Illustrated by the author

Published by Candlewick Press, 1999
My first day at school to-day.
Funny sort of day.
Didn’t seem to learn much.
Seemed all we did was play.
Then teacher wrote some letters
On a board all painted black,
And then we had a story…
I don’t think I’ll go back.
By Rod Hull
Simon James has selected and illustrated a collection of small poems to be enjoyed and savoured by young and older readers alike. The poem written above by Rod Hull is my favourite. It reminded me of something my daughter said when she started kindergarten.
My mother-in-law had made her three new and wondrous dresses for the occasion. One dress for each day of the week she would be there. When the first three days were over, my daughter asked what she would be wearing next time she went to kinder. When she discovered there were no more new dresses, my daughter declined very politely to go to kindergarten ever again!
Poetry is a wonderful medium that can be used to introduce young children to the emotive power of words and to help them see the extraordinary in the ordinary moments of life.
In this collection, we are sledding down mountains, fishing for guppies, stepping over stones, going on adventures, feeling the summer sun, and wondering about the mystery of a fallen seed and what it might become. Each poem has its own double page spread, giving you time to pause and contemplate the language and the illustration before turning the page and investing your thoughts anew.
Contributions have been made by Charlotte Zolotow, Ogden Nash, Steve Turner and many others. I can highly recommend this picture book for children 3-6 years as a gentle introduction to poetry and below are suggestions for more of my favourite poetry and nursery rhyme books:


Illustrated by Trace Moroney




Edited by Iona Opie
Illustrated by Rosemary Wells

A Book of Months
by Maurice Sendak


by Michael Rosen
Illustrated by Chris Riddell

by Julia Donaldson
Illustrated by Nick Sharratt

Collected by
Jane Yolen & Andrew Fusek Peters
Illustrated by Polly Dunbar

Poems by Lin Oliver
Illustrated by Tomie dePaola

by Janet and Allan Ahlberg


Other Poems of the Cold
by Joyce Sidman
Illustrated by Rick Allen

A Poem by Eugene Field
Illustrated by Johanna Westerman

Illustrated by Eugene Yelchin

A First Book of Poems
by Shirley Hughes

by Edward Lear
Illustrated by Ian Beck

by Jane Godwin
Illustrated by Alison Lester

by Chris Raschka
Illustrated by Vladimir Radunsky

by Banjo Patterson
Illustrated by Andrew McLean
