Adder, Bluebell, Lobster

If you add an adder to an adder

            they are prone to have a dance,

                     they writhe around each other

                              till the strongest gets a chance

                         to PUSH the other down.

Watch out for bossy Beetroot! Be enchanted by a Bluebell witch’s thimble and spot a dive-bombing Lark or a cute Great-Crested Newt.

From Adder to Wren, forty fantastic poems celebrate forty amazing animals, birds and plants and their beautiful names – which YOU can help poet Chrissie Gittins save from EXTINCTION.

This is nature close up, exciting – and WILD.

“"A sheer delight to read aloud...the vocabulary is superb."”

"The poems are brilliant. We recommend for ages 6+ and for all ages.!

DolphinBooks - the blog

"A magnificent and much recommended collection. [It] would be a superb resource for schools. It is also a lovely source of poetry to share at bedtime, maybe at the turning of the seasons, or to support days of discovery. Readers from 7 or 8 or 9 to adult would enjoy."

Book Wagon

"I urge teachers and librarians to buy and read her books to their pupils. Also, her collection makes a superb gift to any child. Parents will enjoy these poems immensely....a vital read."

-- Kathryn Dymoke, Librarian, Hazelwood School, Surrey

"Ideal for extending more able readers...some beautiful depictions of nature and loads of marvellous, quirky animal facts woven throughout...one of very few children's poetry books to include many poems about plants."

School Librarian

"Funny, factual, clever and crafted...a delightful selection that will encourage young readers to find poetry in the great outdoors"

inis

"What a wonderful, imaginative collection!"

IBBY Link

"A very satisfying collection for its variety of moods and striking descriptive detail."

Carousel

"Poetic without being portentous or pretentious."

Books for Keeps

"There is much to savour in this wide-ranging poetry anthology about all things wild. Written in response to the removal of many nature-related words from the Oxford Junior Dictoionary, each of the forty poems is about on of these 'missing' words....Accompanied by black and white illustrations, this entertaining collection can be enjoyed in the classrom, at home, or in the great outdoors and will encourage young readers to wonder at the language and objects to be found in the natural world."

Booktrust

"Playful, energetic and always tongue-in cheek , this offers the perfect introduction to poetry …. Chrissie Gittins lets her words and ideas dance from the page – she even allows parsnips to twinkle!"

Inis
"A wonderfully innovative collection bursting with energy, you can’t help but read with a smile. Chrissie Gittins is on a mission to save words from extinction, with forty exuberant and informative poems to celebrate amazing animals, birds and plants. The imagery is joyful; adders dance, beetroot paint your kitchen, and melons have an annual party, whilst Paul Bommer’s entertaining illustrations make the poems zing off the page. This is Gittins at her very best, playing with style and composition, and writing with zeal." Love Reading 4 Kids

"A must have for all primary classrooms, for the family bookshelf and for anyone who loves words, the natural world, and those who, like me and the creators of this book are eager to help play a part in saving from extinction, these names from nature. Long may they reign and remain."

Red Reading Hub

"These lovely animal and plant poems really trip off the tongue and they are a sheer delight to read aloud. From adder to wren, the poems are arranged alphabetically and they have gorgeous, sometimes whimsical, illustrations by Paul Bommer - I want to get my crayons out and colour them in! The poems are superbly descriptive - bluebells are described as 'a cobalt belt, a lake of bell towers nodding onwards in the wind.' The poems use words to great effect - the vocabulary is superb and a great way to extend children's own use of language. The poems will really encourage children to take note of the world which surrounds us - an excellent collection."

Parents in Touch
"From Adder to Wren, forty fantastic poems celebrate forty amazing animals, birds and plants and their beautiful names – names which you can help poet Chrissie Gittins save from EXTINCTION."

 

Books Go Walkabout

Chrissie Gittins was born in Lancashire and lives in south London. She worked as an artist and teacher before becoming a full-time writer. She has been shortlisted twice for the CLPE Poetry Award, her poems have been animated for CBeebies and included in many anthologies. She visits schools, libraries and book festivals across the UK. Her previous poetry books include The Humpback’s Wail and Stars in Jars, which was a Scottish Poetry Library recommendation for 2014.

Paul Bommer is an illustrator, printmaker and graphic designer. His many international clients include the Guardian, Harrods and Virgin, and he exhibits his work across the UK. He was the illustrator for The Humpback’s Wail, by Chrissie Gittins.

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