New Releases by Roger McGough

Kites are not cuddly and you can''t play football with them, but when the neglected kite comes to belong to Caitlin, it is appreciated for the very first time. Seriously ill, confined to bed, Caitlin dreams of the day she will get better and fly with the kite high over the mountains of the world. Caitlin doesn''t get better, but her final journey with the kite leads them both to a place without pain and suffering where they can be free. This exceptional book allows children to approach the concept of death at the level for which each individual is ready.

A collection of poems for children encompassing everything from epigrams to longer narratives, letters and story poems.

In this evocative and personal collection of poems Roger McGough comes to terms with painful memories as well as confronting fears that are universal. Here he remembers his father in ‘Squaring Up’ and ‘Alphabet Soup’; observes the eccentricities of contemporary life in ‘The City of London Tour’; gives insights into human feeling with the surreal ‘Your Favourite Hat’ and the moving elegy ‘Defying Gravity’; and muses on writing itself with ‘Word Trap’ and ‘The Darling Buds of Maybe’. There are even witty poems dedicated to the chemical elements. Blending the everyday and the magical, his verses sparkle with verbal dexterity, irreverent humour, irony and heartfelt compassion.

A small boy who dreams of running away to the circus is surprised to wake up the next morning and find the circus has run away to join him, overrunning the house with performers, including clowns who delight in throwing custard pies at him. Suggested level: junior.

Poetry themes: School and leaving school - Animals - Likes and hates - Life in towns - Life in the countryside - Games - Love - Laughter - Emotions.