Excuses, Excuses: Poems about School
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This issue’s cover is from a stunning new picture book, Mary’s Secret by David McKee (Andersen Press, 0 86264 909 9, £9.99). An ecological fable about doing without cars, McKee’s story with its bright pictures full of well observed detail is set within Mary’s cheerful family and at her school. His bold, painterly illustrations use the page so confidently and dextrously that their quirky, decorative perspectives seem entirely natural. Thanks to Andersen Press for their help in producing this September cover.
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Excuses, Excuses: Poems about School
This collection of poems about school has been reprinted twice since 1997. It follows the format and pattern of John Foster's OUP anthologies for the 9+ age groups where lighthearted poems are interspersed with a few more serious and challenging poems. There are poems on teachers, pupils, homework, being late, games, bullies and being lonely. There is definitely a place in the classroom, and a market for this type of themed collection but as a reviewer, the anthology is hard to take at a sitting. For the individual pupil or young person, it may well be consumed like a bag of crisps - an enjoyable snack to eat quickly but with too many 'empty calories' and too few of the more substantial poems like 'School Bully' by Mike Harding and 'Duncan Gets Expelled' by Jackie Kay.
