John Foster

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Biographical note:  John Foster is the well-known anthologist of over 150 collections of poetry for children including the best-selling Twinkle Twinkle Chocolate Bar. He is the author of twelve books of his own poetry for children, such as Four O’Clock Friday and The Poetry Chest – a collection of over 250 of his original poems and of two rhyming dictionaries – the Oxford First Rhyming Dictionary and the Oxford Junior Rhyming Dictionary.

BIC Basic

EAN13:  9781844712885
ISBN:  9781844712885
Author:  John Foster
Title:  The Land of the Flibbertigibbets
Series:  Children's Poetry Library
Product class:  BC
Language:  eng
Audience:  General/trade
BIC subject category:  YDP
Publisher:  Salt Publishing
Pub date:  15-Jan-11
Extent:  80pp
Height:  178 mm
Width:  110 mm
Thickness:  6 mm
Weight:  120 gms
Supplier:   Gardners Books
Supplier:   Ingram Book Group
Supplier:   Inbooks (James Bennett)
Availability:  IP
Price:  GBP 6.99
Price:  USD 9.95
Rights:  World

Short description/annotation:  A light-hearted collection of poems that will both entertain and enthral children aged 7-12 with its witty wordplay, nonsense nursery rhymes, fantastic football poems, curious cautionary tales, entertaining epitaphs, puzzling plurals and clever clerihews. A book of versatile verses and poems for children to laugh at, to puzzle over and to ponder.

Main description:  In the Land of the Flibbertigibbets is a collection of playful poems and versatile verses bound to entertain and capture the imagination of the young reader. From poems about a wizard’s dragon and a dinosaurs’ health spa, nonsense versions of nursery rhymes and fantastic football results, to a cautionary tale about a boy who is always sticking his tongue out. These new poems for children aged 7 to 12, include wordplay poems about anagrams and homonyms, a word-building poem about how to make a teacher, a chant about onomatopoeia and a poem about peculiar plurals. Haikus and clerihews, epitaphs and epigrams, kennings and lists make up this inventive collection.

Table of contents:
Acknowledgements
I Am a Poem
In the Land of the Flibbertigibbets
In Looking-Glass Land
The Wizard’s Dragon
The Spotted Origami
This is a Troll-Bridge
The Grand Old Count of York
When Dracula Went to the Doctor
Beware the Draculasaurus
Di Knows What’s Best For Dinosaurs
A Cheeky Boy Called Robert Rung
You’re for the High Jump!
My Brother’s Allergies
Grandpa’s False Teeth
In Memory of Billy Green
Epitaphs
The Name of the Game
How To Make a Football
Best Selling Football Books
Football Haiku
There Was an Old Woman
Mary’s Dad Was Football Mad
Final Scores
Let’s Give a Cheer for Onomatopeia
Have You Heard?
What Do You Call…
Anagram Antics
Backwards and Forwards
Geographical Definitions
Travellers’ Tales
The Itinerant Worker
I Used To Work
By Definition: Scents
Classified Ants
Animal Complaints
How To Make a Teacher
The Word Wizard Said: Give Yourself a Break
Anna’s All-Star Band
Z’s a Zipper-Zapper
Adverbially Speaking
It’s a Question of Homonyms
Exceptional Pasts
Things That Sound Old
Blowing Hot and Cold
Understanding Uncle Sam
Hey Diddle Diddle
Bedbug, Bedbug
Riddle
Spells
Threats
After the Storm
Toothache is a Torturer
Six Clerihews
Two Kennings
Diamond Poem
I Am a Free Verse Poem
In My Mind’s Eye
Epigrams
Behind the Raised Eyebrow
Inside a Shell

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Excerpt from book:  

In Looking-Glass Land

In Looking-Glass Land
I always see
Another child who looks like me.

But if I ask her out to play,
She sadly smiles,
As if to say:

‘There’s nothing more I’d like to do
Than step outside
And play with you.

But not today.’
And then she turns her head away,
Because she knows
That she must stay

Inside the glass
That is her home
And never never ever roam.

In Looking-Glass Land
I always see
A child inside who looks like me.

Unpublished endorsement:  John Foster is that rarest of poets – unpretentious, accessible, straightforward and popular. A master craftsman and trusted wordsmith, he writes poems that I wish I’d written.

Paul Cookson

Unpublished endorsement:  From a dinosaur spa to what's inside a shell, John Foster's poems will leave you enthralled, spellbound and begging for more — hilarious wordplay, crazy cautionary tales and fun riddles from the master of rhyme.

Angela Topping

Unpublished endorsement:  John Foster has great dexterity with wordplay. From reflections on the letter ‘Z’ to guidance on understanding ‘Uncle Sam’, this book is crammed with poems that turn and twist in ways that children will find intriguing.

Brian Moses

Previous review quote:  A collection of poems in which he moves expertly from puns and poetic lists to clerihews and concrete poem creations. It’s clever stuff, entertaining and eclectic, and really is wizardish with words.

Wes Magee

Previous review quote:  John Foster writes verse for children with understanding and with no trace of superiority. In their wisdom and enlightenment they are outstanding.

Junior Bookshelf

Previous review quote:  John Foster’s sharp eye has caught exactly how children view school, parents, siblings, friends and much more besides. His sharp ear has caught children’s language enabling him to write poems that speak directly to them.

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