Dragon Poems

by John Foster, Korky Paul

Here is a collection of fabulously funny poems put together by John Foster and illustrated with creative genius by Korky Paul. There are poems by a range of authors about dragons in all sorts of situations - chasing teachers, playing the banjo, feasting, fighting knights, or being taken home as pets. Guaranteed to delight, this is a perfect introduction to poetry either at home or at school. John Foster and Korky Paul's poetry partnership began over 10 years ago, with the publication of Dragon Poems. The combination of John's inspired and witty selection of poems, with Korky's crazily imaginative and anarchic illustrations, has proved exceptionally popular.

Genres: Poetry, Childrens, Fantasy

32 pages, Paperback

First published March 19, 1992

About the author

John Foster taught English for twenty years before becoming a full-time writer. He is the author of over 100 books for classroom use including the best-selling PSHE and Citizenship course Your Life. He is also a highly regarded children's poet, anthologist and poetry performer.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Zoe Hickey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book of poetry and the illustrations alongside. The language used is amazing to share with children. It includes lots of similes and language techniques which you could discuss with upper key stage two children.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of 23 poems all of which feature dragons. The poems cover a range of topics and issues from birthdays to loneliness. The poem book could therefore be used to support or complement a variety of school activities or topics for children up to mid key stage two.
Each poem has vivid illustrations which often incorporate humourus slants to the fiery images.

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

April is National Poetry Month!

CC Standards for poetry can be easy to work into the 7th/8th grade English Language Arts curriculum.

It's useful to have daily, weekly or bi-weekly poetry reading and analysis with high-interest -- versus literary -- poems. For this, I found the poems collected in the various books edited by John Foster and Korky Paul generated substantial student enthusiasm.

Foster and Paul have collected poems your students will want to read. The artwork is divine, and the poems lend themselves to daily reading and basic poetry analysis. You'll find the likes of Shakespeare (Macbeth's Witches' Chant) and other classics sprinkled in these volumes, as well.

I bought several copies of each collection, and made them available to table groups. Students worked in groups or pairs to choose and analyze a poem a day using the Poetry Analysis Bellwork Slips.

Or, conversely, you can assign specific poems to analyze. Students used the Trifold Poetry Pamphlets to help identify figurative language devices, types of poety and rhyme schemes.

The sheer number of books in this poetry collection also meant I could use a different book with each table group, ensuring students collaborated with their table peers.

Visit my blog for the free teaching resources / handouts mentioned in this review: http://amb.strikingly.com/blog/teachi...

[Nia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the new edition a couple days ago and it's so beautiful! The artwork is magnificent and the poems are truly interesting - some of them are super funny, others make you pause and think.

[Eleanor Toland · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of poems about dragons, aimed at children, mostly light-hearted and humorous, a few a bit darker- for instance, "The Last Dragon", with it's self-explanatory title.

I was obsessed with this book as a child and recently revisited it to find that it's aged well, especially the lurid, ultra-detailed cartoon illustrations. In the full-page drawings a circle of blue dragons breathe frost into the air, creating the Arctic circle, a mother dragon sits by a river and watches her young play with purloined treasure and the denizens of Hell celebrate a dragon's birthday. Awesome. I remember being bothered by the fact that the dragons had feathered wings when I was a child, but now it makes more sense- dinosaurs had feathers, so why can't dragons? However, the fact that most of the dragons have humanoid noses remains aesthetically troubling then and now.

[Leah Vermillion · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is definitely for the older audiences closer to 4th or 5th grade. The poems are long, however they are very creative and the illustrations make the book even better. With all of the different poems, it would keep a child busy for a while.

[Wilde Sky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains a collection of poems, all featuring dragons, covering everything from ridiculous / amusing situations to loneliness / death.

I really enjoyed this collection (the illustrations were really good) – a great introduction to poetry for children.