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John Mole (b. 1941) taught for many years in this country and the USA before becoming a freelance writer and occasional jazz musician. As a poet for children he continues to give readings and run workshops in schools and libraries, and his work is represented in many anthologies. Reviewing his work in the Times Educational Supplement, Gillian Clarke wrote: ‘He’s one of the best, and already has many fans.’<p>John Mole ranks with the finest of his contemporaries; poets such as Causley. Ted Hughes and Christopher Reid ... Mole's reader, for whose pleasure he writes – and never down – is the young person who understands, or – sometimes – nearly understands.</p>
- Robert Hull, Books for Keeps
<p>John Mole's poems for children are simply good poems which are accessible.</p>
- Mary Sullivan, The Guardian
<p>Great control and a variety of shapes and forms. Mole moves from the sharply comic to the evocative, and is good, as a poet should be, in suggesting things happening off the page.</p>
- Matthew Sweeney, The Sunday Telegraph
<p>Here now is another set of luminous and well-judged poems, never a phrase too many, never one short, demonstrating that there is infinitely more to the good poem than the number of words lying on the page. John Mole loves language, uses it with subtlety and skill, and is quite unafraid of making demands on his young audience. The effect, quietly engineered, is always arresting, often surprising. The pictures they paint, the sentiments they express, seem to dissolve and reassemble before one's eyes as if by some process of magic. The work of a true poet.</p>
- Charles Causley, Times Educational Supplement
<p>It is always been one of Mole's strengths, as he exploits the two-way traffic between both.</p>
- Gavin Ewart, Times Literary Supplement
<p>In numerous courses, informal talks to teachers, and in readings to children, I don't think I've recommended any poet more often than John Mole in recent years.</p>
- Stephen Bicknell, Signal
<p>He is one of the best and already has many fans.</p>
- Gillian Clarke, Times Educational Supplement
<p>A new John Mole collection is good news.</p>
- Anne Harvey, The Guardian
All the Frogs collects together the poems John Mole has written for children since the publication of This is the Blackbird which was shortlisted for the CLPE Award. As in his previous collections, he conveys the mystery, humour and sometimes pain to be experienced in everyday situations, and relishes the free play of rhythm and rhyme. Several of the poems here call out to be read aloud while others are more suited to quiet moments of thought. John Mole writes for children in the playground and for the solitary child in his or her private space. Charles Causley described an earlier collection as ‘the work of a true poet’ and the same can surely be said of All the Frogs.
Humour, magic and an engaging seriousness combine to make All the Frogs a must for the poetry bookshelf. Charles Causley has described John Mole’s writing for children as ‘the work of a true poet’ and the anthologist Anne Harvey, reviewing an earlier collection in ‘The Guardian’ wrote ‘A new John Mole collection is good news!’
- The Blackout
- War Boy
- Gyroscope
- D.I.Y
- Nothing Personal
- Suppertime
- Embarrassment
- Is In The Situation
- The Wound
- The Melting
- The Game
- How Many Proverbs?
- How Many Clichés?
- Variations On
- A Leading Question
- Fishy
- To A Friend Who Presented Me With A Loaf From His
- Breadmaking Machine
- Seeing The Specialist
- Facing It
- The Improvement
- Socks
- Where They Are
- Reverse Charge
- Rubber Duck Song
- The Snow Queen
- Scarecrow Festival: Flamstead
- Two Minds
- Peter Pan To Wendy
- Captain Hook
- Flying With Icarus
- The Ostrich
- Mobile
- Three Riddles For Christmas
- Piano Practice
- All The Frogs
- That’s Life
- Looking Up
- Getting There
- Wendy And Barry
- The Isle Of Cats
- Count Not This Be Yet
- Holding My Tongue
- Message In A Bottle
- To Lorraine
- The Flyer
THE OSTRICH
With his head stuck in the sand
he doesn’t want to know;
Don’t you tell me, don’t you tell me,
let your children grow,
let the rivers flow,
let there be love the whole world over.
whisper it or shout it,
life is not much without it
but never expect an ostrich
to do anything about it.
With his head stuck in the sand
he doesn’t care to hear:
Don’t you tell me, don’t you tell me,
let the smoke clouds clear,
let the sun appear,
let there be peace the whole world over,
better with than without it,
nobody can doubt it
but never expect an ostrich
to do anything about it.
When he lifts his head from the sand
all that he will say
is You never told me, you never told me.
Go on. Go away!
So leave him, let him stay.
Already the whole world over
the word is going out. It
needs us all to shout it,
to see what the ostrich wouldn’t see
and to do something about it.