Don't Put Mustard in the Custard

by Michael Rosen, Quentin Blake

Poems of the absurd accompanied by the illustrator Quentin Blake.

Genres: Poetry, Childrens, Picture Books

32 pages, Paperback

First published May 14, 1987

About the author

Michael Rosen, a recent British Children’s Laureate, has written many acclaimed books for children, including WE'RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, and I’M NUMBER ONE and THIS IS OUR HOUSE, both illustrated by Bob Graham. Michael Rosen lives in London.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Laura]

Michael Rosen was a huge influence on me as a kid. Before I knew what a poet was, I wrote and loved poetry. I just thought it was an occupation I could have. These poems are very funny for kids, but my goodness Underground used to terrify me!

[Beverley]

I really enjoyed this Poem book. It was a favourite of mine as a child. My favourite line was "don't put gravy on the baby" from the 'Don't' poem. The repetition is really funny throughout. The poems capture every day events and children's imagination of everyday objects. The pictures throughout are excellent. This book could be used for a poetry module for KS1, or it could be read to the children during story time.

[Ketutar Jensen]

Short silly poems, love it!

[Miriam Blair]

The height of poetry.

[Alice Streatfeild]

Don’t put mustard in the custard has to be the best poem from this. It speaks to so many times children are told not to do something and the suggestions are pretty absurd! The poem uses rhyme and the playfullness of the language lends itself to being read aloud.

It is a great poem that I have seen been used to teach year 5 students about how poetry can be performed and read in different ways to bring the humour or the message of the respective poem to life.
The subject of the poem, i.e. about being told to not do things, is a subject close to children's own experience and the use of rhyme provides a pattern. In English it could be used as a scaffold and a starting structure for students to write their own poem, both mimiking the structure of this one, and then going on to write their own.
It could also be used within a PHSE lesson to talk about rules and choices children have, or why perhaps someone may do the things listed in the poem. It could lend itself to a discussion about societal norms, or even about the joy of being silly and the freedom of expression.

[Zayneea]

[read in "mustard, custard, grumble belly and gravy"]

[Christine Biles]

Great fun poetry book for children. The students loved it! Particularly the silliness it brings to poems.