The Flying Machine of Dreams

This is a magnificently vibrant and bouncy book of poems for early years and KS1, filled with musicality, movement and magical wonder. The poems float beautifully on the pages, one spread for each poem, majestically illustrated by Schwarz.

From first poems on waking up to the morning moon to other marvels of nature such as ways of looking at a leaf, being a bubble and raindrops, Wakeling’s poems are accessible but also filled with sounds to savour in the mouth. In particular, Wakeling focuses on the reader’s relationship with the world – heightened awareness of the body in a poem about a bellybutton, feeling what it’s like to move slowly in Song of the Slow or fast in The Magnificent Race of the Animals.

There is humour galore – Mr Tring, for example, is a delightful poem about memory and personality. Some rhymes, all with pleasing rhythm, this is a poet at the height of her talent, delighting children with a first and certainly not last dip into poetry. For those just learning words in all their wonderful shapes and variety, this is a brilliant colourful and lively first exploration of the genre. I couldn’t recommend it more. I will be reading this aloud with all of EYFS and KS1!