Welcome to Wild Town

Let’s visit Wild Town. But first we must sign the Wild Agreement. We will ‘become completely stuck/within the pages of this book’ and it will not be comfortable – a place where ‘danger leaps from off the page’ and ‘words are sharpened like a knife’ – and we could change to be ‘entirely free’. So Dom Conlon draws the reader into this clever, slim anthology in which he and A. F Harrold imagine a Wild Town peopled by insects, zebras, lions, wolves and others – a wild town that is in reality every town. There are poems to suit every taste ranging from Dom Conlons’ reflections to the spiky, anarchic humour of Harrold. The words sing, shout and whisper, the vocabulary rich and varied. The poets play with words and create images to capture the imagination (take a look at Conlon’s Wild Flower Meadow or The Pool by Harrold). There are lyrics – and horror stories. Providing the perfect visual accompaniment are Korky Paul’s spiky, energetic, humorous illustrations. This is a thoroughly enjoyable collection from the pens of two poets who know how to speak to young readers and is well worth promoting in the classroom – and at home.