And I Climbed, And I Climbed

By Author / Illustrator

Stephen Lightbown, Shih-Yu Lin

Genre

Poetry

Age range(s)

Publisher

Troika Books

ISBN

9781912745296

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

11-09-2023

Synopsis

Cosmo is a young boy whose life has been changed forever, after falling out of the tree he loved to climb. Now, Cosmo is disabled and uses a wheelchair. Now, Cosmo wants to have a conversation with the tree.

In this outstanding debut collection for children, Stephen Lightbown draws on his own personal experiences as a wheelchair user, while creating a unique and utterly engaging character in Cosmo. Written in Cosmo's voice and peppered with contributions from the boy's family, these poems take the reader on a journey of challenges, questions, hurts, explorations and triumphs. Cosmo is endlessly open and curious, and his observations and reflections are at once perceptive, raw, hilarious, confronting and enchanting.

How can Cosmo come to terms with, and adapt to, this seismic change in his life? Is his life as he knew it gone? Could there be new possibilities ahead, and also new abilities that Cosmo doesn't yet know he possesses? And will the tree ever reply to his number one question: why?

Reviews

Sue

And I Climbed and I Climbed is a remarkable collection of poems, focusing on Cosmo, a young boy whose life changed forever when he fell out of a tree in his garden. Having a great deal to come to terms with, these poems explore his experiences. Poet, Simon Lightbrown has drawn on personal experience to write these poems as, like Cosmo, he became paralysed after an accident.

Deeply poignant and captivating, these poems are really special. Raw emotion, courage, determination and resilience mix with fear, anger, curiosity and pain in the poems which invoke empathy, compassion and understanding. Although each works in its own right, the poems read almost as a verse novel, allowing the reader to accompany Cosmo through his experiences.

Cosmo is a very engaging character, full of spark and curiosity. Mingled with his words are poems from his family and the tree he fell from, offering different perspectives and thoughts. As he considers how his life has changed, Cosmo's feelings fluctuate, running through a whole gamut of emotions, including moments of humour.

The poems are all the more powerful and poignant as they are an authentic voice. Although Stephen Lightbrown was older when he had his accident than Cosmo is in the story, he draws on his personal experiences to create the poems, making this a unique and essential collection. Listening to Stephen read his poems was wonderful! There are certain poems which had me in tears when I read them - and it was a real struggle not to sob hearing him read them in person. Shauna Darling Robertson read a couple of the poems written as Cosmo's mother - she did really well not to cry too!

This is a fantastic collection- essential reading.

96 pages / Reviewed by Sue Wilsher, teacher