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andreana_k's review against another edition
4.0
I hate that I loved this book. I need to let it go and move on. But these poems were delightful, simple, clever, funny and numerous. Where did he find the time? Delightfully illustrated too with simple pencil sketches that do not distract from the words. I particularly enjoyed the Moon Whales and other Moon poems chapter, there was some quite fantastical verse in there. My only criticism is his subject matter, mostly flora and fauna, is very stereotyped. I don't think he really spent any time appreciating goats or hedgehogs or nasturtiums or the minutia of plants and animals because he comes across as so mean about them. Goats are horny and hairy, plants have bugs, hedgehogs have fleas, let me write a poem about it. Hedgehogs and nasturtiums are some of the most beautiful things in nature. But then so was Sylvia and look how he treated her.
Mermaid
Call her a fish,
Call her a girl.
Call her a pearl
Of an oyster fresh
On its pearly dish
That the whole sea sips
With gurgly slurps
And sloppy lips.
-Ted Hughes
alisa4books's review against another edition
1.0
None of these really grabbed me. Nothing he wrote made me want to read more. Everything was too wordy and too much about animals
arbieroo's review
3.0
Ranging from the deliberately daft (e.g. Meet my Folks, the Moon poems) to the serious but accessible (e.g. Season Songs), this collection brings together all the poetry for children Hughes wrote in one place. Nevermind the kids - read it yourself and see Hughes' more light-hearted and comedic side.
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