Key learning points

1. ‘Cloud Busting’ focuses on the relationship between two ‘friends’: Davey and Sam.
2. The story is told as a verse novel.
3. ‘Cloud Busting’ uses both fixed verse and free verse poetry.
4. ‘Cloud Busting’ is written in both the present and the past, through use of flashbacks.
5. A range of poetic forms are used by the author including haikus, blank verse, limericks and concrete / shape poems.

Keywords

• Verse novel - A verse novel is a narrative told through poetry, blending prose and poetic elements.

• Form - Form is the way that a text can be presented.

• Fixed verse - Fixed verse is poetry with a specific structure, rhyme, and metre.

• Free verse - Free verse is poetry without strict rhyme or metre; it emphasises natural speech rhythms.

• Theme - A theme is a big idea, topic or message that recurs within a story.

Common misconception