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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Kids will LOVE those ones. They’re made for reading out loud, with rhymes that bounce and plenty of noise.<\/p>\n
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).<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
They’re short and tender rather than upsetting. Each one is a nice way into a conversation, if your reader wants one.<\/p>\n
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!).<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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!<\/p>\n
It’s a good one to dip into at bedtime, a poem or two at a time.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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. 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12641,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"lr_next_read_post_id":8425,"lr_next_read_anchor":"Joseph Coelho's Poems Aloud","lr_seo_hook":"Funny and gentle poems about snoring brothers, horrible hedgehogs and bees.","lr_series_id":0,"lr_series_name":"","lr_series_position":0,"lr_series_label":"","lr_author_order":""},"book_tag":[20],"age_group":[21],"book_type":[1044],"book_author":[67],"class_list":["post-7181","our-books","type-our-books","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","book_tag-real-life-books","age_group-books-for-5-year-olds","book_type-paid","book_author-alex-wharton"],"yoast_title":"Daydreams and Jellybeans by Alex Wharton | Little Reads","yoast_metadesc":"Funny and gentle poems about snoring brothers, horrible hedgehogs and bees. For ages 5+. 3,000+ books in the Little Reads app. 7-day free trial.","acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n