Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: poem

  • Fire Burn, Cauldron Bubble: Magical Poems Chosen by Paul Cookson

    Fire Burn, Cauldron Bubble: Magical Poems Chosen by Paul Cookson

    Hocus Pocus, diddley oakus is an old, old children’s chant when ‘magical’ thing were afoot, or at least it once was, with such fun to be had making play as witches, warlocks and other magical beings. Now from the brilliant concept created by Paul Cookson and Illustrated by his mystical, magical artist Eilidh Muldoon, the world of totally magical mayhem has been gathered together in book form Fire Burn, Caldron Bubble Magical Poems and they are too, magical that is and poems, most definitely.

    Cookson has cast his spell wide to command a totally madcap collection of poems gather together on the pages to cobble together a poem reading spell designed to enchant and captivate, as well as make you laugh and wonder at the very strange goings-on of the mystical, magical world of well, magic!

    Poems have been commanded from far away, time wise that is, as Shakespeare (1564 – 1616) wrote this poem, the much loved Song of the Witches for his famous play Macbeth. Graham Denton, a most intriguing modern wizard, wonders about how things could have gone so wrong in I Once Asked A Wizard. Hmmm!

    Here is a thing to contemplate; can you saw a poem in half, well maybe, but only when a wizard says Abracadabra but as this seems to be one very confused wizard, best you decide for yourself on page 99, which is the perfect for this sort of puzzle to hide! Valerie Bloom worries about what may happen in the night, when even ghosts are Scared of the Dark which is of course something we all wanted to know.

    But, perhaps, it is best if you begin at the beginning, which is a pretty good place to begin after all with De Magic Poem by Benjamin Zephaniah that explains it all. Carefully work your way through the magical poems, as you would if you were thinking of making a magical poem or spell of your own, until you arrive at the very beautiful A Feather From An Angel, which makes the perfect place to end a wonderful anthology of funny, serious, charming and spell binding poetry.

  • A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes and Poems

    A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes and Poems

    ‘The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea, in a beautiful pea green boat’ are the opening lines of the much loved poem The Owl and the Pussy Cat, one of the many, many favourite nursery rhymes and poems to be discovered or re-discovered, in this beautifully bound and illustrated Treasury of Nursery Rhymes and Poems.

    Fran Preston-Gannon has created beautiful illustrations to grace the pages and frame many of the traditional rhymes we all grew up with, love to share and rediscover over the years. As timeless as they have always been, grandparents have shared them with their grandchildren, as have parents to their young babies and children down through the centuries, with pieces such as Bobby Shaftoe and My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean originally being written as a means to pass the news of the day.

    From the simple but lovely ‘There was a little girl……..to the giggly favourite Round and Round the Garden  and  the very active Head and shoulders, knees and toes there is fun to be had on each page. Songs have also been included such as She’ll be comin’ round the mountain, beloved of children of yesteryear and there to be discovered by the new generations.

    Many of the traditional rhymes have not always been just for fun, but were created for a very good reason:  Ring-a-ring o’ Roses was about the Black Plague which killed many in 1665. Jack Be Nimble was a little ditty believed to be about Black Jack the pirate and his ability to mysteriously avoid being captured.

    Mockingbird became a popular song and Old Macdonald was and is a favourite sung and loved by tiny tots to school children. Many of the pieces that make up the book are from around the world and for even the most keen teller of tales large and small, there is something new, another rhyme or poem to be discovered to enjoy and pass on to little ones for many years to come.

    Bound in a hard cover with a wrap- around dust jacket, A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes and Poems built around the work of award winning illustrator Fran Preston-Gannon is a glorious, rich collection of favourites and fresh new pieces destined to be considered as a firm family treasure for years to come, designed to enchant little ones and return ‘older’ ones down memory lane, even if just for a little while.

  • On Cats

    On Cats

    “Bukowski brought everybody down to earth, even the angels.” This quote by Leonard Cohen on the front cover of the book, gives the reader a moments pause and reflection time before opening and steeling oneself for the contemporary poetry that follows. The whole book is devoted to cats, and they are written about mostly in poetry but also in short stories.

     As we sat around the dining table discussing this book, the popular view was that it was unsavoury, there was nothing pleasant about many of the references to cats eating birds, pissing on computers, being run over, or eating their dead human companions. There was something very final and withering about this book. Then a friend read out some snippets, “but I can look at an animal for hours and find nothing but grace and glory, life as it should be. “ We agreed that that was a very perceptive piece of writing, but gosh it was the only one. But wait; there was another quote, “remember there is a cat somewhere adjusting to the space of itself with a delightful wonderment of easiness”.

     And so the discussion wore on until again our friend said, “Look at what you are doing, you have been discussing this for an hour, it is provocative”. We paused and considered her comment, but as I stroked my cat, and looked at the book, the negative tales outweighed the insightful messages, and I still felt uncomfortable reading the stories and poems.

     For those who enjoy dark, contemporary, poetry and have a feel for cats, you may come to relate to the readings, and not cringe at some of the visions.