The River’s A Singer – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: Poetry, engaging, funny, positive, lyrical.
Children’s book title: The River’s A Singer.
Children’s author: Valerie Bloom.
Children’s illustrator: Sophie Bass.
Genre: Poetry collection.
Published by: Macmillan Children’s Books.
ISBN: 9781035043767.
Recommended for children aged: 7+ year-olds.
First published: Paperback August 2024.
This children’s book is ideal for: Poetry lovers of all ages.
To see the latest price or order, click on the book cover image. As an Amazon Associate schoolreadinglist.co.uk earns from qualifying purchases.
Our review:
Clouds
Little bits of cloud
High in the sky,
Little bits of cloud
Float slowly by,
Count all the bits
And that will be,
The number of fishes
There are in the sea.
The River’s a Singer is a beautiful poetry collection by Jamaican-born poet and novelist Valerie Bloom. Awarded an MBE for services to poetry in 2007, Valerie is a passionate advocate for the power of poetry and performance, particularly for children and young adults. In 2022, she won the Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award (CLiPPA) for her collection Stars with Flaming Tails. Her work is also regularly featured in GCSE English exam syllabuses.
This new collection brings together many of Valerie’s best-loved poems, along with hidden gems and new writing. The book is charmingly illustrated with black and white line drawings by Sophie Bass, who draws on her mixed British and Trinidadian heritage to bring authenticity to the poems.
The Moon is a Starfish
The moon is a starfish
Swimming in the sky,
It reaches bright tentacles
Across the earth
To feed on pockets of darkness.
Themes of family, cultural identity, and celebrating heritage run throughout this collection. Specific topics include the weather, seasons, telling tall tales, and deciding which of the many tempting fruits on display at the marketplace to try first. There are riddles, haikus, lullabies, and skipping rhymes. Wordplay, puns, and funny twists feature in many of the poems, while others are more lyrical and reflective. The poems range from just a few lines long to multi-page sagas. Such diversity ensures that there is something for everyone in this collection.
Many of the poems feature elements of the distinctive Jamaican Patois. Although the non-standard phrasing and spelling can appear a little jarring on the page at first, careful reading soon picks up the rhythms and beats. The meaning is further enhanced when the poems are read aloud, and there are many wonderful videos of Valerie reading her own poems on YouTube, which would be great for classroom discussion.
Longsight Market
How much a poun’ fe yuh yellow yam?
Massa, don’t talk rubbish!
A gold yuh yellow yam make out of?
Den how yuh sell de saltfish?
The series of poems on a traditional Jamaican Christmas is particularly enlightening and would lend itself well to discussions on how festivals are celebrated around the world. A helpful pronunciation guide and glossary are included at the back of the book, along with a biography of the author.
The River’s a Singer is an engaging, culturally diverse poetry collection that will appeal to fans of Michael Rosen and Joseph Coelho.
Many thanks to Macmillan Children’s Books for the review copy.
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If you like The River’s A Singer by Valerie Bloom, illustrated by Sophie Bass you might also like: our reviews of Outside In by Daniel Thompson, The Shape of Rainbows by Neal Zetter, illustrated by Will Hughes, The Star Whale by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Petr Horáček and Forwards Always by Matthew Hodson.
Browse our Poetry for KS2 list
