The Hodder Reading Project Level 4-5 identifies blocks to progression and takes pupils from National Curriculum Level 4 to Level 5. It comprises the Teacher's Resource, Pupil's Book and 6 Readers. Reader 2, Half-caste and Other Poems by John Agard. 'Half-Caste', the title poem of this collection, is one of the set poems for GCSE English for AQA A, the largest spec with 375,000 candidates. But its influence and presence extends well beyond the 'AQA' schools, making John Agard one of the most popular, well-known and respected poet-performers on the schools circuit. Through his 45 poems, John Agard explores a wide variety of themes: racial harmony, tension and diversity; war and religion; society, patriotism and politics; as well as more personal ideas on relationships, love and attraction. This is all delivered with a range and depth in terms of content, language, poetic form and technique that will engage and motivate KS3 and KS4 pupils while developing their understanding. An ideal collection to sit at the heart of a scheme of work on cross-cultural themes.

Includes poetry from We Brits that gives an outsider-insider view of British life in poems which both challenge and cherish our peculiar culture and hallowed institutions. This book also includes Weblines that contains three Caribbean myths of transformation: the steeldrum, the limbo dancer, and Anansi, the spider trickster god.

Books contain countless tales—but what if Book told its own story? From clay tablets to e-readers, here is a quirky, kid-friendly look at the book. Books are one of humankind’s greatest forms of expression, and now Book, in a witty, idiosyncratic voice, tells us the inside story. A wonderfully eccentric character with strong opinions and a poetic turn of phrase, Book tells of a journey from papyrus scrolls to medieval manuscripts to printed paper and beyond—pondering, along the way, many bookish things, including the evolution of the alphabet, the library (known to Egyptians as "the healing place of the soul"), and even book burning. With bold, black-and-white illustrations by Neil Packer, Book is a captivating work of nonfiction by one of England's leading poets.

The Hodder Reading Project Level 4-5 identifies blocks to progression and takes pupils from National Curriculum Level 4 to Level 5. It comprises the Teacher's Resource, Pupil's Book and 6 Readers. Reader 2, Half-caste and Other Poems by John Agard. 'Half-Caste', the title poem of this collection, is one of the set poems for GCSE English for AQA A, the largest spec with 375,000 candidates. But its influence and presence extends well beyond the 'AQA' schools, making John Agard one of the most popular, well-known and respected poet-performers on the schools circuit. Through his 45 poems, John Agard explores a wide variety of themes: racial harmony, tension and diversity; war and religion; society, patriotism and politics; as well as more personal ideas on relationships, love and attraction. This is all delivered with a range and depth in terms of content, language, poetic form and technique that will engage and motivate KS3 and KS4 pupils while developing their understanding. An ideal collection to sit at the heart of a scheme of work on cross-cultural themes.

A lover of strict form, best-selling poet Victoria Chang turns to compact Japanese waka, powerfully innovating on tradition while continuing her pursuit of one of life’s hardest questions: how to let go. In The Trees Witness Everything, Victoria Chang reinvigorates language by way of concentration, using constraint to illuminate and free the wild interior. Largely composed in various Japanese syllabic forms called “wakas,” each poem is shaped by pattern and count. This highly original work innovates inside the lineage of great poets including W.S. Merwin, whose poem titles are repurposed as frames and mirrors for the text, stitching past and present in complex dialogue. Chang depicts the smooth, melancholic isolation of the mind while reaching outward to name—with reverence, economy, and whimsy—the ache of wanting, the hawk and its shadow, our human urge to hide the minute beneath the light.

The father of performance poetry, John Agard, brings you a collection of riotously funny poems. Follow that Word is a celebration of imagination and demonstrates the true diversity of language. A dazzling collection of over sixty poems, Follow That Word delivers John Agard's musings on people and places from the modern and historical world, this wonderful collection that can be rediscovered over and over again. With gorgeous black-and-white illustrations from Momoko Abe, these poems truly come to life for all children, and this collection belongs on every bookshelf. 'It's been around from Creation dawn, And it only takes two to catch on, Try it people, and you'll soon see, This is a dance that can set you free, It's called the dance of diversity.' Reviews for Half-caste, and Other Poems: 'Rollicking Caribbean-flavored rhythms combined with serious matters such as racism define poet extraordinaire, Agard.' - Voya A performance poet, Agard uses his rhyme, repetition and refrains that make his work sing...Skilful use of humour to get his serious points across. - The Book Horn Inc