The Journal of Outsider Poetry Talks About Our New Book

A new book of poetry is designed to help children deal with the stresses and anxieties particular to childhood.

Atrocious Poems A To Z is the second children's book from creative team Jenny Mathews of Rockford Illustrating, and Thomas L. Vaultonburg of Zombie Logic Press. According to Vaultonburg, the author, it is a book about "All the things that kids love to hate. Liver, sharing, immunizations, haircuts, and sibling rivalry are among the 26 "atrocities" children face on a daily basis dealt with in the book.

"We tend to take the stressors and anxieties of childhood lightly," says childhood developmental expert Henry Wolfsburg, Ph. D, of The Journal of Outsider Poetry, and professor of Developmental Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, "and that's often a big mistake, because the issues children are dealing with, although they may seem trivial or inconsequential to us, make up the totality of their existence. As adults we tend to have amnesia concerning how stressful childhood is, and often lose our ability to relate to and show empathy for the trials and tribulations our children face on a daily basis."

The book will be included in an art exhibit titled Bittersweet Observations at The Rockford Art Museum debuting June 9th at 6:30 p.m. All twenty-six panels from the book, illustrated by Jenny Mathews, will be alongside the poems by Vaultonburg, written on the wall of the museum. 

Of course Z is for Zombies in the new children's book from Jenny Mathews and Thomas L. Vaultonburg at Zombie Logic Press

Z Is For Zombies

Military Intelligence says
The Living Dead are out tonight,
But me and my little sister
Are home alone together,
So they better be ready to fight.

They're clearly confused
Who they're dealing with, I say,
As one of them sneaks up 
Behind my sister,
But instead of eating her brain
It walked right up and kissed her.



An oxymoron is a combination of words that have opposite or very different meanings. Can you find the four oxymorons in this poem?

In addition to helping children deal with anxiety-provoking situations, many of the poems contain lessons in literary form, themes, or literary terms such as  oxymoron in the poem "Z Is For Zombies."
-From The Journal of Outsider Poetry

Atrocious Poems A To Z can be pre-ordered at Kickstarter. Copies will also be available in the Rockford Art Museum on and after June 9th. 

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