Red, Cherry Red

This is a gorgeous book and a perfect combination of good poems accompanied by a CD contained within a beautifully produced book printed on ‘ancient forest friendly paper’. Bloomsbury have made the book handbook size – easy to carry around and dip into the poems or to lie in bed following the poems whilst listening to them read by Jackie Kay. Her generosity as a performer and the warmth of her voice come through on the audio book, bringing an extra special quality to the experience of reading these lilting and memorable poems. There are unobtrusive and entertaining short explanations, comments and anecdotes on some of the poems and even a poem ‘The Moon at Knowle Hill’ set to music and sung by Hugh Nankivell. Rob Ryan’s simple silhouette style illustrations are integral to the format of the book and the feel of the poems.

There are poems about the sea, the Shetland isles, about grandmothers and trees, a first kiss and being ‘sour sixteen’. Jackie Kay has the ability to write poems that inhabit their own landscape, are intensely personal, speaking directly to the reader, and yet have universal themes which speak to us all.

‘I used to think I might be able – /when the river ran to meet the sea, /when the sun and moon shared the sky – /to look out as far as the eye could see, /and raise a glass to the girl looking back at me.’ (‘Yell Sound’)

An absolute delight.