Talking Turkeys by Benjamin Zephaniah

I first heard the poem Talking Turkeys spoken by Zephaniah himself. He read it as all his poems are to be read, in a Jamaican accent, so I was surprised to find that his normal accent is a Birmingham one, but he likes to pay homage to his heritage. Besides, the Jamaican accent is more fun, especially for his works, which take the form of rap and hip-hop.

This is a great little book of read-aloud and look at poetry designed for young children. The poems cover many topics that children would find interesting, such as the birth of a new sister, animals, caring, looking after the planet, stereotypes, politics, racism and hunting - so a real social commentary. They are also very visual, many of the poems are written to form patterns and there is great wordplay.

Zephaniah is a caring, intelligent and talented writer whose poems help teach children about being better people, without being preachy or dull. As someone who doesn't eat turkeys at Christmas, Talking Turkeys is my favourite poem. Something I like to recite every 25th December.

​A great read, fun and informative, something all children should experience.

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Published by Puffin on 29 September 1994.

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