A great collection of poetry for middle readers, from the 2001-3 Children’s Laureate, Anne Fine.

Anne Fine, the 2001-3 Children’s Laureate, is a life-long lover of poetry, and A SHAME TO MISS…2 is one of her three irresistible collections of poetry for young readers.

Aimed at 9-11s, the collection contains a wonderful mixture of the familiar and classic (W H Auden, A E Housman, Christina Rossetti, Wordsworth and other poets) with poems from the late 20th century like Stevie Smith’s ‘Not Waving but Drowning’ or Ted Hughes ‘Full Moon and Little Frieda’. Poets from Afro-Caribbean backgrounds like John Agard and Grace Nichols are featured, alongside several other poets from non-European cultures.