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I Don't Like Poetry: By the winner of the Laugh Out Loud Award. ‘Wonderful and imaginative’ The Times
I Dont Like Poetry
88 pages, Paperback
Published September 8, 2016
6 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 16, 2020
Unfortunately, I have a real mental block against poetry because when I was at primary school, we were made to partake in ESB (English Speaking Board). One of the tasks was to memorise and recite a poem to three examiners and my knees used to physically shake. It took any joy out of poetry for me. Until I came across Seigal’s ‘I Don’t Like Poetry’ in the university library this week.
When thinking of poetry, people often think of a traditional verse with four stanzas. The reason this book is so brilliant is because it proves there is no ‘correct’ way to write poetry. Every poem is completely different in structure, design, layout, pace, rhythm and so on. There are tongue twisters and maths poems, there are poems which play on words or rely on musical knowledge and there is a whole BUNDLE of adjectives and interesting vocabulary for children to draw out or pick up on. I particularly enjoyed ‘Dracula’s Love Letter’ – I cannot believe how many synonyms Seigal devised for ‘eat’. Behind all of the fun and laughs there are great English lessons, too. There is a whole poem called ‘Animal House’ based around collective nouns, which has some great vocabulary including ‘flamboyance of flamingos’. At the end of the book Seigal suggests creating a poem with your own collective nouns for things such as a ‘coffee-cup of teachers’. This would be an excellent lesson for KS2 children. The maths poetry is something you could project on the board and ask the children what was happening and what the numbers meant. Do they still think it’s a poem even though it’s numbers not words? The poems are perfect for informal book talk.
Chris Piascik has illustrated it to perfection. Just like the poetry, the illustrations are a bit jumbled, funny, simple yet so effective. They really add to the imagery in the poems and I’m sure will have children giggling away. As the imagery is so strong you could link the poems to drama, particularly as many of the story lines are so relatable for children and draws on real life situations throughout.
Although many of the poems are silly, ranging from friend chicken to the less glamourous, poo, there are some slightly more serious poems. ‘Lies’, in particular, could link with PSHE lessons surrounding anxiety and feeling sad. ‘Not a Care in the World’ is another poem, slightly longer, which has themes of sadness and worry, but the last line is particularly poignant. Due to this, I do believe there is a time and a place for this book. There is potential for immaturity and silliness when reading through, which might not be suitable for every lesson or all children.
The main thing to take away from this book is that poetry doesn’t need to be stuffy, traditional or boring. In fact, it’s quite the opposite and this collection of poems highly supports reading for pleasure.
When thinking of poetry, people often think of a traditional verse with four stanzas. The reason this book is so brilliant is because it proves there is no ‘correct’ way to write poetry. Every poem is completely different in structure, design, layout, pace, rhythm and so on. There are tongue twisters and maths poems, there are poems which play on words or rely on musical knowledge and there is a whole BUNDLE of adjectives and interesting vocabulary for children to draw out or pick up on. I particularly enjoyed ‘Dracula’s Love Letter’ – I cannot believe how many synonyms Seigal devised for ‘eat’. Behind all of the fun and laughs there are great English lessons, too. There is a whole poem called ‘Animal House’ based around collective nouns, which has some great vocabulary including ‘flamboyance of flamingos’. At the end of the book Seigal suggests creating a poem with your own collective nouns for things such as a ‘coffee-cup of teachers’. This would be an excellent lesson for KS2 children. The maths poetry is something you could project on the board and ask the children what was happening and what the numbers meant. Do they still think it’s a poem even though it’s numbers not words? The poems are perfect for informal book talk.
Chris Piascik has illustrated it to perfection. Just like the poetry, the illustrations are a bit jumbled, funny, simple yet so effective. They really add to the imagery in the poems and I’m sure will have children giggling away. As the imagery is so strong you could link the poems to drama, particularly as many of the story lines are so relatable for children and draws on real life situations throughout.
Although many of the poems are silly, ranging from friend chicken to the less glamourous, poo, there are some slightly more serious poems. ‘Lies’, in particular, could link with PSHE lessons surrounding anxiety and feeling sad. ‘Not a Care in the World’ is another poem, slightly longer, which has themes of sadness and worry, but the last line is particularly poignant. Due to this, I do believe there is a time and a place for this book. There is potential for immaturity and silliness when reading through, which might not be suitable for every lesson or all children.
The main thing to take away from this book is that poetry doesn’t need to be stuffy, traditional or boring. In fact, it’s quite the opposite and this collection of poems highly supports reading for pleasure.
June 19, 2022
'I Don't Like Poetry' by Joshua Seigal is a perfect introduction to poetry for children and young adults who find poetry challenging or boring. This book is a collection of poems with an outstanding variety of genres to offer from silly, funny, hilarious poems to more serious poems on offer. This is a captivating collection of poems that can draw in the most reluctant readers of poetry. This collection of poems brings to life the magic of poetry through a very imaginative and fresh feel to poetry. This book is perfect for developing children's love and understanding of poetry that they can build on and develop over time. The fun and comedic poems in this collection are perfect to display in classrooms or give as homework to promote understanding and engagement with poetry.
November 12, 2020
A very engaging book. I can see it as being very relatable for children and it would be a good book to get children interested in poetry. This could help children to think of ways to write their own poetry.
May 28, 2020
So much good poetry!
As a trainee teacher, I can see me using this quite a bit eventually to teach children how to write poetry!!!!
As a trainee teacher, I can see me using this quite a bit eventually to teach children how to write poetry!!!!
June 1, 2020
I absolutely loved this book. It's extremely funny and well written. If you don't like poetry, you'll love it after you've read this book.
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September 22, 2020-Silly poems
'Lovely little poem'
'Lovely little poem'
October 21, 2020
A collection of fun and engaging poems for children who may not be interested in your traditional poetry. Uses clever poetry techniques and still keeping children interested.
October 28, 2020
Love this book, highly entertaining for yr3/4 children. A great way to introduce children to poetry.
Read
November 2, 2021Very good he also came to my school twice
January 5, 2022
This book contains poems hat will make children laugh and can encourage the reluctant children to read more poetry since it might bring many emotions into children
March 3, 2022
A few clear favourites stood out.
March 13, 2022
I bought the book after Joshua customer the school I work in. As an adult I enjoyed it too and loved some of the quirkier poems. Especially love ‘Let’s Hear It For Teachers’!
January 12, 2023
I found this book at work and thought why not. I'm sure I would have enjoyed it tenfold as a kid, but otherwise, its a nice little book of poems
March 12, 2023
Just love it! And the children think it's real too. Funny, engaging, real, silly. Love the rhythm in some, we've rapped, sung, performed and laughed. 😊
April 21, 2019
Fun
I chose this rating because it is AMAZING and really good and exciting and exciting and really funny and yea that's about it
I recommend this too people who love reading and poetry
I liked every little bit of the book because it is funny I only read it in 2 days
I chose this rating because it is AMAZING and really good and exciting and exciting and really funny and yea that's about it
I recommend this too people who love reading and poetry
I liked every little bit of the book because it is funny I only read it in 2 days
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews