Coyote's Soundbite: A Poem For Our Planet By John Agard

It’s much longer than I expected and my little one fell asleep whilst reading to him the first time around! He did wake when I finished though and said he enjoyed it! He has since talked about this book quite alot and has asked for it several times since so he obviously really has enjoyed it :)
I thought the content was a bit heavy for his age and may be better suited for children aged 8+. The illustrations in this book are really beautiful, akin to Quentin Blake, and really bring this story to life.
Whilst it is a poem, I felt it didn’t quite flow in places. As a children’s book I (probably naively) expected a rhyming poem to gain a rhythm and I think this maybe would have added a bit more accessibility for younger ones especially as the content was quite a lot to digest. That said he it did keep his attention and prompted lots of questions about the various goddesses. I personally found it quite thought provoking and would like to learn more about the earth goddesses myself!
All in all, this is a great conversation starter and educational tool but better suited for older children.

I really like the illustrations, there is so much to see on every page. My daughter is four and found the book a bit much in one sitting so instead we've been reading one or two pages and then talking about what it means in terms of the World as she understands it. I think it would good for older children, it's one I'm tempted to take into school and share with my 8/9 year olds as I think they'd find it really interesting.

This was very different to what we would usually read, however that isn't a bad thing! Based on the title I thought that this would be an easy flowing read, so was surprised there was no rhyming especially in a poetry book aimed towards children. I read this with my 5 year old first and then with my 9 year old and I agree that the age recommendation of 7 is spot on - it was too difficult for my youngest to follow and my oldest took a lot more away from it.

The book sparked conversations about the environment and what our generations can do better to help the earth. We also learned about godesses which was a really lovely touch.

In true Lantana style the illustrations are amazing and so detailed, this is something my youngest loved and she kept pointing things out on each page.

As mentioned above, I would recommend this for those in KS2 and I will go back to this in a few years time with my youngest.

Wow! What an amazing book! It’s starts with the earth goddesses concerned for the planet, so they call a female only meeting to discuss what they should do to help the humans and to stop destroying the planet.
But Coyote doesn’t want to miss it, so he dresses up in disguise, wearing his wife’s dress and takes her shoes and bag.
He listens to the goddesses one by one and then it’s question time.. but no questions. Coyote came up with a suggestion- “a soundbite is what you need ladies”

When he got home he found his wife had dressed in his three piece suit to attend a male only earth goddess meeting.

Matthew had so many questions while reading this book, he’s main one was “why can’t everyone just come together to talk about the planet?”

Molly sat a few times when we were reading the book this week and she loves looking at the illustrations, talking about all the animals and insects. The illustrations are just beautiful, so colourful and inviting.
Matthew noticed the buildings and boats at the bottoms of the pages discussing the problems of the planet.
I’d definitely say this book is for children 7+.

As a family we have really enjoyed this book this week and will continue to read and share it with people( Matthew wants to take it to school next week to read with his friends)

This book means business but delivered in such entertaining and clever way. The illustrations are unique and eye catching. If you are like me who always go for cover first before reading what the book is about, this will surely catch your attention. The cover is bright and sturdy.
The way it was written was in verses, somewhat rhyming. There are quite a lot of words you don't use very often in a daily conversation so great for children to expand their vocabularies. The age recommendation of 7+ I think is very appropriate as this will most be appreciated by older proficient readers. The text content is hefty so for younger children and as bed time story this may prove to be challenging. This is more appropriate for book discussion or the ' week's ' story as can be read and discussed in stages.
The humour of the author comes through on some pages which made me chuckle. And then it introduces you to so many earth goddesses of differing nature and characters. All so clearly described. As you read along, you'll wonder what/ how these goddesses represent our planet and all things on it. And how they come together for a conference to discuss more serious issues like global warming and pollution. Then of course, trying to discuss how they're going to reach out to humans to care and actually save Earth.
Last but not least, let's not forget our funny and smart Coyote. I'll leave the rest for you to discover his clever antics.