An Imaginary Menagerie

by Roger McGough

A collection of humorous poems asking "ever see a ...?" and featuring an extraordinary mix of newts playing flutes, aardvarks barking, baboons in hot-air balloons and even cats sitting on mats.

Genres: Poetry, Childrens

Published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Milly]

I enjoyed this book as it portrayed the animals in ways which I have never heard before. I especially enjoyed reading the Loch Ness monster poem as I have Scottish heritage in me and some children will have never heard of it before and will make them think whether they think it is true as well! There are many animals within the book that are quite unusual so could open up discussions about what they are and where they’re from!

[Kalilah]

Another children's poetry book with an ugly-ass cover. I think it has something to do with the era they're printed in (2011 I'm looking at you). They loved that rusty red in those days, with clashing navy blues *heaves ever so slightly*
This one I also purchased from the library, and it wasn't quite as a success as the others but there're still some gems to be found in it. The theme of animals, both imaginary and real, is fun.
An example of the poetry style is:

A 13-amp slug
you are likely to find
in the garden under a rock,

Be careful
how you pick it up

You might get
a nasty shock.

Noting that I have not picked the best poem to use as an example because time is of the essence here, and I can't be bothered to flick through the whole book to identify it.
Most of the poems are accompanied by rather witty illustrations, which I also enjoyed.

[Shae Weir]

I'd give this 5 if there weren't so many things about it I still don't fully get as an adult, even after looking up definitions of words. I can't believe this was intended as a children's poetry book. I got this book as a child and I've only just now started to understand some of the puns, references, and language as a 26 year old.

I can't really fault Roger McGough's genius, though. I definitely laughed out loud a few times. I love how silly and light-hearted most of this poetry is!

[Leila Anani]

Collection of animal themed nonsense poetry by the wonderful Roger McGough. This has a feel of Lear and Lewis Caroll about it as it puts animals into bizarre situations usually beginning with the words "Ever see...?"

Ever heard an aardvark bark? Ever see an oyster in a cloister? Full of rhyme, puns and language play these poems will delight readers of all ages. The animals both real and imaginary are listed in an A-Z format.

Tremendous fun.

[kaktus]

You just have to read it to understand what it is