Riding a Lion

By Author / Illustrator

Coral Rumble, Emily Ford

Genre

Poetry

Age range(s)

Publisher

Troika Books

ISBN

9781912745029

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

15-10-2020

Synopsis

Some people like to think that a collection of poems for children has to be either funny or serious, as if there are two types of children who will only like one or the other. But life isn't like that, is it! Some days we think hard, some days we cry and some days we laugh loudly and boldly, and so do children. Many of the poems in this collection are about real life. Others are about life as its found in the quirly imagination of the poet.

Between the covers of this book, you will find poems that puzzle you, tell you stories, make you ask questions. There are dangerous poems, delicate poems and daft poems. One minute you will be hiding in a dusty PE cupboard with a friend who is sad, the next you will be buying ice cream from a polar bear. This is a roller coaster of poems, that mirrors the ups and downs of daily life. Whether you are in thinking mood, laughing mood, or a crazy mood, there are poems here that will keep you company.

Reviews

Alison

The contents of Coral Rumble's Riding a Lion are usefully divided into themes. They are all great but my favourites lay in the 'Let Me Tell You a Story' section. Prefaced with Emily Ford's atmospheric illustration of a reader shining torch light on the book she is so intently reading, the poems are vivid and suggestive.

An invitation to Fairy-Land's Open Day ('Once Upon an Awful Time', p. 15) involves some terrifying incidents: 'I ate a rosy apple and got awful indigestion,/ (There was poison deep inside, of that there is no question)/'.

96 pages / Ages 8+ / Reviewed by Alison Kelly, consultant