Zombie Logic Daily News of the Weird correspondents Jenny Mathews and Thomas L. Vaultonburg have published a book of children's poems titled Atrocious Poems A To Z.
Atrocious Poems A To Z is a book that takes the problems and challenges of childhood seriously. VERY seriously. Some might say too seriously. By taking a comic approach to everyday issues children face in lighthearted poems and whimsical drawings we hope to present a jumping off point where children and parents can discuss topics like bullying, sharing, dealing with siblings, anxiety etc. It was our goal to ease into these topics employing comedy, sensitivity, and an understanding that although children may see these "atrocities" as the end of the world, they are really things we have all gone through and just a natural part of growing up.
Me and my life and creative partner Jenny Mathews raise two children: Ella (13) and Jack (6), and although many of the poems and illustrations in the book are about the struggle of their daily lives and the so-called atrocities they encounter, we hope it will be applicable to all parents doing their best to explain a sometimes unfair and scary world to children.
In addition to dealing with day to day atrocities, it was also a goal of mine to teach some poetic form and basic literary devices to young readings. Literary devices such as paradox, verbal irony, oxymoron, portmanteau, and onomatopoeia can sometimes be difficult to explain without an example, so I've incorporated some of these more complicated literary devices into poems that are hopefully fun to read and not at all heavy-handed about teaching these lessons. My goal as a writer was to make it as fun as possible to spot these examples in the poem, but write poems complex enough that they would stand alone even without the literary lesson being taught.
