Stewart Henderson

A Poet’s Notebook by Stewart Henderson is a collection of poetry with an explanation of what inspired the poem. Henderson is a poet, songwriter, and broadcaster. The Sunday Times described his children’s poetry as ‘essential reading’. Widely anthologized, Stewart’s verse is set for both GCSE and Key Stage in primary schools in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

First, the poetry in this collection is excellent and I wish there were more included in the book. Secondly, the detailed explanations were interesting and even entertaining. Henderson uses Shelley and Malcolm McLaren as a source of inspiration for a single poem. At first, it may seem like an enormous stretch, but Shelley was pretty punk rock in his time, especially when hanging out with Byron.

What I really didn't like was the detailed explanations before the poem. An afterword would have been great or even an introduction covering the poems of the collection in much less detail. I felt a bit robbed in having the poem explained before having an opportunity to read it and form my own opinion of the poem. It felt almost like a spoiler to a book or movie.

I appreciate the poet opening his thought and inspirations to the reader, but it could have been done in a way that did not hamper the discovery of the poem. Presenting the poems first and explaining the inspiration later may have been a better option. Part of the enjoyment of reading poetry is trying to discover what the poet's intention. An excellent concept for a book. The information, poems, and insights are all excellent but it could have been executed better.… (more)