There are times when as an avid bookworm it’s hard having a child whose a reluctant independent reader. Don’t get me wrong, Monkey loves books, he’ll happily let me read to him for hours, but getting him to read. Oh boy, that’s a totally different story. It’s not that he can’t read, he just chooses not to. It’s a struggle at times, so in a bid to stimulate his self reading, I’m making a conscious effort to mix up the books we’re looking at, at home. A Parcel of Pigs and other Funny Tails is a book full of funny, rhyming poetry and it’s gone down rather well here.
Written and illustrated by Andréa Prior, A Parcel of Pigs and other Funny Tails is a 36 page paperback book full of animal and food based poems with bright illustrations. It’s aimed at children aged 5-8 years of age, and uses language that children will find easy to understand.
Being in Year 2 at school, Monkey faces the joy of SATS later this year. Part of the testing process will focus on comprehension and really understanding what he’s reading. Monkey struggles to break blocks of text down to then write about what he’s reading. I’m hoping, by looking at these short poems and working through the questions that are asked on each page, it may help him a little with what lies ahead at school.
I find that by looking at rhyming poems it gives Monkey a little bit more confidence with his reading, and if the text has some humour behind it, he’s more likely to stay engaged. With a father in the fruit and veg business, anything that relates to food normally goes down well too.
The poems are varied in length, but with a larger font, they don’t seem to be as daunting for a reluctant reader as some other poetry books we’ve got. Monkey has tried to read a few of the poems himself, and we’ve read the book together a few times now. I’d certainly recommend it. Published through Matador Books, I’ve included my Amazon Affiliate link for you below.
disclosure: we were sent the item mentioned in exchange for an honest review
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My sons are fairly young and like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star so they can make the hand movements!
i have a book of childrens poetry that i read to my dd, hard to choose a favourite though! @msedollyp
I love the Owl and the pussy cat went to sea!
From A Railway Carriage Poem by Robert Louis Stevenson – my fav from childhood, it really describes a ride on a railway train, we love it.
We like The Owl and the Pussy-cat
Twinkle twinkle little star
We like our nursery rhyme book. At the mo my daughters fave is little boy blue
We read Nursery Rhymes, put no actual poems!
We like nursery rhymes and also enjoy rhyming stories, Julia Donaldson is our favourite author
no my boys arent really into poems! x
‘Please Mrs Butler’ as my son’s Foundation Teacher was a Mrs Butler!
There’s a poem about a crab my little girl likes!
The Owl and the Pussy-cat
he likes the owl and the pussy cat as he sits and laughs at it lol
My grandchildren and I all love: On the Ning Nang Nong by Spike Milligan and we read it in funny voices and roll about laughing. I also encourage them to write their own poems which are so funny xx
My daughter makes up poems her imagination is fab bet she would love this x
oh we like the owl and the pussycat as we do a little dance to it xxx
Please Mrs Butler by Allan Ahlberg, I loved it when I was a kid, it makes my children laugh when I put on the different voices. there’s a poetry book by the same name and it is fab
My daughter love me reading her the owl and the pussycat
No, we don’t have a favourite.
I like to read Little boy blue to my sons
I love all Allan Ahlberg’s poetry, have done since I was very young – especially Please Mrs Butler and Heard it in the Playground
We like wind the bobbing up but we also like making them up
we dont have a favourite although my great aunt use to say one that starts when i was a lad.. was from the war a kids one but still a bit risque!!
There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly
My children love the Revolting Rhymes book by Roald Dahl.
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star has been a favourite. Especially when he realised that many of his relatives also knew and loved it. He learnt how to access it via mobile phone and iPad, loves music etc.
I tend to read book of Nursery rhymes etc. Do personally like :-
There was a little girl
With a little curl
Right in the Middle of her forehead
When she was Good,
She was Very, Very Good
And when she wad bad
She was Horrid..
We love a poem called ‘Spaghetti’ by Jack Prelutsky. It makes us all laugh. We also love listening to Michael Rosen poems on YouTube – so funny!
We don’t do poem reading.
Not really done any poems yet xx
We love halfway down the stairs by AA MILNE
Halfway down the stairs
Is a stair
Where i sit.
There isn’t any
Other stair
Quite like
It.
I’m not at the bottom,
I’m not at the top;
So this is the stair
Where
I always
Stop.
Halfway up the stairs
Isn’t up
And it isn’t down.
It isn’t in the nursery,
It isn’t in town.
And all sorts of funny thoughts
Run round my head.
It isn’t really
Anywhere!
It’s somewhere else
Instead!
Thinking of it I haven’t read any poems to my son, apart from nursery rhymes of course. I will have to find some now 🙂 x
My daughter has a book of poems she randomly chooses them
I love Roald Dahls revolting rhymes
Green eggs and ham
My little ones too young to understand poems but reading this makes me think I need to start reading him some
We read soldier soldier & Humpty Dumpty!
A poem called “A dug,, a dug” its about a boy begging his dad to get him a dog from the RSPCA at first his dad says no but the boys continues to badger him until his dad finally says yes,
The owl and the pussy cat went to sea
we only have nursery rhymes no poems
We have a nursery rhymes book. I used to read that to my son when he was little, now my daughter is 2 and we read a different one every night
the owl and the pussycat is liked in our house
We have several poetry books but no favourite
My daughter used to love listening to my Dad reciting the ‘Ducks Ditty’
We love to read Each Peach, Pear Plum <3
We love The Ships Cat by Richard Adams
Roald Dahls revolting rhymes – especially “the firelight flickers……….”, the boys find it hilarious
‘Ladybird Ladybird’ is our favourite ryhme
My daughter loves Mary Had a Little Lamb.
We don’t really have a favourite poem as yet, but he loves nursery rhymes.
I haven’t really read them poetry but I should and this would be a great start
They love twinkle twinkle little star even if they have heard it over ten times
We like revolting rhymes
we don’t have a favourite poem, But we do love the rhyming book, The Room on the Broom
Now We Are Six By A.A. Milne
Haven’t got into poems yet but nursery are starting them at the moment
Poems seem to have gone out of fashion in our house so we just read stories together.
Nursery rhymes are a favourite with grandchildren
I write my own, the kids love them and seem to be taking on my creative streak too
Anything from Now we are 6 by A A Milne
We don’t have a favourite, maybe this book would help us find one.
We really like Heard it in the Playground by Allan Ahlberg 🙂 don’t have a particular favourite from the book though
The only poem I have ever read to my children was twas the night before Xmas ⚡
We enjoy nursery Rhymes but not actual poems yet
The Owl and the Pussy-cat