'You can dip in anywhere you like, not knowing what you're going to find': Julia Donaldson on her new poetry anthology
Julia Donaldson has hand-selected over 300 poems for new book Pick and Mix Poetry. Here, she tells us about the inspiration behind the collection.
Julia Donaldson, much-loved author of The Gruffalo books, Tales from Acorn Wood and many, many more, has filled her new anthology for children, Pick and Mix Poetry, with over 300 poems. She was inspired by a book she received as a child from her father, which began a life-long love of poetry – and which she still has today.
Poetry Book
by Julia Donaldson
When I was just a little girl
My father gave to me
A present for my birthday –
A book of poetry.
My father read the poems to me,
And those were happy times.
Many of them became good friends
With their rhythms and their rhymes.
When I was not much older
I read those poems myself,
And even now that I've grown up
That book sits on my shelf.
So now I hope that somebody
Has given this book to you,
So you can read and learn these poems -
And I hope you'll love them too.
When I was a child a fair sometimes used to come to the heath near where I lived. One of the stalls was a lucky dip. You paid your silver sixpence, dipped your hand into a barrel full of little wrapped presents and took one out, not knowing what prize you would be going to get. It might be some sweets, or perhaps a toy car or a tiny little teddy.
I like to think that this book is a bit like that. You can dip in anywhere you like, not knowing what you're going to find.
Although the poems aren't arranged by author or divided into sections (such as Nature, Families, and so on) each double-page does have a theme. So when you open the book, all the poems you see there will be roughly about the same thing - it could be dogs or dinosaurs, the weather or witches. But if you turn the page you'll find a completely different subject - maybe bicycles or birthdays, football or fireworks! That's because once I'd chosen all the poems for each double-page, I shuffled the pages like a giant pack of cards.
The book is illustrated by Becky Thorns, and I hope that you'll enjoy her pictures as much as I do. Instead of illustrating each separate poem, Becky needed to create an illustration for each double-page that would fit all the poems that I'd placed together. That must have been quite a challenge, but Becky has succeeded in producing a wonderful variety of pictures, all of them sympathetic to the mood of the different poems.
There are over 300 of my favourite poems in the book. They include ones that I loved as a child myself, some that I enjoyed reading with my own children, and many others, both new and old, that I discovered during the months in which I was collecting and choosing the poems. I've also thrown in a few of my own. Some of the poems are funny, some serious, some a bit scary, and I've included some riddles, limericks and skipping rhymes.
I hope you'll find lots of delicious poetry treats inside, like a bagful of pick-and-mix sweets. I've done the mixing, and now you can do the picking!
Pick and Mix Poetry: Children's verse chosen by Julia Donaldson
by Julia Donaldson
Pick and Mix Poetry is filled with over 300 poems, including familiar favourites, as well as exciting new voices, promising something for any and every occasion. From football to turtles, pirates to trees, family to cakes and sweets, this is a sumptuous treat that is perfect to dip into or pore over. Gorgeously illustrated throughout by Becky Thorns, and with an elegant foil cover and ribbon marker, this beautiful gift is a timeless collection sure to spark a lifelong love of poetry!
Text and poem taken from the foreword to Pick and Mix Poetry