New Releases by Roger McGough

In this evocative and personal collection of poems Roger McGough comes to terms with painful memories as well as confronting fears that are universal. Here he remembers his father in ‘Squaring Up’ and ‘Alphabet Soup’; observes the eccentricities of contemporary life in ‘The City of London Tour’; gives insights into human feeling with the surreal ‘Your Favourite Hat’ and the moving elegy ‘Defying Gravity’; and muses on writing itself with ‘Word Trap’ and ‘The Darling Buds of Maybe’. There are even witty poems dedicated to the chemical elements. Blending the everyday and the magical, his verses sparkle with verbal dexterity, irreverent humour, irony and heartfelt compassion.

A small boy who dreams of running away to the circus is surprised to wake up the next morning and find the circus has run away to join him, overrunning the house with performers, including clowns who delight in throwing custard pies at him. Suggested level: junior.

One of a child's most exciting early challenges is discovering the world of numbers: what do they look like? what do they mean? how does a person answer the questions "how much" and "how many"? The Oxford 123 Book of Number Rhymes is a lively introduction to the numerals one through ten that makes learning about numbers as much fun as it is educational. The book presents each number through imaginative poems and pictures, as well as puzzles, games, jokes, and limericks--all accompanied by happy and colorful illustrations--that directly involve young readers in the explanations. The book also introduces other important concepts through numbers, such as the seven days of the week, the five senses, and other basic elements that make up a young child's world. After they've mastered the individual numerals, the longer poems at the end of the book challenge children to practice counting in sequence. For parents and children to discover together, and for more experienced young readers to explore on their own, The Oxford 123 Book of Number Rhymes is a fine introduction to one of the first important concepts a child will learn.

Analytische annotatie: Gedichten.