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You are here: Home / Archives for Poetry/Tales

At the Height of the Moon: A Book of Bedtime Poetry and Art ed. Annette Roeder, Alison Baverstock, Matt Cunningham

November 3, 2021 By achuka Leave a Comment

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Drawing from centuries of artistic and literary traditions from around the world, this  bedtime book pairs works of art with poems and short fiction. Divided into eight thematic sections it features dozens of double-paged spreads that families will turn to again and again as part of their bedtime routine. The carefully chosen, diverse selection of images includes works by John Singer Sargent, Georgia O’Keeffe, Utagawa Hiroshige and Henri Le Sidoner among many others, beautifully reproduced in luminous colour. Accompanying these artworks are poems, mediations and short fiction that range from lighthearted verse to eerie folktales. Together these words and pictures create meaningful impressions that children will treasure and remember as they drift off to sleep-and hold onto for the rest of their lives.

Filed Under: Poetry/Tales

Carnival of the Animals by Michael Morpurgo

November 3, 2021 By achuka Leave a Comment

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Collaborating once more with iconic artist, Michael Foreman, Morpurgo’s poems are inspired by The Carnival of the Animals – a humorous musical by the French composer Camille Saint-Saens. Building on this classic framework, Michael has added many more animals – they speak in their own voices, full of humour and brio, to tell of their lives and the impact of humanity on their habitats.

With full colour illustrations throughout, this celebrated partnership has created a gift book with a strong ecological message that will also ignite a love of poetry in young readers and will appeal to fans of The Lost Words. Above all it is a celebration of the natural world in verse, a book to treasure and to inspire.

Michael Morpurgo has sold over 35 million books globally, many of them illustrated by Michael Foreman.

Filed Under: Gift, Poetry/Tales Tagged With: animals, poems, poetry

The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers: And Other Gruesome Tales by Jen Campbell ill. Adam de Souza

October 29, 2021 By achuka Leave a Comment

ACHUKA Book of the Day 29 Oct 2021

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“Creepy and progressive.” KIRKUS
“Gleefully retold…” Publishers Weekly
“These are not saccharine, happy, good triumphs over evil, happily ever after, warm fuzzy bedtime stories. No, these fairy tales hark back to the original folklore tales that sought to teach children life lessons, sometimes harsh, sometimes with shock value, but always with a well-intentioned moral compass. Think Grimm’s tales told with a splash of Roald Dahl from a world turned upside-down. Despite being rooted in history and oral traditions, these stories are peculiarly modern and relevant.” School Reading List

Drawing on her extensive knowledge of fairy tale history, Campbell’s stories undo the censoring, gender stereotyping and twee endings of some modern interpretations, to return both classic and little-known stories to their grim versions, whilst celebrating a diverse range of characters.

Featuring 14 short stories from around the globe, The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers is illustrated in a contemporary style by Canadian comic artist Adam de Souza. De Souza’s brooding illustrations are a highly original blend of 19th-century Gothic engravings and moody film noir graphic novels. Beautifully produced in a hardback format with a rose gold ribbon marker, The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers is highly liftable and collectible.

Follow Adam de Souza, a Canadian illustrator and comic book artist, on Instagram:

 

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A post shared by Adam (@kumerish)

https://youtu.be/0KU_-CMoGMk

sample spread

Filed Under: BookOfTheDay, Gift, Poetry/Tales

When Poems Fall From The Sky by Zaro Weil ill. Jun Li Song

October 13, 2021 By achuka 1 Comment

ACHUKA Book of the Day 13 Oct 2021

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Published in association with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, When Poems fall from the Sky celebrates the marriage of science and poetry.

The poems, story-poems, raps, rhymes, haiku and little plays inside this fantastical anthology about nature are a riot of imagination, humour and joy. In exquisitely illustrated full colour pages trees, birds, animals, rivers, flowers, mountains and insects each share their own magical stories. And the stories they tell, the ‘poems’ that fall from the sky, subtly and powerfully illuminate our hope and collective role as guardians of our earth.

Zaro and Junli’s first book, Cherry Moon, winner of the 2020 CLIPPA Poetry Award and an ACHUKA Book of the Day, received widespread praise and admiration for its beautiful poetry and stunning illustrations, also by Junli Song.

Junli Song is an artist and storyteller with a rather unusual background, having previously studied economics and international development at the University of Chicago and then the University of Oxford, respectively. Since then, she has completed a Master’s in children’s book illustration, and is currently exploring storytelling in many guises, including traditional illustration, alternative book forms, and fine art prints.
Follow her on Instagram:

 

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Filed Under: BookOfTheDay, Gift, Illustrated, Poetry/Tales

The Beasts Beneath Our Feet by James Carter ill. Alisa Kosareva

October 12, 2021 By achuka Leave a Comment

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Dig down through the layers of the Earth and travel back in time. Meet the trilobites that scuttled and crawled; the munching, crunching dinosaurs; and a herd of roaming woolly mammoths. This rhyming read will take you on a prehistoric adventure!

Filed Under: Illustrated, Poetry/Tales

Tomorrow Is Beautiful ed. Sarah Crossan

October 6, 2021 By achuka Leave a Comment

ACHUKA Book of the Day 7 Oct 2021 (National Poetry Day)

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“I have always believed poetry should serve everyone, and as the Irish Children’s Literature Laureate from 2018 to 2020 I spearheaded a project called We Are The Poets, which sought to deliver poems to those who thought it couldn’t be theirs. I hope this anthology will be an extension of this work with the added goal of inviting readers to feel hopeful about tomorrow. Reading, and specifically poetry, has guided me through the dark days of this pandemic and I cannot wait to share these word-cures with as many people as possible. Choosing poems from greats such as Langston Hughes and Emily Dickinson wasn’t easy, but it was wildly exciting. Even more exciting was choosing incredible work from contemporary poets and having the opportunity to create new work myself.”
the anthologist, Sarah Crossan, quoted in The Bookseller

A poetry anthology ontaining a selection from classic poets such as Langston Hughes, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson and Christina Rossetti, as well as contemporary poems chosen.

Perfect Christmas gift.

Follow Sarah Crossan on Instagram:

 

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Filed Under: BookOfTheDay, Gift, Poetry/Tales

Once Upon a Tune: Stories from the Orchestra by James Mayhew

September 8, 2021 By achuka Leave a Comment

ACHUKA Book of the Day 9 Sep 2021
Sunday Times Children’s Book of the Week 12 Sep 2021

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“A simply stunning book crafted with love and skill.” BfK 5-star review

This magnificent and generous picture book (it has 90+ pages) sets out to be the “beginning of an exciting musical journey”—you can tell that creating it has been a heartfelt project and mission for James Mayhew, who both recounts the stories and illustrates them, in a style perfectly fitted to the target audience (of children aged 5+).  I wish I had had access to a book like this when I was young, which highlights the fact that its most appreciative readers will be those who do not already listen to or have access to the six pieces of music by different composers (Dukas, Sibelius, Rimsky-Korsakov, Grieg and Rossini) that the book features. In its back pages there are useful notes from the author explaining the sources of the stories and how they inspired the musical compositions.

The book is beautifully designed, with endpapers of repeating motifs from the stories inside. The font size is large and easy on the eye. The words always stand out well from the background and, especially on the larger spreads, are cleverly co-ordinated with  the artwork. From the opening illustration (showing the Sorcerer’s towers and turrets, some composed of musical notation) to the last (the dawning of a new day at the conclusion to William Tell), the artwork is breathtakingly good.

ACHUKA cannot recommend this book highly enough.

James Mayhew is well-known for bringing live classical music, art and storytelling to families across the UK, and is sure to be actively promoting this book on his social media channels.

 

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A post shared by James Mayhew, illustrator (@mrjamesmayhew)

The stories are excitingly told and stunningly illustrated byThere are also Musical Notes where you can find out more about the stories and music, plus James’s recommended recordings to download and listen to.

Here is a Spotify playlist featuring the pieces of music from the book:

Filed Under: Blog, BookOfTheDay, Books, Illustrated, Poetry/Tales Tagged With: music

African and Caribbean Folktales, Myths and Legends – Wendy Shearer

September 2, 2021 By achuka Leave a Comment

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Enjoy a rich collection of folktales, myths and legends from all over Africa and the Caribbean, re-told for young readers. From the trickster tales of Anansi the spider, to the story of how the leopard got his spots; from the tale of the king who wanted to touch the moon, to Aunt Misery’s magical starfruit tree. This book includes traditional favourites and classic folktales and mythology.

Follow Wendy Shearar on Instagram:

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Filed Under: Poetry/Tales

Hey, Girl! poems by Rachel Rooney ill. Milo Hartnoll

September 2, 2021 By achuka Leave a Comment

ACHUKA Book of the Day 2 Sep 2021

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“This is a special collection, skillfully written and imbued with insight, warmth, encouragement and reassurance which should be in the hands of teenage girls everywhere.” BfK 5-star review

A new collection of some 50 poems (only  7 of which have previously appeared) by one of the best poets writing today is certainly something to say Hey! about. In a short introduction, Rooney reflects on a 4-line poem written when she was just 13 following a rooftop adventure. The four-line fragment opens the collection and Rooney writes: “It was the last poem I wrote as a child. And it was many years before I returned to reading or writing poetry. But thinking back, I wish I’d carried on. Poetry might have helped me navigate some of the highs and lows that every teenager experiences. And more specifically, the experiences of an undiagnosed autistic girl.”

I’ve always liked Rooney’s work for its spareness and lack of gush. At times it reminds me of Emily Dickinson, as in the opening lines of ‘Yew’:

Before, a redwing left a berried branch
and carried off the fruit that tasted sweet

Is she a children’s poet? I prefer to think of her as a poet whose work can speak to children and young adults, but can also be fully appreciated on its own terms by readers of any age. There are a couple of poems here that teachers will find useful. ‘Idea’, which begins

My head is kinda empty
like a bucket with a hole,
or a vault that stored the money
that a nifty burglar stole

is a clever demonstration of how it’s possible to get past the “I don’t know what to write” roadblock.

‘Punctuation’ is a brilliant aide-memoire that could be pinned to the classroom wall.

Rooney’s poems are always well-formed, even when they are not following a strict pattern, but I think I like it best when her command of rhythm and rhyme is fully on display. ‘Mask’ and ‘Worry Doll’ are cases in point:

I had a little worry doll with peg-legs made of wood.
I bound her up in woollen thread as tightly as I could.

A strip of tablecloth was cut to fix the skirt of lace.
Carefully, in felt-tip pen, I fashioned her a face.

And there is the superb 64 Squares with its clever 3-line format and repeated refrain:

A game? A sport? To me, it’s simply stress.
I’d rather Scrabble or Articulate.
Perhaps that’s why my love-life is a mess.

The black-and-white illustration accompanying this poem shows a small figure dwarfed by a giant Knight, a fallen King-piece by her side.

I gently tip my tired king to rest
and stop the clock. I’m choosing not to date.
I’ll never understand the rules of chess.
Perhaps that’s why my love-life is a mess.

The collection’s final poem, ‘Credit’, begins

At the end of the movie she walks a dirt track,
disappears in a heat-haze without looking back.

Rooney has threatened that this may be her final collection. Is it believable that such a fine poet can decide to silence herself? I hope not.

The illustrator, Milo Hartnoll, is an artist and founder of the art-collective Cane-Yo.
Follow him on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/milohartnoll/

 

 

Filed Under: Blog, BookOfTheDay, Books, Poetry/Tales Tagged With: poetry

Caterpillar Cake: Read-Aloud Poems to Brighten Your Day by Matt Goodfellow ill. Krina Patel-Sage

August 27, 2021 By achuka Leave a Comment

ACHUKA Book of the Day 27 Aug 2021
Shortlisted for 2022 CLiPPA Award

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A simply delightful collection of new poems for the very young. A must-have for anyone involved in early years education. Single-poet collections of this kind usually have four or five stand-out poems with the remainder a bit so-so. That’s not the case here. There’s only one somewhat weak poem in this book—a short counting poem which seems out of place with others in the collection, but maybe I’m missing something. The other 15 are superb and it’s hard to pick a favourite but I particularly liked ‘Hide and Seek’:

hide in a slipper
hide in a shoe
hide in a bottle
of PVA glue

Hardback picture-book poetry collections don’t come along very often, so treasure this one. Highly recommended for childminders, nurseries, Reception classes and, of course, parents of young children.

Follow the illustrator on Instagram:

 

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A post shared by Krina Patel-Sage (She/Her) (@sageillo)

Filed Under: Blog, BookOfTheDay, Books, Illustrated, Poetry/Tales Tagged With: early years, poetry, read-aloud, young

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