LoveReading4Kids Says
Longlisted for the UKLA Book Awards 2020
Joseph Coelho dedicates this lovely picture book to ‘everyone who misses someone’ and it’s particularly apposite for any child who has recently lost a grandparent. The story is narrated by a little girl who describes happy times with her grandad, ordinary everyday experiences interspersed with vivid metaphor, ‘if all the world were deep space, I’d orbit my grandad like the moon and our laughs would be shooting stars’. As the story continues, it’s clear Grandad has died, but writing down her memories ensures he will always be with her. Joseph Coelho is a fine poet and this is a joy to read aloud; Allison Colpoy’s illustrations make it beautiful to look at too and it deserves a place in every child’s collection.
Andrea Reece
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If All the World Were... Synopsis
A moving, lyrical picture book about a young girl's love for her granddad and how she copes when he dies, written by poet and playwright Joseph Coelho. This beautifully illustrated, powerful and ultimately uplifting text is the ideal way to introduce children to the concept of death and dying, particularly children who have lost a grandparent.
About This Edition
ISBN: |
9781786036513 |
Publication date: |
3rd January 2019 |
Author: |
Joseph Coelho |
Illustrator: |
Allison Colpoys |
Publisher: |
Frances Lincoln Childrens Books an imprint of Frances Lincoln Publishers Ltd |
Format: |
Paperback |
Pagination: |
32 pages |
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About Joseph Coelho
Joseph Coelho is the Waterstones Children’s Laureate 2022-2024, and an award-winning poet, playwright and writer. His first poetry collection, Werewolf Club Rules!, won the CLPE Children's Poetry Award in 2015, and he has been writing and performing ever since. His picture books include If All the World Were... illustrated by Allison Colpoys and Luna Loves Library Day illustrated by Fiona Lumbers. His poetry books for children include Overheard in a Tower Block illustrated by Kate Milner and A Year of Nature Poems illustrated by Kelly Louise Judd.
His ‘Story told in poems’, for age 12+, The Girl Who Became A Tree, was shortlisted for The 2021 Carnegie Medal and received a special mention from the Bologna Ragazzi Award 2021. His YA verse novel, The Boy Lost in the Maze, is longlisted for the Yoto Carnegie Award for Writing 2024, has been chosen as an outstanding international book for The White Ravens collection 2023 and has also been nominated as an IBBY Honour Book for 2024.
He has written plays for the Polka Theatre, the Lyric, Hammersmith, and the Unicorn Theatre. He creates dynamic poetry theatre pieces for young people that he tours nationally. He also performs with the UK's top performance poetry organisation, Apples and Snakes, visiting venues across the UK. Joseph has been a guest poet in Cbeebies' Rhyme Rocket.
Originally from London, he now lives by the sea in Kent.
More About Joseph Coelho