The Walrus and the Carpenter and Other Favourite Poems by Children's Trust

The Walrus and the Carpenter and Other Favourite Poems by Children's Trust
Buy The Walrus and the Carpenter and Other Favourite Poems by Children's Trust at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Children's Rhymes and Verse
Reviewer: Keith Dudhnath
Summary: Celebrities have chosen their favourite poems, in aid of The Children's Trust. It's a great cause and an enjoyable selection, but it's quite a slim volume - please don't let that put you off getting the book though.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 64	Date: November 2009
Publisher: Walker
ISBN: 978-1406326505
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Celebrities, including Richard Hammond, Paul O'Grady, Sienna Miller, McFly and Lorraine Kelly, have chosen their favourite poems for this anthology. All proceeds from the book go to The Children's Trust. It's a fantastic charity, who help disabled children, and I urge you all to buy a copy of The Walrus and the Carpenter to support them.

There are some excellent choices here, with firm favourites like Roger McGough, Spike Milligan, Carol Ann Duffy and AA Milne. My particular favourite was Paul Cookson's The Hamster's Revenge, as chosen by rugby player Simon Shaw. It's wonderfully silly and every child will be creased up with laughter at the thought of a hamster scampering up dad's trouser leg and biting something it shouldn't. Francesca Major's Barbecue is great fun too, and the 10 year old is a deserving winner of the Children's Trust poetry competition for a place in this book. I hope she keeps writing poetry, as she'll go far.

I feel like a real heel for offering criticism of a charity book - I don't want to put anyone off from getting it, and would say if I thought just donating directly was a better option. It's definitely worth getting, but it's only fair you get an accurate impression of it. It's quite a slim volume, which leaves you feeling like you want a little more from a poetry anthology. I love the idea of getting children to illustrate the book, and they've done so excellently, but as the pictures are just black and white, they don't leap off the page. Of course, colour printing would eat into the profits which go to the charity, so it's absolutely the right choice. That's the overriding feeling with The Walrus and the Carpenter: you want to like it more than you do, but understand why it's like it is. I'd have liked to be able to gush with a bit more praise.

Colin West offers some poetry writing tips, that any budding poet would be well-advised to read. It nicely rounds off an enjoyable selection of poems. Recommended.

A To Z - The Best Children's Poetry From Agard To Zephaniah by Michael Rosen is a fantastic poetry anthology that we fell in love with. For other charity books - albeit for adults - check out People of the Day 3: The Rich and Famous Caricatured by Peter Wynter Bee and Lucy Clapham and Ox-Tales: Fire by Oxfam. We've also enjoyed You Tell Me! by Roger McGough, Michael Rosen and Korky Paul (illustrator).

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You can read more book reviews or buy The Walrus and the Carpenter and Other Favourite Poems by Children's Trust at Amazon.com.

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