The Oxford Book of Story Poems

by Michael Harrison, Christopher Stuart-Clark

How many of one's favorite poems are story poems? This is a wonderful collection of over sixty narratives in verse with thrilling tales, silly nonsense rhymes, tragic poems that will keep you in suspense, and funny, quirky poems that will delight over and over again. All the classic poems you
would expect to see are here, such as 'Jabberwocky', 'The Pied Piper of Hamelin', 'The Highwayman', 'The Lady of Shalott', and 'The Owl and the Pussycat' and these combine with more modern but equally satisfying poems to make a rich and varied anthology. Authors include Hilaire Belloc, Edward Lear,
Walter de la Mare, J.R.R. Tolkien, James Reeves, Roger McGough, and Michael Rosen.

Genres: Poetry, Childrens, Anthologies

176 pages, Paperback

First published November 8, 1990

About the author

Michael Harrison has written four teenage novels and has edited many highly-acclaimed poetry anthologies.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoughtfully compiled book of story poems, many of which will not be immediately familiar but are worth knowing. The illustrations add just the right note, a blend of black and white sketches and colorful spreads. Opening with the brief Fairy Story by Stevie Smith proving that a story poem need not be long to be effective. I think a good deal of these would be very effectively transformed into reader's theatre for performance.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun poetry collection. I did end up skipping a couple as we went, but it had a great mix of poetry: lighthearted and dramatic, funny and tragic. The girls enjoyed finding poems that they knew, and I had fun introducing a few of my favorites to them.

[Angie Ciantar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book when I was still in primary school and I still love it to this day, sometimes I just open it and read one of the classic poems like The Highway man or Count Carrots or Jim Who Ran Away From His Nurse and Was Eaten by a Lion, a lovely collection of poems

[Rachelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book #180 in the Year 2020
**Winter Reading Challenge 2020/2021
Challenge Topic: "Read a book with less than 200 pages."

Amazing Compilation of Great Story Poems. A lot of my favorites were in here. Authots like Lewis Carroll, Edgar Allen Poe, JRR Tolkien, Ray Bradbury, some Traditional stories, and much much more. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Read it in one sitting and shared it with my daughter.

[Sumaya Ahmed · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s really good for teaching about cliffhangers and reading between the lines. Favourites are lulu ( creates class discussion) fairy story. Jack cryer, Humpty Dumpty. Love how it’s right in the form of hints and not direct sentences. Great at grabbing the unrest’s of children.

[Laura]

A really varied collection, from short funny poems to longer classics, with some lovely illustrations

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent for world poems… could do with stronger illustrations…

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are a lover of ballads and wonderful tales in poetic form, you will delight in this book. The many illustrations are both in color and black and white and enhance each tale so well. A must-have for poetry enthusiasts!

[SBC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite amusing.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

'What happened to Lulu?' is definitely the most useful poem in the "anthology".