Wonderland: Alice in Poetry

By Michaela Morgan

Lewis Carroll's Alice has been enchanting children for 150 years. Curious Alice, the bossy White Rabbit, the formidable Queen of Hearts and the Mad Hatter are among the best-loved, most iconic literary creations of all time.

In Wonderland: Alice in Poetry, we celebrate the poems of Lewis Carroll, from the sublime to the surreal, including popular favourites such as Jabberwocky , The Walrus and the Carpenter and Tweedledum and Tweedledee. In addition to these classic, beloved poems, this beautiful collection features many contemporary poems from editor Michaela Morgan and a host of popular poets, including Roger McGough, John Agard, Grace Nichols, Rachel Rooney, Tony Mitton, Vivian French, Cheryl Moskowitz, Joseph Coehlo, and Jan Dean, each one putting their own spin on these classic texts.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Release date: Sep 22, 2016
• ISBN: 9781509818853

Michaela Morgan

Michaela Morgan left her hometown of Manchester for a misspent youth in various exotic locations and now divides her time between Brighton, France and Rutland. As a teacher she worked with everyone from sticky infants to tattooed prisoners, but writes mostly for the former. Michaela is always a popular speaker at various school events, festivals and conferences. Her first picture book for Macmillan was Never Shake a Rattlesnake.

Book preview

To my real little Alice.

May the world be wonderful for you.

Contents

Introduction

Michaela Morgan

All in the golden afternoon

Lewis Carroll

Wonderland

Rachel Rooney

Uses

Rachel Rooney

Read Me

Joshua Seigal

Against Idleness and Mischief

Isaac Watts

How Doth the Little Crocodile

Lewis Carroll

How Doth the Scary Centipede

Roger Stevens

The Mouse’s Tail/Tale

Lewis Carroll

Dinah and her Mouse’s Tale

Liz Brownlee

I Knew Who I Was This Morning . . .

Tony Mitton

Advice from a Caterpillar

Rachel Rooney

A Wonderland of Sorts

John Agard

You’ve Got So Big and Horrible

Joseph Coelho

The Old Man’s Comforts and How He Gained Them

Robert Southey

You Are Old, Father William

Lewis Carroll

You Are Sad, Lewis Carroll

Roger Stevens

Speak Gently

David Bates

Speak Roughly to Your Little Boy

Lewis Carroll

Child Care

Michaela Morgan

Beds – A Dormouse’s Guide

Jan Dean

Smile

Sue Hardy-Dawson

The Star

Jane Taylor

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat

Lewis Carroll

Star

Michaela Morgan

The Flamingo’s Lament

Jan Dean

Managing Your Flamingo

Jane Yolen

The Spider and the Fly

Mary Howitt

The Lobster Quadrille

Lewis Carroll

The Parent and Child Quadrille

Michaela Morgan

Star of the Evening

James M. Sayles

Soup of the Evening

Lewis Carroll

Beautiful Soup

Tony Mitton

Recipe

Michaela Morgan

Weather Warning

Shauna Darling Robertson

Message

Rachel Rooney

Jabberwocky

Lewis Carroll

The Ursin Fight

Joseph Coelho

Feeling Icky

Michaela Morgan

The Walrus and the Carpenter

Lewis Carroll

The Crocodile and the Undertaker

Vivian French

Six Impossible Things to Do Before Breakfast

Roger McGough

Humpty Dumpty’s Song

Lewis Carroll

What Humpty Dumpty Didn’t Know

Kenn Nesbitt

A Deal with the Unicorn

Michaela Morgan

The Mad Gardener’s Song

Lewis Carroll

Violent Vision

Shauna Darling Robertson

He Thought He Saw an Elephant

Nicholas Allan

On Growing Up

Cheryl Moskowitz

Alice’s Movie

Grace Nichols

After Wonderland

Michaela Morgan

A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky

Lewis Carroll

Can Anybody Truly Say?

Kenn Nesbitt

Grounded

Michaela Morgan

Index of First Lines

Index of Authors

Acknowledgements

Foreword

As a child I went to the local primary school, where on Fridays we had class library time. The books were kept in a folding metal contraption. It would be wheeled to the front of the classroom, unlocked, unfolded and the books would be revealed.

And so, into my hands came Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Into the strange world of Alice I tumbled, never to entirely return. Alice’s little golden key let me into a world of adventure and colour and strength and impossible possibilities. I loved her stalwart and stoical confidence as she quietly stood up for herself and continued in her journey. I loved the plays on words, the fun and nonsense. But most of all I loved the verse in the story. I reread those verses. I still know most of them by heart. By heart.

Now it’s time to reply to Lewis Carroll and to Alice – to celebrate those wonderful verses, outlandish characters and events and those slightly disturbing illustrations. It’s time to respond – to take Lewis Carroll’s words and ideas and to play with them. Some of our best contemporary poets and storytellers have taken Carroll’s poems from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking-Glass and from the lesser-known work Sylvie and Bruno and springboarded from them