About Our Reviewers

Eve Jackson - poetry specialist
At present I work with children aged between 6 and 9yrs old who need additional support with Literacy and Numeracy. I also facilitate a Dyspraxia exercise group. Prior to this, I worked for two years with children of all ages who have speech and language difficulties, as well as being a Youth Outreach Officer for five years with a voluntary organization.

I am qualified as a Psychiatric Nurse and also as a Nurse for People with Learning Disabilities. I have published articles on choice-making and I am the co-author of three books: Helping People with a Learning Disability to Explore Choice, Helping People with a Learning Disability to Explore Relationships and Learning Disability in Focus (Jessica Kingsley).

My interest in writing for children began many years ago when I was invited to write for a children's page of a local newspaper. I continued this for some years. My more recent poetry publications have been for Poetry Life, Seam, Smoke, South and numerous other journals and anthologies. In addition, I conduct poetry workshops for Christians and enjoy giving poetry readings.

I see poetry as a perfect way of introducing children to the possibilities of language; discovering words; engaging the imagination in exciting and sometimes exhilarating ways, yet always leaving something of the unknown for the child to discover for themselves.
For me, poetry offers ryhthms and rhymes that can carry children apace, startling metaphors, shapes that can turn words into pictures in front of their eyes and experiences akin to their own summed up in a few well-crafted lines. This is why I believe that good reading of good poetry is essential for children.