Author & Illustrators
This poetry collection from Joshua Seigal is a good choice for school libraries and book corners, with plenty of humour and lots of wordplay and puns. Some of the poems include vocabulary that will stretch even the strongest Year 6 readers, while others are very easily accessible to much younger readers. This range is one of the strengths of the book.
The cover art leans into the silliness of Seigal’s style, and many of the poems are undeniably and joyously silly, but there are also some that tackle heavier emotions. These are handled sensitively and powerfully and the juxtaposition with the silliness of previous poems is effective. The order of poems is well planned too, so that the more difficult emotional themes are followed by themes of love and optimism, so the overall effect is of giving space for those hard issues while keeping them in a healthy balance.
The collection encourages writing for pleasure. The playfulness of the language used offers children the freedom to express themselves beyond the rigid rules of correct English, whether by example with poems like Ponky Woem or by explicitly discussing the freedom of writing as in Poetic Licence and Saturday Morning.
A little while back we consulted with teachers and school librarians about the most popular books in their libraries. We were aiming to find out the most enjoyed books for each year group as part of the research for our 50 Recommended Reads lists, and one response that came up again and again was Joshua Seigal’s funny poetry collections – which, they reported, flew off library shelves like hotcakes when readers in KS2 were around. Brilliant to dip into and filled with giggles, these collections are a huge hit in schools and this was confirmed earlier in the month when pupils voted Joshua Seigal’s I Bet I Can Make You Laugh winner of the 9-13 category in the 2020 Laugh Out Loud Book Awards.
We were really pleased when Bloomsbury sent us Joshua’s newest poetry collection, Welcome to My Crazy Life. It’s a playful collection categorised by Seigal’s love of language and humorous insights into all aspects of life (including poems that offer some very useful advice for all situations, like Don’t Forget Your Trousers).
The collection’s poems range from those that are brilliant to read aloud – like the onomatopeia-filled What’s That Noise? – to those whose visual appeal makes them best for experiencing straight off the page – like the super-alliterative shape poem Catastrophic Carnivorous Creature or the poem Homework, which fills the page with one big visual pun. There are silly poems, witty poems, wise advice and even a poem made up entirely of numbers.
One of the reasons that poetry collections like this are so popular in schools is that readers almost always find something that resonates with their perspective on life, and poetry is brilliant at capturing shared experiences and emotions. There’s plenty that teachers will find relatable too. Flicking through the collection, I found mine straight away – The Coffee Monster may just have easily been inspired by my own early morning pre-coffee prowlings.
Reluctant readers and poetry pros alike will find plenty to enjoy in Seigal’s trademark outpouring of wit, wordplay and wackiness.
review
Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?
Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?
Would you recommend the book for use in primary schools?
yes
Curriculum links (if relevant)
Curriculum links (if relevant)
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Any other comments