Poetry > C Poetry > by Author

Advantages: variety of poems, price of book, suitability for children
Disadvantages: none

The Works, as it says on the cover, is a book of poetry that has a poem of every type, variety and on every topic. It really does have every poem you could need for the Literacy hour. The Works is published by Macmillan, and the poems are chosen by Paul Cookson. It is the first in a series of books (6 the last time I checked). It includes poetry such as haiku, riddles, tongue twisters, acrostics, monologues, songs, nonsense poems, narrative verse, ...
...total of 525 pages. The book cost me £6.99 and I use it regularly with my class. When it is not being used for Literacy lessons, I use it to dip in and out of as the children love the riddles and find some of the funny poems really good to discuss with each other. The poems are set out in well indexed sections depending on poem type, along with an index of authors and first lines, so it is easy to find whatever you need. The majority of these poems ... Read review

Advantages: A true classic of the English language
Disadvantages: In Middle English without translation, it can be difficult to read

In Chaucer's work, 'The Canterbury Tales', perhaps the greatest of English literary works from the period of the language known as Middle English, there is one particular piece that have always stood out for me. 'A Clerk ther was of Oxenford also,' This is perhaps my favourite character, as when I first read it, it seemed to epitomise what I hoped for in my own life. 'That unto logik hadde longe y-go. .... For him was lever have at his beddes ...
...to his magnus opus, 'The Canterbury Tales', a collection of stories with prologue told by pilgrims on their journey to Canterbury (car radios and in-flight movies were rare in those days), Chaucer wrote minor poems to suit various occasions (his first record as poet comes from having written a poem as elegy on the death of John of Gaunt's first wife, Blanche, in 1369), and the major work for which he was noted for 'Troilus and Criseyde', which showed ... Read review

Advantages: Unconventional, interesting, a rare voice even today
Disadvantages: A bit elementary at times

------------------------------------------ anyone lived in a pretty how town with up so floating many bells down ------------------------------------------ The poetry of ee cummings is something that most Americans gain exposure to during secondary school (and occasionally in the education of those outside America) -- he is often seen as an acceptable example of one who broke the rules -- rules, the teacher will often hasten to add, which must ...
...this is not what ee cummings would hope had come of his legacy. In reading his poetry in this edition, his prose, his theatrical writings, and his unpublished manuscripts (some of which have been published under the title Etc.), a new vision begins to emerge of a real maverick--not someone who wanted to break the rules, but someone who eschewed the idea of rules so completely that breaking them was beyond the question, for that would have to recognise ... Read review

Advantages: Excellent, engaging story
Disadvantages: Sometimes challenging, hard to understand if you haven't read Jane Eyre

...read previously and loved), and Wide Sargasso Sea. I felt uneasy about "add ons" to books. For one thing, it was not written by Charlotte Bronte, so I felt this was just ripping off her idea to make money. How wrong I was. Despite being billed as a prequel to Jane Eyre, I would read Bronte's novel first as otherwise the events and characters in WSS may seem irrelevant and confusing. This book costs £5.99 - £8.99 depending on edition. PLOT The novel ...
...Creole girl - meaning that she is born in the Caribbean but is white. The first part describes Antoinette childhood and pre-Rochester years. Her family has fallen from great wealth and power as slave owners into poverty due to the emancipation of slaves. Her mother, Annette, remarries Mr Mason (thus changing Antoinette's name) but sadly is driven to madness when her ill son dies and her house is burned down. In the second part, reader, she marries ... Read review

Advantages: Most unusual poems at any time of the day
Disadvantages: none that i can think of...

...care for poetry should besiege the publisher for Sophie Hannah book..she is one of the brightest young female poet of the decade.... She writes witty, poignant poems about love and relationships.' The poems are high spirited and unusual..a sample... "Why does she take unnecessary trips? She lives just opposite a row of shops She went to Crewe to buy a bag of chips She went to Birmingham to buy lamb chops ................................... ...
...'The End of Love' The end of love should be a big event. It should involve the hiring of a hall. Why the hell not? It happens to us all. Why should it pass without acknowledgement? Quite original in context..Shrewd and accurate observer of the world around her and of her own like, she is often very funny....writes with generous wit... "My dentist knows I need another filling. My boss knows I work late. My cat knows that I'll share a turkey ... Read review