John Foster (4) (1941–)

With poetry from more than seventy authors and engaging colour illustrations, this is an engaging collection that will be treasured by families. Best suited to school age children, authors range from William Shakespeare to Lewis Carroll and Spike Milligan. A perfect accompaniment to the traditional bedtime ‘story.’

This anthology contains over ninety poems having to do with animals. Some are by famous poets and writers such as Rudyard Kipling, Henry Longfellow, Roald Dahl, Emily Brontë, Lewis Carroll and John Keats. Others are by modern poets. The poems are organized by sections according to the type of animals the poems are about: pets, farm animals, insects, wild animals, animals in zoos, sea animals, etc. The illustrations are done by seven illustrators. The styles of the illustrations varies show more greatly, but they usually all have bright hues, which should be appealing to children. Most illustrations are very expressive, and are nice complements to the poems they accompany. However, a few poems are not illustrated, and the blanks on the page are glaring, especially for a book that is meant for younger children. Even some pages with pictures could have been more colorful, with at least a background color instead of white all around, and only a little picture on the page.

Most of the poems are very readable, and they would make great read-alouds. A majority of the poems are cheerful, cute and funny, but some are more somber in tone, especially (and understandably so) in the section about zoo animals. In particular, one poem about a zoo polar bear poignantly captures his sad and monotonous life, as does one about a caged parrot, and another one about a circus elephant. Some of the poems also express broader concern over the future of the animal world, such as “Noah’s Arks” by Pat Moon. Overall, this is a good collection, and it would be particularly engaging to any child who likes animals. Ages 4 to 10. show less

This book may have been written for kids, but it is just as enjoyable for adults. Some of the poems are spooky, some are funny and some are just plain silly, but all of them are fun to read. Some of my favourites are: The Ghoul by Charles Thomson; Locking Up by Ian Serraillier; and The Cupboard on the Landing by John Coldwell.

Lively illustrations and a delightful selection of poetry make this collection great fun to browse. Useful as a classroom resource (check out ‘Finger Paints’ and ‘Sorting Out the Kitchen Pans’) or as a playful alternative to bedtime stories. Have fun!