Reviewed by Dianne Bates
The cover and feeling of this collection of poems by
two sisters is lush, thanks to illustrator Polina Merunka, while the inside
coloured and black and white illustrations by Peter Roberts and Daisy van Ghert
are attractive and varied, some employing the use of collage. And, too, the
book is beautifully designed, with poems printed on white, yellow, green, black,
and blue pages.
The cover and inside illustrations are an especially
lovely introduction to the collection of poems which are listed under the
headings, ‘Before’, ‘First’, ‘Next’, ‘Now’, ‘Always’, and ‘Last.’
In the introduction the writers ask, ‘Have you ever been
to a far-away land in your imagination? Dreamed about the future? Explored time
travel and mystery in books?’ These questions, they say, are addressed in their
book which has themes based on time sequence and order. Some of the poems are
written by Gibbs, some by Roberts, but each of them names the respective poet at the foot of each poem.
Subject matter is covered broadly, from fairies, mummies,
dragons, giants, mermaids, to magic, and much more. In ‘The Hairies’ by M J Gibbs,
one reads, ‘Once there were hairies, /sea creatures neath the weeds, /Tongues
as strong and slippery, /They came from slimy seeds.’ This is a poem warning
the reader of what lurks beneath the ocean where ‘bodies bulge and bellow/Like
glistening silver sails.’ As with Roberts’ poems, there is little form experiment
with the shape and type of Gibbs' poems. Most of the poems (except several haikus by
Roberts) are rhyming and written in stanzas which should appeal to children who
generally prefer these types of poems.
In ‘The Midnight Librarian’, Roberts explores what
happens in the night-time life of a librarian: ‘When the school day is done/
The Librarian comes out to play/Everyone has gone home/While she’s been hiding
away.’ There’s a book gone missing, so Billy B Brown and her neighbour Jack engage
Flat Stanley in the task of (successfully) finding the book. In other poems,
Roberts has titles such as ‘My Belly Button’, ‘Annoying Sounds’, ‘What if?’ and
‘The Boy Who Laughed His Head Off’ which give some kind of indication of what to expect in her poems.
No doubt readers aged 8+ years, who love the joy of
language, use of imagination, and sensory imagery will enjoy exploring this
collection of poems.
