The Booktime Book of Fantastic First Poems

by June Crebbin

An abridged version of The Puffin Book of Fantastic First Poems.

Contains 41 poems for young children.

Genres: Poetry, Picture Books, Humor, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Karen Hammond · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of various short poems, the first 21 about animals and the second 20 are fun and nonsense poems. A couple of the poems do seem like complete nonsense, but these are the ones that the children enjoy the most. There is a poem in here for most tastes!

The book is an interesting tool for teaching regular rhythm and rhyme to children, in a simple style they will enjoy. It’s an inviting book to flick open on a page, and just read a short poem aloud. This could be used quite effectively in a KS1 classroom, to engage their interest in poetry. It is also a nice book to have in the class book corner, to let children flip through themselves or to take home and read aloud.

[Fazeena · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ‘Booktime book of fantastic first poems’ is an excellent book to read to children as there are many short poem’s that children can learn. There are different types of poems from short poems to long poems. There are also nonsense poems which are fun to read and learn.

This book has interesting poems that are exciting to read and the use of images, engages the reader. This book can be used in lessons as well as in the reading corner. You can use the book to teach children about different types of poems as well as getting children to hear rhymes. It could also be used for independent reading.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favourite poetry book as it includes such a variety of poems. It is aimed at younger children, so key stage one, however, key stage two children would still enjoy reading these poems. It's split into two sections, the first includes animal poems, and the second includes fun and nonsense poems. Key stage two children often enjoy reading the nonsense poems for pleasure as they are usually very funny. These poems are ones that could be read occasionally throughout the week to the children as a fun alternative to them reading silently.

[Lana Pierpoint-Buckland · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book to have in the classroom. You could use it either as a focus during an English lesson, or a quick time filler as it is so easy to pick up and chose any page and read.

The poems are fun and interesting, with about half being animal poems, and the other half being fun and nonsense poems.

The pictures in the book are engaging and get the children drawn in instantly. This could be used to be read out loud by the teacher, or placed in the book corner for children to look through independently.

[Liz Thorpe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does what is says on the tin providing a first anthology of poems. It is divided into two sections with the first being “animal poems” and the second “fun and nonsense poems”. I prefer the first half as I find the second a little too silly on the whole. The first half includes poems on chicks, caterpillars and tadpoles which are useful in supporting work on life cycles. I would recommend for use in early years and key stage 1.

[Lauren Drake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to have in a school and classroom library for children to look at and flick through whenever they like. The cover is colourful and therefore will draw the children to the book on the shelf. The book includes mainly animal poems and fun and nonsense poems which are suitable for all primary aged children.

[Hana Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic beginners collection of first poems. It has a wide variety of poems to suit all readers as well as a range of illustrations from various illustrators.
The poems are all different topics and styles, including non-rhyming poems.

[Kestrel Class · Rating 4 out of 5]

This poem book is very funny

[Jane Scholey · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite anthologies to use in class with young chn.

[ICT Technician]

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[Zaynab Modaykhan]

I decided to explore a poetry book today as I enjoyed reading and writing poetry when I was in Primary school. This book contains many different poems about various different animals engaged in different adventures. I have always admired the way some authors encapsulate a smooth, rhythmic combination of words in their poems. It just flows on the tongue as you read them aloud, something I thoroughly enjoyed hearing as a child. I like how some of the authors have taken a traditional poem such as 'Hey Diddle Diddle' and 'Hickory Dickory Dock' and given it a innovative twist to them, in a way making them more modern for the children of today. My favourite poem in this book is 'My Name Is..' as it is a real tongue twister! I found the poem entitled 'Yan, Tan, Tether' quite strange as it does not, in my opinion, make any sense at all!
Regardless, still a great book to have on the shelf as a bedtime read for children!

[Natasha Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is packed full with 41 poems, including those from the popular John Agard and John Drinkwater. The poems are all quite short and I feel this makes the book very suitable for children in keystage 1 and lower keystage 2. They are also a collection of very fun poems and therefore ideal in encouraging children to explore and also enjoy poetry. The poems are quite comical such as No Hickory No Dickory No Dock, by John Agard, which tells the story of the mouse who apparently ran up the clock. The mouse in this poem is protesting his innocence and it is quite an amusing read. Another favourite in my class was Eletelephony which was about an elephant trying to use a telephone with disastrous results!
The book is beautifully illustrated and coloured and really allures children to read it. A fantastic poetry book for early readers.

[Francesca Holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of short/long poems regarding animals and fun and nonsense. The animal poems have a range of different animals in different environments. This removes any boredom, because it is not writing about the same type of animal, such as animals that live in the ocean. It is a fun read that has something for everyone’s interest. The poems have easy rhyming patterns that can be picked up and identified easily. So, this poetry book is a good starter for children to be introduced to poetry. Some poems are short, so it allows the children to be able to read it independently. The illustrations are bright and clear which can help with the understanding on the poems meaning.

[Rahena · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very interesting because it has some great all time classic poems such as 'hey diddle diddle' but with a twist. This book is very refreshing and humorous at times. The poems are written in a light hearted manner which is appealing to all young minds. There are short and long poems to engage and excite all readers. The illustrations are engaging and colourful. This book would appeal to children aged between 4-11 years. This book could be used to enhance children's creative writing as well as learning how to write a variety of poems.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a good collection of different poems that engage pupils who listen to them. I have found the children enjoy the rhyming and this is very evident in early years settings.

Some on the poems are hard to understand, but its the rhyming that makes this collection of poems.

[Saifa Begum · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a selection of poems relating or a follow up from well-known rhymes such as, 'humpty dumpty' and 'hickory dickory dock'.
This book is excellent for the early years and onwards, as it has very simple alliteration and rhyming words for children to enjoy and learn from.