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Reviews of School Visits
"Joshua was absolutely amazing. The children loved him, as did all the adults that saw him too. He performed to every age child in the school, from Nursery to Year 6 and it worked at every level. He is truly inspirational. I would love to have him back for a return visit sometime in the future."
Sharon Cook, Librarian, Queenborough School, Kent
“Joshua was engaging, exciting and thoroughly inspiring – the whole school became poets for the day! My class continued to write and create their own work after he had gone and every child produced a poem of which they were very proud.”
Emer Harrison, Head, St Mary's Primary School, Broadway (read newspaper article)
“Poetry is a really important tool for developing the writing skills of the children and we’re committed to getting them involved with it from a young age. To have such a well-respected and successful poet come in to speak with the children was a wonderful experience and they all really enjoyed it."
Vanessa Bingham, Headteacher, Lyceum Primary School, London (read about the day)
"Thank you so much for a fabulous day - you really got our Book Week off to a fantastic start. I have had nothing but positive feedback from both children and staff."
Stanmore Primary School, Winchester
“Josh went down really well with the KS2 children - I could hear the enthusiastic audience participation from my room. Feedback from the teachers was along the lines of "brilliant", "inspiring", "really engaged all the pupils"."
St Francis de Sales RC Junior School, London (read newspaper article)
"It was great to start the day with a performance from you. The children left buzzing. The focused workshops were excellent, the pitch and content were perfect and the enthusiasm created was inspirational. You created a real sense of success and achievement for the children that participated in the workshops. It was great to see them responding well to a positive male role model"
Jen Higginson, Literacy Coordinator, Fleetville Infant School, Hertfordshire
"Helped us to reinvent our own poetry teaching and gave us teachers new ideas!"
Hannah Ross, Literacy Coordinator, Parkgate House School, London
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Book Reviews (selected)
"There is so much to enjoy here - another fabulous collection! Essential for every bookshelf." - FIVE STARS *****
Review of Who Let the Words Out? Reading Zone
"His clever use of word-play come together with humour in an anthology that is tender and insightful"
Review of Who Let the Words Out? Literacy Tree
"This book is a must-have for imaginative children"
Review of Who Let the Words Out? Preneur World
"Delicious and entirely successful" - FIVE STARS ***** Book of the Week
Review of Yapping Away Books for Keeps
"If you want children to find delight in language, poetry in particular, this book is a MUST"
Review of Yapping Away Red Reading Hub
"Delight your children with this fabulous collection of poetry by the dedicated and highly skilled wordsmith Joshua Seigal."
Review of Welcome to My Crazy Life Kidscene
"It’s a bundle of joy in a book by one of our favourite poets."
Review of Welcome to My Crazy Life Love Reading 4 Kids
"This is a great collection of genuinely funny poems and they're refreshingly original for older primary kids, reflecting their lives and interests." - FIVE STARS *****
Review of I Bet I Can Make You Laugh BookTrust
"Even if you don't like poetry, you're likely to be won over by Seigal's clever rhymes" - Book of the week
Review of I Don't Like Poetry, The Week Junior Magazine
“If ... you still think, 'I don't like poetry,' this might be the collection for you: Joshua Seigal's very imaginative and wonderful collection.” Review of I Don't Like Poetry, Nicolette Jones, The Times
"This is a very clever and varied collection of poems."
Review of I Don't Like Poetry www.irishexaminer.com
"Packed with subversive humour and a real insight into the world of children today, I Don’t Like Poetry will please the most reluctant of poem readers whether they want something funny, sad or scary. It is a wonderful collection that shows a new poet at his best."
Review of I Don't Like Poetry www.lovereading4kids.co.uk
"I defy any teacher not to find something in this collection to excite and enthuse a whole class. Or a parent not to find something to please even the most reluctant of bedtime readers. It’s poems like these that ensure children just love poetry."
Review of Little Lemur Laughing www.poetryzone.co.uk
"Fun and engaging with plenty of child appeal, a great choice for schools to use in KS1 poetry"
Review of Little Lemur Laughing, The Bookseller
This is a little gem of a poetry book, perfect for any household and school. Joshua Seigal is definitely my new favourite poet.
Review of Little Lemur Laughing Books for Keeps
"If this book doesn’t fill your nursery group with exhilaration, then nothing will. Perfect for letting off steam; but equally so for beginning readers."
Review of Just Like Me! www.jillbennett.wordpress.com
"This book is a riot...hilarious"
Review of Morris Wants More www.theschoolrun.com
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Show Reviews
"Joshua Seigal is exactly the kind of person to interest young children in poetry: performing without many of the assumed staples of successful children’s theatre, such as special effects or crude jokes, he nonetheless succeeds in gripping his small audience. Interactive enough to give the little ones something to do yet not so much that the parents felt bound to join in, Seigal’s poetry is gently amusing. With topics ranging from playground bullies to his own worst fear (an amusing twist) there is little opportunity for fidgeting or lost attention in this fast paced show"
(FOUR STARS) Three Weeks
"One can’t help but like Joshua Seigal. He is so full of bounce and yet completely unflappable, both key qualities when working as a children’s entertainer. For Seigal, showmanship appears to be less about putting on the same performance day after day and more about really getting to know his audience and adapt to their needs. He not only attempted to remember the names of every child in the sizeable crowd but also recognised one boy who came to see him the year before. This is a man who really cares, we sense."
(FOUR STARS) Broadway Baby
"His poems, which range from one on being "a warrior king" of the garden - "I don't take orders from anyone... until mum calls me in for dinner" - to others on a school bully, his dad and animals, are full of educational value and engaging silliness, plus great pay- off lines, which ensured that seven-year-old Emma in the second row and the little people nearby were not the only one in cascades of giggles. The grown-ups loved him too."
(FOUR STARS) www.thejc.com