Daydreams and Jellybeans

Alex Wharton's Daydreams and Jellybeans is a book of poems for 5 year olds that's silly one minute and quietly thoughtful the next.

What happens

One poem tells a brother exactly what he sounds like asleep (a crisp packet stuck in the nozzle of a hoover, apparently) and moves him out to the shed. Hector the Horrible Hedgehog wrecks the garden every night and poops in the bird food. Someone is arrested for eating a hairy jellybean off the floor.

Kids will LOVE those ones. They're made for reading out loud, with rhymes that bounce and plenty of noise.

Then there are the gentle ones. Mrs Patterson turns 90 surrounded by her thousand clocks, which tick more softly at night. A kingfisher zips past in its "sunbeam vest". A solitary bee explains, very politely, that she won't be working for the Queen, thank you (she's busy washing her hair).

A few poems are about bigger feelings. Lost Smile is about a sadness that pretend smiles can't cover up. Man in Town wonders about a man sleeping on the cold pavement while people walk past. Trapper Boy is about a child working alone in the dark of a mine, with a short note explaining that some started at only four years old.

They're short and tender rather than upsetting. Each one is a nice way into a conversation, if your reader wants one.

There's lots of word play to enjoy too. The Jam gets more and more dramatic as the jar runs out. The Teacher Said is a list of every telling off you've ever heard in a classroom (Sally, give it back to Maggie! Sorry. Maggie, give it back to Sally!).

At the back there are two poems by children who won a poetry competition. That's a lovely touch for a child who already writes their own.

The poem Wonderful Words ends by handing the job over. It's up to you to write, speak and sing the words yourself. What a nice nudge for a reader who's always making up rhymes!

It's a good one to dip into at bedtime, a poem or two at a time.

What to read next

If they enjoy performing these, Joseph Coelho's Poems Aloud is full of tongue twisters, a rocket poem to read as fast as you possibly can and tips for getting louder and quieter as you go.