Daydreams and Jellybeans: Poems to be Read Aloud

‘I saw sounds at night/altering the shapes of trees...’ –‘When she leaves/ home, her footsteps/are whispers upon/stone...’ – these are just a couple of opening lines from poems in this anthology by the poet Alex Wharton. What a delight. The title proclaims ‘Poems to read aloud’ – and this the case. The forms may seem traditional – frequently four line stanzas that while seeming to conform to a traditional metre are subtly edgy and offbeat – like speech. Then there are poems that might even be prose – take the wonderful Spiders – others that are shape poems tracing the subject visually on the page. There is no one way to appreciate Alex Wharton’s work. Humour is often seen as the key to attracting a young audience. There is plenty of humour here but married to a reflective lyrical approach around subjects ranging from the natural world to the homeless man on the corner and the trapper children who worked in the mines. Katy Riddell’s deft, lively illustrations add to the pleasure, picking out details, expressions, moments – another dimension to the words.

(And a bonus – a final flourish - a couple of winning poems from two young poets).