The Language of Cat, Rachel Rooney

Perhaps the mark of a skilful children’s poet is that they can be enjoyed (without embarrassment or condescension) by adults as well. This is certainly the case with The Language Of Cat, Rachel Rooney’s first book of collected poems. In it, as the title suggests, we are invited to view the world from unusual perspectives. These could be those of an animal, an imaginative poet, or indeed an autistic or dyslexic child. (We are told that the poet trained as a special needs teacher.)
This is a book brimming with witty invention. ‘Signature’ tells the tale of a boy with unfortunate initials, whilst in ‘Boast’ people are said to swallow inanimate objects, thus taking on their properties: “I’ve got a friend who swallowed a lamppost./He lives down our street.” There are droll narratives such as ‘Post‘, in which a queen plans to swap places with a commoner, and ‘A Greengage is a Type of Plum‘, a true story (we are told) and a warning against the over consumption of that particular fruit!
Word games, shape poems and quasi-mathematical riddles abound, each page acting as a playground for new ideas. Rooney never underestimates what children can absorb, or, over ninety one pages, rests on her laurels, producing the merely cute or twee. Hence ‘Calculation’ documents the mathematics of love in four shrewd lines, ‘Acceleration’ offers a kaleidoscopic vision of aging, ‘Elizabeth Quinn’ details the perils and pleasures of sensitivity (“There’s a girl that we know called Elizabeth Quinn/Her eyes are too big and her skin’s too thin”), and ‘Target‘, in the closing pages, is a bold manifesto of poetic intent. 
The stylised pen and pencil illustrations by Ellie Jenkins are, although effective, perhaps less impressive than the poetry, on the whole. The best do make a strong visual impact however, enhancing the poems they accompany.
All in all then, a great debut boasting an embarrassment of riches that will have readers young and old purring with pleasure and gratitude. 10-12 yrs 



ALAN MURPHY