Blast off!

by Carole Bromley

From riddles, clerihews, and rhyming couplets, to fairytales, Christmas angels, and magnesium... With poems to curl up with, poems for bedtime, and poems just crying out for audience participation, Blast Off! is a cheeky, curious, and lyrical collection for children. Cathy Benson's playful illustrations bring Blast Off! to life for younger readers, whilst for slightly older readers, there are familiar fairytales that pose troubling perspectives, and a gentle, yet haunting articulation of the adult world: I see them, hundreds of them in boats / like the one we went fishing on, / their faces like my kid brother's / the day he fell into the pond ('Six O'Clock News'). Blast off on an exciting journey into space, the past, fairytales with a difference, under your bed, and, above all, into the imagination. Ten, nine, eight...

Unknown Binding

Reviews

[Sarah Ziman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful collection, ideal for primary-aged children who will recognise themselves and others within its pages, as well as getting a glimpse into childhoods different to their own. 'New Girl' is particularly well observed, describing so well the initial rush of interest in a new classmate, which can all too quickly wear off again, and I loved the poignant 'Test', with its clever narrator at a loss at how to understand the loss of their grandmother. 'Great-Gran's' also took me straight back to my own childhood - riding on a tea-trolley or counting wooden mice on 'Mouseman' furniture is the kind of thing children remember and enjoy about older people's homes - 'not toys, just stuff'.

'Unsuitable Nursery Rhymes' and hearing first-hand from such characters as Goldilocks, the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood, Alice in Wonderland or an 'Ugly Sister' are also bound to please. 'Out of this world poems' indeed!

[Vicky Gatehouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

These poems are witty, engaging and thought-provoking, covering themes that children can relate to - from fidget spinners to 'Plug Hole Monsters'. Everyday school issues are also touched upon with warmth and wit such as poems about the 'Buddy Bench' and 'Sports day Blues'. My daughter also really liked a poem where you make up your own line endings - thus discovering the joys of rhythm and rhyme. If you'd like to introduce your children to poetry, this is an excellent place to start. Can't recommend highly enough!

[Peter J Donnelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this for my niece for Christmas and she was absorbed with it.