ACHUKA Book of the Day 8 Jul 2025
An ACHUKA Book of the Year 2025
This is the book of the summer! An illustrated hardback collection of some of John Agard’s finest children’s poetry taken from eight previous collections. There is a short general introduction by Darren Chetty but each of the eight sections also has an introduction signed by John.
Introducing the poems taken from his first collection, I Din Do Nuttin, Agard writes:
When I came to Britain in 1977 with my poet wife, Grace Nicholls and our daughter, Lesley, I was already in my twenties, so my childhood memories were very much rooted in Guyana, South America, where I was born and educated.
As I started going to schools all around the UK, giving talks for the Commonwealth Institute, I came across things that were unfamiliar, yet took me back to my childhood.
Take the ‘lollipop lady, for example. I immediately thought this must be a lady who sells lollipops outside the school, the way the ‘sugarcane lady’, as we called her, would sit outside my primary school gate with her tray of goodies, which included sliced mangoes with a pinch of salt, and ‘sugarcake’, made from grated coconut. Of course, I soon realised that the lollipop lady got her name from the shape of her traffic-stopping stick, which inspired the poem Lollipop Lady.
A towering figure in the children’s and YA poetry world, John Agard has chosen favourite poems from eight of his previously published collections: I Din Do Nuttin; Say it Again, Granny; No Hickory, No Dickory, No Dock; Laughter is an Egg; Grandfather’s Old Bruk-a-Down Car; We Animals Would Like a Word With You; Come Back to Me My Boomerang, and Points of View With Professor Peekaboo.
Over 80 poems are included, reflecting the genius of Agard through a range of poetic forms and styles and most of all his extraordinary ability to connect with children of all ages through poetry.
You can follow the book’s illustrator on
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A real honour to write the introduction to The Poetry World of John Agard from @OtterBarryBooks. I shared John’s poetry with many of the classes I be taught over the years. The book is a beautiful collection of greatest hits, edited by @charliehacking pic.twitter.com/NoV61oObwY
— Darren Chetty (@rapclassroom) July 5, 2025
Today’s review…’The Poetry World of John Agard’ by John Agard, illustrated by Shirley Hottier @OtterBarryBooks Fabulous!https://t.co/EiUb8RkJUC pic.twitter.com/1smO2W7NDw
— Throughthebookshelf (@Throughthebook2) July 1, 2025
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