All these poets have in their various ways ‘tuned into childhood’ with intimacy and
honesty, reflecting, I think, a basic respect for and recognition of young readers in all
their complexity. One reason for this is the regular contact with children they gain
through school visits and performances. These are poets who know what children enjoy,
who are close to their audience; most of them divide their time between writing for
adults and children, something that certainly isn’t common in the world of fiction; many
of them have also edited significant anthologies for children. All of them have continued
to publish popular new collections into the 1990s.
Some of their American counterparts are John Ciardi, Eloise Greenfield, Mary Ann
Hoberman, David McCord, Eve Merriam, Jack Prelutsky, Nancy Willard and Charlotte
Zolotow. Their poetry tends to have a quieter and less realistic flavour than that of
British poets, with the exception of Shel Silverstein (A Light in the Attic (1982)), Karla
Kuskin (Any Me I Want To Be (1972)), and Nikki Giovanni (Spin a Soft Black Song (1971)
whose spunky verse is anything but tame. Interestingly, ‘urchin verse’, as Townsend
defines it, which does so well in Britain, is hardly known in America.
There are also a clutch of humorists on both sides of the Atlantic who sell well: for
example, William Cole (Oh Such Foolishness (1980)), Roald Dahl (Revolting Rhymes
(1982)), Spike Milligan (Unspun Socks from a Chicken’s Laundry (1981)), Colin
McNaughton (There’s an Awful Lot of Wierdos in our Neighbourhood (1987)), Colin West
(A Step in the Wrong Direction (1984)); and ‘Dr Seuss’ (Green Eggs and Ham (1960)).
None would be called, or perhaps call themselves poets, but their verse is much
appreciated by children.
The late twentieth century has seen the development of outstanding pictorial texts
such as Charles Keeping’s version of The Highwayman (1981) or Michael Foreman’s A
Child’s Garden of Verses (1985), and collaborations between poets and artists such as
Michael Rosen and Quentin Blake, or Ted Hughes and Leonard Baskin—reminding us of
famous collaborations of the past, such as Rossetti and Hughes or Milne and Shepard.
The current climate of popularising poetry may lead to a wider audience: despite the
huge range available, it remains a minority interest and only a small number of people
read, write and buy it. Equally, although poetry for children has come a long way, how
much of it is still the well-meaning preferences of adults foisted on children?
Poetry InternationallyThe discussion thus far has related to poetry for children in Britain, with America,
Canada (poets like Anne Corbett and Dennis Lee) and Australia (Max Fachen, Norman
Lindsay, Doug MacLeod) following roughly parallel tracks in this century. It is worth
noting that poetry written for children is not so widespread outside Britain: and most
countries do not have a native tradition of published children’s poetry. Young readers
interested in poetry borrow from accessible adult works. There are a few anthologies
which deal specifically with international poetry: for example, Can I Buy a Slice of the
Sky (edited by Grace Nichols) (1991), I Like That Stuff (edited by Morag Styles) (1984),
and Poetry World (1985) edited by Geoffrey Summerfield. Indeed, most good editors
spread their nets widely, as with Charles Causley’s The Sun, Dancing (1984) or Naomi
Lewis’s A Footprint in the Air (1983). There is generally more interest in the poetry of
TYPES AND GENRES 201