Dinosaurs and Dinner-Ladies by John Dougherty (Otter-Barry Books)
It took me a long time to review this book – because once I’d read all the poems, I had to go back and read them again. And I think that is what will happen to every reader. I believe this is John Dougherty’s first solo poetry collection, even though he is a well-known writer for children in other fields. And it’s rather wonderful. Some of the poems don’t explain themselves, which I like. Some of them are short and some of them are quite long. Some of them are funny and some are really very serious. But each and every one of them needs to be read. Illustrations are by Tom Morgan-Jones. TUC