Book cover of 'Ten Poems about Daughters' with illustrations of a woman holding a child, a child playing with a butterfly, and a woman walking with a child on a path.

Ten Poems About Daughters

$14.99

'Instead of a Card' is the idea behind the British publisher Candlestick Press' range of gorgeous small poetry pamphlets. With covers created by leading contemporary artists and poems hand-picked to speak to every kind of reader, all their titles offer a richly rewarding reading journey. Pamphlets are supplied with an envelope for posting and a bookmark for a special message.

This volume -

A daughter will always be a daughter, and this beautiful and tender selection celebrates that joyful fact.

We begin with a birth and progress through the years via familiar landmarks; the beloved toys of early childhood and tricky teenage arguments lead to the inevitable moment when a daughter must leave home.

A poem about teaching a daughter to swim becomes a moving expression of a rite of passage into independence:

“You will watch her
leaving the shore behind

and the current will flow
the right way. That day,
the water will hold her…”

from ‘Teaching Your Daughter to Swim’ by Clare Shaw

Running through every poem there is an abiding sense of the power of the bond between a parent and daughter – and of course there is always love.

Selected by Katharine Towers.

Poems by Michael Brown, SL Grange, Harry Guest, Joanna Ingham, James P Lenfestey, Kim Moore, Marilyn Nelson, Clare Shaw, Anne Stevenson and Claire Walker.

Cover illustration by Caroline Barker.