It’s Not My Fault, by Roger Stevens and Steven Withrow (Bloomsbury)
It’s always exciting to come across a new children’s poet. It doesn’t say so in the book, but the publishers tell me that this was a trans-Atlantic project, the idea of well-established British poet Roger Stevens, who thought that his ‘discovery’ Steven Withrow, previously published in a small way in the USA, was deserving of a hearing in Britain. I very much agree with him. He uses the English language beautifully to evoke some wonderful images – intelligent poems that are accessible to children but also a pleasure for an adult to read. Roger Stevens’ contributions to the volume are as interesting, as thought-provoking and as amusing as ever. The book comes in three parts, School Times, Home Times and Difficult Times – the latter allowing children to gently tackle issues such as climate change, civil war and refugees. The final pages encourage the reader to have a go at poetry writing. Understated and effective illustrations by Katie Abey complete a well-rounded book that’s worth buying. TUC