SuitabookSmile Out Loud
Joseph Coelho
- Reading
- Begin with a poem whose illustration or suggested action attracts the reader. Read privately or together, explain unfamiliar words, then revisit a favourite and try creating a short poem using its technique.
- Themes
- Performance and confidence: The poems are designed for solo, paired or group reading, with suggestions involving volume, energy, calming delivery and audience performance. Speaking poems is presented as a valuable, playful way to build confidence and share cheerful words.
- Language play and creativity: The collection uses spoonerisms, zeugma, rhyme, alliteration, repetition, rondels and villanelles, and invites readers to make their own poems. Experimenting with language and form is presented as enjoyable, imaginative play rather than a fixed exercise.
- Happiness alongside sadness: The book foregrounds cheerful, funny poems but also includes a poem about what someone might do when sadness arrives. The book leaves its stance open to more than one reading.
- Worth knowing
- Some vocabulary may need explanation, and not every poem will suit every reader’s taste or reading rhythm. The collection also includes a reference to sadness alongside its predominantly cheerful tone.