
In fact, the entire book intrigues and inspires because of the heartfelt way in which Kay responds to her many themes - Burnley Forest trees, fishermen, stick insects, knitters, numbers and the cat Cat Mandu, to name just a few.
When the collections are read together, Kay's gentler voice contrasts sharply with the often brazen humour of Duffy. But the two voices are valid - Kay's poems in Red, Cherry Red winning the reader over with their deceptive simplicity and genuine heart.
Finally, true to the title of his new book of poems, Kerry poet Gabriel Fitzmaurice has enthusiastically stuffed the pages of Really Rotten Rhymes with those really rotten moments that children relish, all humorously illustrated by Stella Mac Donald. Burps, pimples, poohs, snots, farting teachers and many more revolting themes in this book will no doubt keep young readers giggling for a while - but it's possible they might also appeal to what Fitzmaurice calls "the naughty child's place in many adult hearts".
Enda Wyley has published three collections of poetry with Dedalus Press. Her novel for 10-year-olds, The Silver Notebook, is published by O'Brien Press