Shortlisted for the 2016 CLPE Children's Poetry Award.
"An exciting collection that challenges in a way few anthologies for children do." - 2016 CLiPPA judges
Falling out of the Sky is a treasury of poems which retell classic myths, legends and fairytales from across the world in fun, often tongue-in-cheek ways. Hansel and Gretel’s witch takes us behind the scenes of the construction of her gingerbread cottage, and Medusa explains how the snakes on her head rule out a lot of options in everyday life – wearing a hat, for example.
Full of alternate viewpoints and spirited new versions of old stories, Falling out the Sky is a friendly introduction to poetry as well as the joy of literature. In tales about the beginning of time to the end of the world, poets and characters speak directly to the readers, revelling in the possibilities of storytelling. These are poems which parents can read aloud to younger children, and which older children can read to themselves, delighting in the mischief and invention of the poets.
"This is a brilliant and brave first foray into children’s anthologies by this impressively productive and relatively young press. The book (aimed at 9+) features a range of poems and even a few prose pieces inspired by myths and monsters that will get young people familiar with the great iconic myths such as Icarus and Pandora’s Box as well as introduce them to some less well known delights like Ginny Green Teeth and Terrainiac the Rain God! Here we have an exciting collection by a young, vibrant company that is not afraid to challenge as well as delight. The poems in this book invite young people and adults alike to think about and question poetry and at times inspire them to find out more about Dog-Bone gods and Celtic cauldrons.” - Joseph Coelho (read the full review here.)