When I started reading A Pun in the Oven by Phil Maund, I was expecting a collection of poems about pregnancy and motherhood - something this book definitely is not. (Totally my fault, I didn’t bother checking the poet’s name first.) I was also expecting a great deal of silliness, which A Pun in the Oven delivers in abundance.The short poems in this collection have no common factor except their nonsensical nature. They’re about everything from fairy tales to animals and other random things. There’s a Shel Silverstein feel to these works - and how great would some similar illustrations be with them?
I love that most of the poems have two titles that add to their humorous nature. And the puns are so terrible they’re brilliant. A Pun in the Oven is clearly for a British audience, which might make it a little less accessible to other audiences because of things like cultural norms and vernacular but, overall, it’s a quick, fun read.
