Can it be about me? by Cheryl Moskowitz

Ill. by Ros Asquith. Harper, 2012. ISBN 9781 84780 340 5.
(Ages 9+) Poetry, Humour. Moskowitz wanted to write poems about being at school, and so asked her local primary school if she could be a fly on the wall for a while to capture the essence of life at school. The volume containing the 48 poems is the result of her efforts when being as unobtrusive as possible at the school. But she did cause interest and the first poem in the volume is based on one boy's interest as he enquired 'can it be about me?' Many of the poems presented grew out of Moskowitz's observations in the school ground and class room, and present situations familiar to us all. Themes such as being alone, bullying, how to make friends, what games to play in the break, range alongside more detailed poems about Egypt or a spelling test, or simply a poem of all the abbreviations there are in a school. She also presents a brief introduction to each poem, giving it a context and also explaining the type of poem it may be, so giving teachers a model to use when doing poetry in the classroom.
Fran Knight