Poetry and prose to read aloud

[Pickman's model]

Dylan Thomas is good to read out loud - even if you can't do a welsh accent. A Child's Christmas In Wales, Under Milk Wood - I enjoyed my dad reading these to us when we were kids.

 

[SpookyFrank]

What about some children's novels if that would not be seen as infantilising her? Eh morpurgo?

Michael Morpurgo is great. I met him when I was a kid, we stayed on his farm which he runs as a charity to get kids out into the countryside shovelling cow shit. I loved his stories back then and he came across as some kind of jovial wizard.

 

[Celyn]

I forgot to say - she is disturbed by things like other worlds, ghosts, synchronicity, deja vu, time travel and parallel universes, so nothing involving things like that. Nothing too dark or grim either. Ta.

I had been going to mention that there is an enormous wealth in the old ballads, but OK, no "Wife of Usher's Well" sort of stuff, but there are many that are more of the "rattling good yarn", no otherworld-ness about them, many with beauty, amusement and some harmless and merry sly humour.

 

[Celyn]

Eeek, eeek and aarrgh! I take it back. I had forgotten quite how much so many of the old folk ballads are full of sex, violence, death and all those joys.

Would she be OK with Thomas the Rhymer or does it count as too otherwordly?

 

[Orang Utan]

I don't know, have never heard of it. Who wrote it?

 

[Sprocket.]

Grace Nichols first collection,
I is a Long Memoried Woman, is a cracking collection from the Guyanese poet.

 

[Sprocket.]

Also the Faber Book of Beasts is a good collection of animal related poetry and a joy to read, sorry I cannot post a link at present.

 

[miss direct]

What a lovely thing to do.

I was going to suggest some of Roald Dahl's short stories but realised they are probably too dark.

I will have more of a think.

 

[Espresso]

Robert Service wrote some pretty good poems for reading aloud. Dangerous Dan McGrew, Madam La Marquise, lots of good stories in poem form.

Also, Albert and the Lion by Marriott Edgar. I love that.

 

[jjuice]

John Hegley's poems are very read out loud -able

 

[rubbershoes]

How about some MR James short stories?

You can find the texts of his stories here