Andy Jones (text), Jules Faber (illus.), The Awesome Book of Rap, Rhyme and Putrid Poetry, ABC Books/HarperCollins Australia, 1 Dec 2016, 272pp., $14.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780733335662
There is nothing pretentious about this book of poetry. Rhythm, rhyme and bad manners . . . it is sure to be a hit.
Nursery rhyme raps, limericks and a Shakespeare rap feature among poems like The Toilet Trilogy and The Ugliest Baby in the World. A helpful section of how to create a rap is included. Poetic terms are defined in a “Poo-etry Toolbox”.
As well as humorous short poems, there are three rhyming short stories (“epic Poetry”) in this fat paperback. The Galaxy Rap and Skater-Verse are two poems that are subject-based and less reliant on shock and surprise for effect. These offer a change of mood in a book which is frenetic and offers a “joke-a –minute”.
A book to dip into rather than read cover-to-cover, the in-your-face tone of the text and the audacious bad taste on each page should keep kids giggling in the corner of the school library throughout a rainy lunchtime.
Reviewed by Julie Thorndyke
