Daniel Gray-Barnett Books

Smile Out Loud is a humorous poetry anthology that does exactly what it says in the title: it makes the reader smile and laugh! Offering a variety of poems on all sorts of themes, there is a poem that will appeal to every reader. It also provides examples of rhyming and non-rhyming poetry, something which is important for children to experience.

The first thing to note about this book is the brilliant introduction by Joesph Coelho. He talks about the importance of performing poetry, using actions in poems and most importantly, enjoying poetry that makes you smile, giggle or gives you big belly laughs. This really helps the reader understand the purpose behind the book and each poem.

Not only will the title of the poems hook the reader in but excitingly, each poem is bursting with positivity and also comes with its own small set of instructions which explain how best to read the poem, whether any actions are needed and also how to engage the audience. This will not only help any reader of poetry to think about their audience when performing aloud, but also provide support and inspiration to those looking to write their own poetry in a similar format. The layout and spacing of the poems vary well and showcase different ways to present poetry.

The illustrations by Daniel Gray-Barnett used on each page are playful and engaging in much the same manner as the poems. They are colourful, bold and will no doubt also have the reader chuckling along.

This would be a fantastic book to support any young poet in an English lesson and it would also be a great book to share with a whole class during reading time.