Our Side of the Playground

A book of two halves, two points of view in a flip-over form. 'What do boys think of girls?' starting from one end and the reverse starting from the other. A neat device for a lovely range of poems, poets and perspectives. There's the surprise of older rhymes (Longfellow and Kate Greenaway) exposed to modern contexts, the delight of parody (Wendy Cope's macho Christopher Robin) and a range of lively voices, many of which will be new to the classroom. It's the kind of collection you want to read aloud from, that many children will read and share, and which can also form the basis of a range of lessons - literary and social.