When Bees Flew in for Breakfast - Nigel Tetley

Summary: When Bees Flew in for Breakfast is a collection of forty original poems written specifically for the 11-16 age group. The poems cover a wide range of themes, from nonsense humour to Gothic horror to logical puzzles to the Natural World. The poems are playful, surprising, thought-provoking and intriguing. This is a book that young people will want to read. (Summary from goodreads.com.  Image from amazon.com.  I was provided a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.)

Review:  Poetry has a reputation, doesn’t it? I always imagine some hipster or beatnik who reads poetry just to show others how smart and refined they are, which is a ridiculous stereotype, I admit, but seriously. That’s the image I have. It’s a pity, too, because poetry can be an amazing outlet for emotions, short stories, observations … really, it’s just an overall pity.

This amazing little book by Nigel Tetley is an excellent reality check.  The poems range from scary to silly, short to long, and grace all sorts of genres.  I really enjoyed it.  I’m surprised how much I enjoyed it. One of the short-story-type poems was probably better written and certainly more gripping than many of the novels I’ve read this year.  It was such a surprise to me to remember that poetry can truly be amazing, and is not a type of literature I should so easily overlook.

As someone who thinks that everyone is a reader - some just may not have found their favorite book yet, this is definitely a book I'd hand to reluctant teens and preteens.  Short enough that it can be read in an afternoon, well-written enough that I found myself wanting to go back and revisit my favorite poems, it's a keeper.

Rating: Four and a half stars

For the Sensitive Reader: Some of these poems are spooky.  But clean.