a piece of childhood

a piece of childhood

A Chapter by A.B
"

a book that has always been a friend, a part of my childhood,adolescence and adulthood, finally found the chance 2 write about it,even though there were some words that couldn't be written.love poetry

"

(a review on The Kingfisher Book of Children's Poetry)


At the time 8-year-old children where watching cartoons and playing board games, my only method of entertainment was "The Kingfisher book of Children's Poetry". My childhood conditions in Africa made it harder for me to be trivial, no television, no playstation, just books and sports, and this book of poetry was literally my only friend. I had other books of course, but the event of 'discovering poetry' was the most amusing for me. Realizing that words could have this echo, this sound that runs within the soul…it was simply marvelous! 


The secret behind the awesomeness of this book is not about the content, it is about the way it was put together. 'Children's Poetry' was not written by someone, it's a treasury of poems, ideas and thoughts that were trapped into words by many people from countries all over the world, and collected by Michael Rosen a famous children literate. He says in his inspirational introduction "…Some of the people who wrote them have become famous while others you couldn't possibly have heard of, because the poem is by a 'boy in the play ground' or 'a woman in a bus queue', on the other side of the world". I believe this is what makes this book special, it's not the heart and the mind of one poet, it's bits and pieces of many people, everyone left his mark for you to find with in yourself, and eventually you realize that it's not just a book, but a crowded friendly place hosting imagination, childhood, art and fun.  


The book includes a variety of poetry styles, starting from true dense poems written by William Blake, Bob Dylan and ElKhansaa  to folkloric ballads, limericks, riddles and nonsense verses. They all share the theme of childhood, however, I reckon there is real surrealism and deep philosophy in some of them, for example the ballad 'We shall not be moved' :


We shall not, we all shall not be moved 

We shall not, we all shall not be moved 

Just like a tree that's standing by the water,

we all shall not be moved 


Some of the poems reflect the tradition of unknown cultures, others are deep, with relatively hard vocabulary (for a child), while others are simply hilarious and unforgettable! Something like :


Poor little Johnny, we'll never see him more

For what he thought was H2O was H2SO4


How could such a verse be forgotten ever!! 


Children's Poetry would be a great addition to a child's life, it grows up with you. You read words and you keep repeating them because you can't still get the meaning behind them, but as you grow, the thoughts grow up with you and the meanings get closer. I don't think it's a book for children only, adults will definitely enjoy it too. It would develop a child's passion towards art and literature, and develop an adults imagination and childhood-ness!  


The best thing about this book would be to share it, have fun with others and feel its laughs and tears together. As Rosen mentions in the introduction " Read them out loud, get a fried or a parent and read them to each other, get a tape recorder and record your favorite ones on a tape". If you have children, get it and read it to them, don't worry if they will understand it or not, just read and let them read to you.  This is just the best thing that could be done to realize such magic, share it! Because these people's thoughts and feelings, were trapped into words, but you could definitely set them free again! 





© 2013 A.B


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I like this first chapter hoping there will more.

Posted 11 Years Ago



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Added on February 18, 2013
Last Updated on February 18, 2013


Author

A.B
A.B

CRAZY Cairo, some deserted place!!, Egypt



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