A menagerie of animal poetry
Amarvellous menagerie of more than 200 animal poems by Aotearoa's best writers, Roar Squeak Purr shows just how fun poetry can be, and is sure to inspire a new generation of poets.
In between the covers of this book you will meet creatures large and small. They might pad, or skitter, swoosh or soar. They could be fuzzy, feathery, suckery, scaly or spiky. These animals might roar or squeak or Purrrrrrrrrr. Just like the animals they are about, these poems come in all shapes and sizes! They tell stories, pose questions, make us feel things — and they all make glorious music.
We asked Paula some questions:
Tell us a little about your book.
Roar Squeak Purr is a collection of animal poems written by New Zealanders. The book is divided into Land, Sea and Air. I wanted poems by a wide range of authors, and I wanted you to feel and think a wide range of things as you read. There is real and there is inventive, there is funny and there is sad.
What research was involved?
I have a huge collection of New Zealand children's poetry. So I read every book on my shelves, then I scavenged in libraries and second hand bookshops. I also trawled back through my blog Poetry Box as I wanted poetry by children in the mix too.
What is the favourite book you have read so far this year and why?
I have been reading a book a day after my bone marrow transplant in June and most of my choices rate a SUBLIME tick. So one pick is impossible. I adored discovering Beatrice diCamillo's heartbuilding children's novels, Brianne Te Paa's moving picture book, How My Koro Became a Star (Huia) and poet James Berry's supremely poetic picture book A Story About Afiya (Lantana). Loved Fiona Kidman's agile and moving essays So Far Now (Penguin) and Geetanjali Shree's utterly and
Roar Squeak Purr by Paula Green, illustrated by Jenny Cooper, Puffin, $45 piercingly human Tomb of Sand (Tilted Axis Press). Adored Eileen Merriman's gripping and resonant YA novel, Indigo Moon (Penguin) And 50 more.
What projects are you working on next?
I am working hard on Poetry Box striving to make it a hub for children's books, children's authors and young readers in Aotearoa. My own writing projects are secret but I'm on a second draft of a children's novel, and deciding whether to send a finished adult poetry collection to a publisher. There's also a new collection of my children's poetry simmering and a tiny memoir. Plus recovering from a bone marrow transplant! The projects help!