Spooky Poems Aloud

July 1, 2024

Gr 1-4-Coelho encourages young readers to experiment with sharing and writing poetry in this thematic collection of creepy poems. A visual feast, Gray-Barnett's combination of traditional and digital art enhances the mood and vibrancy of each poem. Reminiscent of Quentin Blake's quirkiness, the bold colors and lines capture the imagination. Many of the poems include dramatic guidance, such as reading "On A Cold, Whispering Night" in a whisper. Others offer suggestions for writing poetry, as with "The Tower" urging children to think of scary places and atmosphere. The poet challenges children to write a renga and pantoum, and the poetry is a varying collection of silliness and real spookiness. Coelho begins with limericks like "The Poo of Death," which is disgustingly wonderful, and the next spread is "It Woke Me From a Dream." Deliciously frightening, a child is under their covers while a crouching thing in black is in the corner "waiting, watching." The art helps to create a cohesive piece, but this collection is for a wide range of students. While younger children may most enjoy the slapstick poems, reminiscent of Prelutsky, some of the scarier and more thought-provoking ones will be best for older students, up to a middle grade age range. VERDICT An uneven collection of poetry. Consider it as an additional selection.-Rachel Zuffa

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June 1, 2024
An atmospheric gathering of chill-some verses from a U.K. Children's Laureate. In a themed set of mostly new poems, Coelho prompts budding poets to imitate examples of tricky set forms such as the villanelle and pantoum while also, more helpfully, demonstrating how to use repetition and other language techniques to create shivery effects. The author shows a casual disregard for regularity in rhyme and meter, and the overall quality of his work varies considerably--from the alliterative bounce of "Pranking Ghost" ("I'm a gagging ghoulie, / I'm a jackanaping vision, / I'm a wicked wraith, / I'm an aping apparition") to "The Poo of Death," crapulous in all senses of the word: "Little David needed the loo, / but inside lurked an evil poo. / He tried in a rush / to give it a flush / but got covered in icky brown goo." Though Coelho offers some guidance for would-be writers, readers hoping for performance tips along the lines of those in Poems Aloud (2020) will be disappointed. The variously laughing or terrified-looking figures (human and otherwise) strewn across the pages by Gray-Barnett display a broad range of skin tones. A slapdash, superficial follow-up. (Picture book/poetry. 6-9)

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