Poo! And other words that make me laugh by Felice Arena. Illus. by Tom Jellett

This is an immensely silly book designed to be shared aloud that will probably result in rauccous laughter and incredulous guffaws from both adults and children ('That can't be a real word!'). Despite the title, it isn't all toilet words that feature; hidden within the endpapers covered in the word 'poo!' are useful (and genuine!) words, all listed in a glossary at the end of the book. Little used words that are incredibly fun to say may just become part of the everyday vernacular: bumfuzzle, flapdoodle, persnickety, wallop and succotash. 

Tom Jellett's (My Dad Thinks He's Funny) illustrations are awesome as always. Larger than life, big expressive faces fill the colourful pages, with the words themselves also taking centre stage. At heart this is all about having fun with language and creating shared meaning. Getting children to discover that words can be fun is not always easy - this will help! It is also an enjoyable way to teach children about the importance of a glossary and how to use one. Creating their own nonsense word and definition or finding other funny words in a dictionary could also be used as fun follow on activities. 

Nicole Nelson