Millennium Baby's First Year Book

This is a very amusing and comical collection of poems, all centred around the on-goings of the classroom and the daily life at school. What makes these poems original is the way that they are written, in that they can appeal to children, teachers and parents. The poems are categorized into the following sections- School Time, Play Time, Dinner Time, School Time Again and Home Time. This structure also cleverly mimics the outline of the primary school day.

The poems featured in this collection are particularly relatable for primary school children, as a variety of topical issues are explored, such as dealing with a supply teacher, picking teams at playtime, losing items of clothing and even visiting the school nurse. The way that these topics are explored is interesting, as they are not enforcing “goodness” or morality, but rather humorously and accurately depicting feelings, experiences and occurrences. For example, in “Supply Teacher”, the “rules” for dealing with this situation are stated. “Always remember, you must say this: ‘Our teacher never does that, Miss!’”. The light-hearted ways in which these issues are presented allows for the reader to laugh at the content, rather than take it too seriously.

What is brilliant about this book, is the way that Ahlbeg transforms rather mundane occurrences like a class losing pairs of scissors, into a funny, relatable situation. Even adult readers can read these poems and be metaphorically transported back to their own school days. This book also shows how school experiences stand the test of time, and that primary school children nowadays can identify with these poems as much as a 50 year old would.

The illustrations featured alongside these poems are excellent also, as they almost look like doodles on the side of piece of paper. They do not distract from the words or content, but rather simply add to the fun of the poems. The doodle-like illustrations also contribute to the theme of the book, and helps to reinforce the idea of school life.

This book would be suitable for Key Stage 2 students, as the subject matter would be relatable for children aged 7-11. This book could be used as a performance piece, as the rhyming poems would be perfect for children to act out and perform as a creative display. It would also be interesting to see children create their own Ahlberg-style poems as a part of their creative writing.