Books For Children: Poetry

A Child's Garden of Verses by R L Stevenson, Dorling Kindersley pounds 8.99. Stevenson, writing in his thirties, was deliberately recreating his own childhood in this collection. The result is an intelligent and far-from-twee series of poems about kite-flying, the seasons, cows, the sea, railways and rivers. It can also be read as a lucid introduction to art history: each poem is paired with prints by, among others, Durer, Larsson and Monet.

2 Bright Star Shining, ed Michael Harrison and Christopher Stuart-Clark, OUP pounds 5.99. Tradition and subversion rub shoulders in this collection, with Charles Causley, Eleanor Farjeon, Elizabeth Madox Roberts and Boris Pasternak more traditional, and e e cummings, Michael Rosen and Wes Magee doing their bit for the lighter note of the Christmas festivities (see illustration, right).

2 The Macmillan Treasury of Poetry for Children, Macmillan pounds 25. Weighing in at 384 pages, this has got the lot. Most of the world's influential poets, and a few more besides, are here. It is grouped under headings such as "Weird and Wonderful" and "Heroes and Warriors" to break up the sheer volume.

2 Let's Celebrate Festival Poems, ed John Foster, OUP pounds 5.99. Despite the fact that OUP hasn't gone overboard on the illustrations, this is a coherent and informative anthology on religious festivals around the world.

2 Selected Poems by Charles Causley, Macmillan pounds 5.99. Chosen by the author to celebrate his 80th birthday earlier this year, this collection shows why Causley has done more than any other poet in shaping poetry for children. His poetry is lyrical, rhythmic, magical and memorisable, and this is a book that everyone - children and adults alike - should have on their shelves.

2 We Couldn't Provide Fish Thumbs: Poems by James Berry, Judith Nicholls, Grace Nichols, Vernon Scannell, Matthew Sweeney, Macmillan pounds 8.99. This is the stuff of fantasy, illogic and confused identities - but from this lot we shouldn't really expect anything less. Burglar-watching budgies, horrid baby brothers, sorted sisters, over-zealous grannies, it's all vibrant and inspirational.

2 Bad Bad Cats by Roger McGough, Puffin pounds 3.99. Yes, Roger's still fantastic and funny. His new book does the usual teasing-out of the strangeness inherent in the adult world, but it's also populated with dastardly animals. Terrapins "terrific with needles", alligators who bite your bottom while you're on the toilet, and a lot of really pesky cats.

2 We Was Robbed - Football Poems chosen by David Orme, Macmillan pounds 2.99. A funny, if short, ramble through the passions and downsides of football, with George Szirtes, Wes Magee and David Ward.

2 School's Out by Benjamin Zephaniah, A K Press pounds 3.95. Nothing and no one, it seems, is safe from the Dreadlocked One's acerbic humour: Page Three girls, Michael Jackson, revolutionaries, romance, fashion and the Bible all get put over the rack. Children will love his irreverence, his rhythm, his downright enviable style - and, luckily, so will their parents.

2 Alphabet Spook! Spine-tingling Verse by Nicholas Tulloch, OUP pounds 6.99. One for any budding X-philes out there. Tullock wrestles with all kinds of spectres in these pages and what he occasionally lacks in innovation and originality is made up for by Chris Mould's Addams' Family-esque illustrations.