Note on the door and other poems about family life by Lorraine Marwood

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Walker Books, 2011. ISBN 9781921720611.
(Age 8+) Highly recommended. This is a delightful collection of poems that describe many facets of Australian family life with humour and insight. It is well organised into themes such as holidays, school and friends. Particular favourites for me are a poem describing a messy bedroom turned to compost and another from the point of a view of an older sibling describing the impact of a new baby.
Collections of Australian poetry suitable for many year levels are not easy to find and this collection would be ideal for both classroom browsing shelves and library shelves. The quirky illustrations add fun and interest to the pages. Lorraine Harwood won the 2010 Prime Minister's Literacy Award, Children's Fiction for her verse novel Star Jumps which is also well worth purchasing. This novel and the Note on the Door collection would be suitable for class or individual study from Year 3 upwards.
Chris Lloyd

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