Michael Rosen's Book of Nonsense

by Michael Rosen

A collection of rhyming limericks and nonsense, containing all the ingredients of Michael Rosen's poetry - humour, rhyme, repetition and wordplay. Covering all sorts of topics from football to Little Mary Anne who's made of elastic, to dinosaurs. From the author of "We're Going on a Bear Hunt."

Genres: Poetry, Childrens

46 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2003

About the author

Michael Rosen, a recent British Children’s Laureate, has written many acclaimed books for children, including WE'RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, and I’M NUMBER ONE and THIS IS OUR HOUSE, both illustrated by Bob Graham. Michael Rosen lives in London.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Suraia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Michael Rosen’s collection of these nonsense poems are great fun to read and illustrations are also very funny to look at and talk about. I think year 1 and 2 pupils will enjoy reading these poems and looking at the pictures. I think year pupils will also enjoy these especially children who normally would not read may be encouraged to take it from the shelf and talk about the pictures and silly ideas from the poems which in turn will develop communication skills. I think this book would be more for independent reading.

[Andrew Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

On school placement, I've found it challenging at times to come up with some beautiful examples of word play as a poetic device to demonstrate to children, so I was delighted to come across this 'Book of Nonsense' which is based primarily upon plays on words. Michael Rosen manages to bring out the amazing cornucopia of creativity and fun that exists purely in the language we use: children often fear they cannot achieve this for themselves, yet the similarity between Rosen's work and rhymes young children often improvise verbally is striking, helping them realise that they are all highly capable of poetic experimentation and eloquence. From nonsense words such as 'footling' and 'diggety-doo' to nonsense scenarios, such as the clouds raining baked beans, through to incongruous or irreconcilable semantic uses or malapropisms like 'there's nothing in the fridge except Uncle Joe's sneeze' and the repulsively illustrated Yum-Yum, who gobbles up a tennis match, this collection of poetry is bound to engage, entertain and inspire young children to create work of their own which uses language in immensively imaginative ways. Rosen includes limericks, Nick Sharratesque plays on the word 'dinosaurus', and 'what if' scenarios that will extend children's thought-processes way beyond the literal of their life experience: what if Mary-Anne was made of elastic, what if jellyfish lived under rugs, what if cakes baked in the washing-machine? Perhaps my favourite aspect is the way Rosen's hilarious poetry encourages children to think deeply about the various meanings of words and grammar of sentences. The final poem, entitled 'Yesterday' with musical McCartneyesque references, begins: 'The day before yesterday I think I'll go to school. I think I'll take a walk in the local swimming pool. The TV's broken so I think I'll watch The News. I'll be going out barefoot in my sister's shoes.' Herein alone lies extensive opportunity to not only get children to think laterally about language and meaning, but also to explain their thinking in their own words about how contradiction and juxtaposition have been used so effectively, and what depth and range of semantic connotations every word we use encompasses.

[Rebecca Gale · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adore Micheal Rosen's poetry - but nothing beats watching him present them himself on you tube!

[Isobel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of silly poems that will interest and engage children with poetry. My favourite poem is Mary Ann.

[Enya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a mat and I matter.

[Tom Jonesman · Rating 5 out of 5]

My face hurts now from doing my Michael rosen impression again and again and again for my daughter. "Beans" was one that particularly pleased her, and disgusted my brother.

[Nadira Choudhury · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book filled with fantastical poems that will make children revel in the nonsense verse. The reader encounters a humorous situation on every page and will enjoy unstitching the meanings of the mischievous words! Michael Rosen’s poetry displays a range of techniques including, rhyme, repetition and word play. We meet the dog who eats butter in a house on mars, learn about the time when dinosaurs fooled the world and look out for the Bips!

I really enjoyed reading the poems in this book. I felt this book was written in the true spirit of nonsense verse. There were lots of very funny poems, rhymes and limericks. The illustrations by Clare Mackie added an extra layer of humour. The range of situations made the book even more engaging and kept me smiling.

This book would make a fantastic introduction to poetry for children starting KS1 (6/7 Year Olds). The humor and nature of the silly situations would appeal to children and I’m sure this would inspire them to create their own nonsense poems.

This book would be a useful resource to encourage children to be creative and play with words. Encouraging children to be creative in an informal way such as writing nonsense poems, will inspire confidence in using poetry techniques such as rhymes and repetition.

[Unal Olgun · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the title suggests ‘Book of Nonsense’ contains meaningless poems, rhymes, wordplay and limericks that will make children smile and laugh out loud.

This picture book contains 23 poems that are written in such a bizarre way that children will delight in unraveling the meanings of the words. The author ‘Michael Rosen’ is known for writing humorous books for children. The poems are filled with funny rhymes, wordplay and limericks that are enjoyed by children and adults alike. It is certain that this book can change the course of a lesson as reluctant or unwilling readers could benefit due to the humour which may attract them where other, dull or boring books fail. The illustrations add extra humour to the poems and portray the poems in a hilarious way.

The book is cleverly written and it can be used strategically against students that may be reluctant. In addition, it will help teachers practice inclusion whereby no one is left out.

This book is aimed for the 7+ age range. The teacher can read this book to its pupils in a story lesson. Time-to-time, the teacher can stop and let the imagination of children go wild and then explain or unravel the meaning of certain poems.

[Vanessa Henry]

very good