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Revision as of 15:39, 24 November 2009
, 15:39, 24 November 2009no edit summary
Celebrities, including [[:Category:Richard Hammond|Richard Hammond]], Paul O'Grady, Sienna Miller, McFly and Lorraine Kelly, have chosen their favourite poems for this anthology. All proceeds from the book go to [www.thechildrenstrust.org.uk/ The Children's Trust]. It's a fantastic charity, who help disabled children, and I urge you all to buy a copy of ''The Walrus and the Carpenter'' to support them.
There are some excellent choices here, with firm favourites like [[:Category:Roger McGough|Roger McGough]], [[:Category:Spike Milligan:|Spike Milligan]], [[:Category:Carol Ann Duffy|Carol Ann Duffy]] and [[:Category:A A Milne|A A Milne]]. My particular favourite was [[:Category:Paul Cookson|Paul Cookson's]] ''The Hamster's Revenge'', as chosen by rugby player Simon Shaw. It's wonderfully silly and every child will be creased up with laughter at the thought of a hamster scampering up dad's trouser leg and biting something it shouldn't. [[:Category:Francesca Major|Francesca Major's]] ''Barbecue'' is great fun too, and the 10 year old is a deserving winner of the Children's Trust poetry competition for a place in this book. I hope she keeps writing poetry, as she'll go far.
I feel like a real heel for offering criticism of a charity book - I don't want to put anyone off from getting it, and would say if I thought just donating directly was a better option. It's definitely worth getting, but it's only fair you get an accurate impression of it. It's quite a slim volume, which leaves you feeling like you want a little more from a poetry anthology. I love the idea of getting children to illustrate the book, and they've done so excellently, but as the pictures are just black and white, they don't leap off the page. Of course, colour printing would eat into the profits which go to the charity, so it's absolutely the right choice. That's the overriding feeling with ''The Walrus and the Carpenter'': you want to like it more than you do, but understand why it's like it is. I'd have liked to be able to gush with a bit more praise.
