When a Goose meets a Moose Poems for Children

Tuesday Treasure

When a Goose Meets a Moose is a very special Australian poetry anthology chosen by Clare Scottt-Mitchell illustrated by Louise Hogan.

I am lucky to own a copy of this 1980 poetry book and I recently found the paperback edition (1990) for just $1 at a charity book fair.

This book is arranged into themes all of which are themselves quite poetic: Mostly me; Sitting on Postesses; Some came Peeping; The wind blew me away; His wings were pink and purple; Over grass and over stone; One on a horse with a saddle of gold.

Here is the poem referenced by the title:

"Each poem, whether it is set in Australia, New York, or rural England, is related in mood or experience to the private world of a child's imagination, or the outside world of adventure." Blurb

Here are two of the poems I like:

Balloons ... Balloons by Myra Cohn Livingston

Balloons, balloons
on colored string
are blowing out
into the Spring.

Balloons, balloons
filled up with air
are sailing off
to everywhere.

Balloons balloons
all bright and round
 are floating up
without a sound.

Snail by Langston Hughes

Little snail,
Dreaming you go.
Weather and rose
Is all you know.

Weather and rose
is all you see,
Drinking
The dewdrop's
Mystery.

The poem choices in this anthology are very special with poems by famous names such as Charlotte Zolotow, Margaret Wise Brown, Walter de la Mare, James Reeves, Robert Frost, Karla Kushin, AA Milne and Edward Lear.

The other wonderful feature of this book are the beautiful illustrations. Some in fine black and white pen and others in soft water colours. If you can find a copy of this book it would be good to use the illustrations with a group of older students as part of an art study. Some of the illustrations are framed, some fill shapes, some have soft edges and others are carefully placed to spread across two pages.

As with all good poetry books the editors have also supplied an index of authors and an index of first lines.

Clare Scott-Mitchell compiled a companion poetry anthology - Apples from Hurricane street (1985). More recently she published 100 Australian Poems for Children (2002). This one is illustrated by the late Gregory Rogers.