My Rhino Plays the Xylophone

Have you every wondered why computers are operated with a ‘mouse’ or if a virtual learning environment could include a virtual gym? If so you will enjoy this collection of humorous verse from Graham Denton.

A range of themes is explored in this collection from food, school and animals to getting up in the morning and fear of the dark. There are poems about real life situations and others about fantasy worlds with wizards, witches, dragons and ghosts.

A playful delight and curiosity about language shines through the poems in this collection. They are full of word play, from the glass blower with a ‘pane’ in the chest to the ghost having a ‘wail of a time’ and the duck who asked the cashier to ‘put it on the bill’. Humour is also derived from exploiting the literal meaning of well known phrases such as ‘a tossed salad’, ‘a dressed  crab’ or ‘giving the game away’. The longer poems keep the reader guessing, enticing you to read on with punch lines at the end. The foot tapping rhythms and strong rhyming patterns make the verses fun to read aloud and very memorable. Children will enjoy sharing and returning to them as well. Sean Longcroft ‘s amusing black and white illustrations work very well, more of these would have been nice.

Some of these poems such as ‘My Cat is in Love with the Goldfish’ have appeared in other anthologies but many are newly published in this entertaining first collection from  Graham Denton.