I love this collection of poems for children. There are funny poems, sad poems, poems that touch on all different aspects of childhood and everyday family life. The poems are made to be read aloud, as if you are just having a conversation with someone. They are also perfect for whatever time of the day; they can be used for bed time stories or for acting out poetry within the classroom. The layout of the book is designed in a simple yet exciting way. Quentin Blake's illustrations add a whole new dynamic complementing Rosen's poems wonderfully, helping children to engage with the book, especially those that cannot yet read. The rhyming verse helps devlop children's vocabulary whilst encouraging them to participate in speaking out as they find themselves remembering what words come next. As a child, it was refreshing to read these poems by Michael Rosen, published in a proper book, because guess what? Some of them DON’T RHYME! Scandalous. I had no idea how to even go about writing a poem that didn’t rhyme because it obviously wasn’t in the national curriculum then. I shared this book recently with my bigger boy and the poem that the title of the book is taken from, “ Don’t”, is his favourite. Michael Rosen has again teamed up with Quentin Blake to bring their two very popular poetry books together: ‘You Can’t Catch Me’ and ‘Don’t Put Mustard in the Custard’. A generous collection of poems with varying lengths detailing Rosen’s observations and comments on daily occurrences and random spoken words. With Blake’s vivid full-colour illustrations and Rosen’s conversational and occasionally nonsensical prose this book could engage with children completely on their level making it a delightful read.

Don’t’ by Michael Rosen Activity sheet for ‘Don’t’ by Michael Rosen

The poems in this book capture thoughts from a child’s eye view perfectly. As adults we stop spending as much time pondering small things like why Keith, who has so many toys, never plays with them in the poem “ Keith’s Cupboard”. We are often So consumed by time and schedules that we completely bypass the wonderful amount of things there are to procrastinate with in the bathroom like the boy in “ Bathroom Fiddler”. And we sometimes forget just how absolutely great it is to be cuddled as the baby in “ Who Likes Cuddles?” shows us. These tiny snippets of life that pass us by are fascinating to children and are the basis of many many questions that any parent of small children is used to answering every day. There is even a poem about them in this book too, “ Who? Why? Where? What?”Michael Rosen manages to capture all the funny, scary, worrying and down right silly thoughts that children have and write about them in a wonderfully free and engaging way. I love the way sounds and words are explored, expanded and repeated, they are so good to read out loud. His poems are a fantastic example of how writing should be, especially for children. He shows that any topic can be written about in any way and at any length because what makes writing exciting is being free to get your creative thoughts down on paper. Not how long your sentences are.

Mustard, Custard, Grumble Belly and Gravy - Goodreads Mustard, Custard, Grumble Belly and Gravy - Goodreads

All the poems are fascinating and at a first glance some look as though they might not work, but, rest assured, they sure do. 'Keith's Cupboard' is an example, when he won't get his tent out for his friend to play with, his mother intervenes and says, 'Keith, why don't you get your tent out?' The cupboard opens and the toys, including the tent, cascade out all over the floor. 'They keep buying him all this stuff and he doesn't play with it,' says his pal.

Michael Rosen's Sticky McStickstick: The Friend Who Helped Me Walk Again

Nightmare' about a boy on the underground doesn't appear as though it works but once again, read aloud and most certainly when listened to be the author, it works to perfection. Ranzo the dog is a rather a troublesome pet at times but when settled down in his basket in front of the fire, he is ever so sweet! This book is aimed at children in key stage one and early key stage two, it could be used in the classroom to show children that creativity and expression is important when writing poems. The humour throughout the book makes it a book that younger children would love to read. Don’t” is a rant by a young child who is so fed up of always being told “Don’t” that he comes up with many ridiculous suggestions that he thinks grown ups will tell him not to do next. My bigger boy loves rhyming unrelated words together so this poem is right up his street, he thinks it his hilarious, especially the part about the baby: