Nonsense Poems for Children

Max's collection of nonsense poems for children was incredibly difficult to organise into neat little categories. I didn't quite give up, but the groupings are broader and more all-embracing than they might have been. If some cruel teacher has told you to find a nonsense verse about…    you'll quickly discover that most nonsense poems aren't about anything very much at all. However, if you're reading for fun, I'd suggest you just dive in and try a few. Oh, and beware of the sharks.

Nonsense Verse

If you've not read any nonsense verse before, you may find Max Scratchmann's nonsense poetry a bit odd. Don't worry, it's meant to be odd, with all sorts of weird characters, fantastical situations and, oddest of all, meaningless made-up words. You'll either love it or...

Bad Children and Cautionary Verse

More of Max's poems in the nonsense verse style, but these poems are about bad children. Some are just naughty, but others are really wicked and sometimes truly evil creatures. So you'll meet Amelia who microwaved the cat and other similarly malevolent children.

Halloween Nonsense Poems

Vampires, boondocks and the creepy Mr Schlepington Face Whiskers are a few of the delights that await in Max's spooky, scary and sinister Halloween poems. The selection starts with The Ghost of Long Tom Mouse, a mildly scary poem which will help you decide if you've the stomach for nonsense Halloween poems.

Rude Rhymes

The rude rhymes are nonsense poems which are quite rude, but also incredibly funny. Subjects of the poems include decapitated jelly babies, smelly Horace and romantically involved mints. I think that these poems are suitable for 12 or 13 year olds, but you may disagree because you're either prudish or precocious.