Moon Juice

A collection of poems by a new voice writing for children is an event to be celebrated. Moon Juice by the poet Kate Wakeling is just such an event. However, these are not poems created to grab the attention with the quick laugh and a lot of noise. These are poems to seduce, to attract because they reflect the imagination of the young reader. In Night Journey, Wakeling captures the almost limbo like feeling of driving through the dark so that the car becomes ‘not a mile machine./it is a thought machine’. How perfectly this describes what many young readers will have felt. Or what about the Bad Moods who, naturally, wear weird shoes? The Demon Mouth? Or those Ten dark toes at the bottom of the bed? These are no cosily romantic lyrics but original works vividly capturing thoughts, ideas, musings and pinning them precisely to the page. Wakeling’s choice of words is pitch perfect –‘moon is/silver sliver’ – as are her varied rhythms. These are not poems to be afraid of, these are poems to be welcomed, savoured and read aloud to oneself – and to the class or the family.