Brief, but as dark as original fairy tales; in these poems, the cow chews down the beanstalk ("I think I'm worth more than five magic beans"), the witch lures Hansel and Gretel to their cannibalistic doom, and Red Riding Hood's grandmother abandons her to the wolf. Most poems have a fairy tale or nursery rhyme connection with a dark twist; in others, the author addresses the reader directly. The table of contents is purposefully useless ("This is Just to Say" over and over, except for the Introduction, which is buried on page 18). Funny for the right reader; appalling for the wrong one.

See also: Paul Janeczko's A Kick in the Head, A Poke in the I; Shel Silverstein

William Carlos Williams, "This is just to say" ( )

This book is compiled of numerous poems surrounding the topic of forgiveness in different situations. The author approaches these poems in a satirical way. This book would be great for students in upper elementary or older as the topics discussed may be a little more advanced. This would be a great book for readers who are interested in poetry. ( )

With funny poems that make poetry readers relax a little, this is collection for kids and adults. There's plenty of mischief and action happening to attract event the most reluctant of readers.

These poems are good examples for teaching poetry, its stanzas, its rhythm, and so forth. They're also useful because their unorthodox in their themes, and kids will like the playful mischief. ( )

This book is full of false apology poems.

Humorous and entertaining collection of poems of people making "false apologies". ( )