Don't Put Mustard in the Custard

Rosen at his near best, almost back to the tip-top form of collections like Mind Your Own Business. Here, he is at his very sharpest when the voice is a child's, often in conflict with over-parental adults. Sixes and sevens are close enough to 'Nursery' to feel the vividness of it:-

'What's the Matter?'
'I had to sit on the naughty chair.'

He's a master at the extended word play which links breakfast table banter playground lore and literacy. Read together 'Bathroom Fiddler', and tell me which contemporary child won't warm to:-

'Oh video Oh video
The video the diddy oh'

Blake's pictures are a part of each poem: see what he does with perspective to convey the feel of the poem called 'Gone'. Lots of the poems need action and gesture, so let the children read them and play with them. Then, they'll write their own.