Smile Out Loud: An Anthology of Happy Poems - Joseph Coelho - ★★★★.¼

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AUTHOR: Joseph Coelho

ILLUSTRATOR: Daniel Gray-Barnett
GENRE: Children's Fiction, Poetry
RATING: 4.25 Stars.

A funny poem collection for children!

As a smile is infectious, the fastest way to spread smiles is to smile yourself. This book contains 25 silly and funny poems to help children generate a grin, a laugh, maybe even a guffaw.

The main introduction reveals how the poems can be read aloud or even performed. Every page has a mini-introduction about the theme or style of the poem(s) on that page. This adds a lovely informative touch to the book, plus it also gives a clue about what performance technique can be used for that particular poem.

The poems come in a variety of rhyming styles and even incorporate special writing techniques such as zeugma and spoonerism. The simplicity of the poems and the multifarious actions in each gives them an action-song kind of feel. Simple, bright and colourful illustrations add the right amount of hilarity.

The only flip side is that there are difficult words such as ‘cantankerous’ or ‘ambling’, which may make readalouds tricky for younger kids without an accompanying adult.

Regardless, it is a pretty good collection and will work as a great technique to get shy readers to open up and confident readers to have even more fun with performances. This is meant for the 5-10 years age group.

My thanks to Quarto Publishing Group – Wide Eyed Editions and NetGalley for the DRC of “Smile Out Loud: 25 Happy Poems”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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