Dear Ugly Sisters…

Winner of the 2021 North Somerset Teachers’ Book Awards Poetry Category, ‘Dear Ugly Sisters and other poems’ is a wonderful collection with great potential for using in school.

In fact, this would be excellent for guided reading, encouraging children to explore imaginative word play and to experiment for themselves. Several of the poems play with fairy tales: ‘Dear Ugly Sisters’, for example, is a wonderful letter poem from Cinderella to her sisters before she leaves for the palace. ‘Three Bears vs Goldilocks’ considers events from Goldilocks’ point of view, perfect for having fun with perspective in story telling, writing in role and debate. ‘Rapunzel’ is inspired by Roald Dahl and his ‘Revolting Rhymes’, clearly showing how even the imagination of published poets can be sparked by the work of others.

Alongside the humorous, there are poignant moments. ‘Dear Key Workers’, written in collaboration with children during 2020, shares a simple, but powerful message whilst ‘How Long Until I Can See My Mum?’ is a deeply moving piece for those children separated from their parents after ‘illegally’ entering the US.

Science is also celebrated throughout. ‘Fleming’s Petri Dish’ and ‘Mad Dogs’ use different poetic forms to celebrate scientific discoveries, each accompanied by background knowledge notes for the reader to support their understanding.

My favourite poem in this collection, though, has to be ‘Travel by Book’- a celebration of the magic of reading and excellent for encouraging children to create their own poems using this as a model. Having used this with classes, I can say with confidence that it captures their imagination, sparking discussions about places they have ‘travelled’ to when reading. Some have loved it enough to learn by heart and recite at will!

Teaching notes were written to support the collection after it won NSTBA21. They can be found here.

Dear Ugly Sisters and other poems Laura Mucha, , illustrated by Tania Rex

Otter-Barry ISBN: 978-1913074791