A to Z Challenge 2019

#AtoZ Challenge; Y is for Bernard Young

Posted on April 29, 2019April 26, 2019 by Liz Brownlee

Bernard Young is an experienced professional poet and performer who leads writing workshops for children and adults. Bernard’s poems have been broadcast on local and national radio and feature in numerous anthologies of poetry for young readers. His speciality is primary school age. Here is a link to his new book, What are you Like? And here is a link to his website.

And here is lovely poem Bernard sent for the Poetry Feast:

Best Friends

Would a best friend

Eat your last sweet

Talk about you behind your back

Have a party and not ask you?

Mine did.

Would a best friend

Borrow your bike without telling you

Deliberately forget your birthday

Avoid you whenever possible?

Mine did.

Would a best friend

Turn up on your bike

Give you a whole packet of your favourite sweets

Look you in the eye?

Mine did.

Would a best friend say

Sorry I talked about you behind your back

Sorry I had a party and didn’t invite you

Sorry I deliberately forgot your birthday

– I thought you’d fallen out with me?

Mine did.

And would a best friend say, simply,

Never mind

That’s OK?

I did

If you would like to blog hop to the next AtoZ Challenge, please follow this link.

Children’s Poets’ Climate Change Blog: Be the Change

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A to Z Challenge 2019

X is for XXX by Colin West

Posted on April 27, 2019April 26, 2019 by Liz Brownlee

Colin West studied Graphic Design and Illustration at various art colleges. His first book, a slim volume of nonsense verse, Out of the Blue from Nowhere, was published by Dennis Dobson in 1976 – I am the proud owner of one of these! He went on to write and illustrate some sixty children’s books, some of which were favourites with my children, and now lives in Sussex and writes and draws for his own amusement, mainly.

However, he has published two rather wonderful recent collections The Funniest Stuff and Bonkers Ballads, both of which are stuffed with Colin’s delightfully witty poems and charming, colour illustrations.

Here is the fun poem and wonderful illustration Colin sent for the poetry feast:

XXX

If you’d like to blog hop to another A-Z Challenge, then follow this link.

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A to Z Challenge 2019

#AtoZ Challenge; W is for Celia Warren

Posted on April 26, 2019April 21, 2019 by Liz Brownlee

Celia Warren has been writing poetry ever since she learned to read, and has been published in hundreds of children’s anthologies. Her collections are all for young children and many of her poems and stories form infant readers in mainstream school reading programmes all over the world. She has compiled two anthologies: The RSPB Anthology of Wildlife Poems illustrated by a range of fabulous artists, (Bloomsbury) and A Time to Speak and a Time to Listen (Schofield and Sims). Celia loves reading and performing her poems to anyone who’ll listen! Her latest book, Don’t Poke a Worm till it Wriggles, illustrated by Sean Longcroft, A&C Black, is all about worms! Celia’s website is here.

Celia has sent two of her wonderful illustrations to go with her lovely poem!

If you would like to blog hop to the next AtoZ Challenge, please follow this link.

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A to Z Challenge 2019

#AtoZ Challenge; V is for Vexing Rex by Joshua Seigal

Posted on April 25, 2019April 21, 2019 by Liz Brownlee

Joshua Seigal is a London-based poet, performer and educator. He has three published books and has performed all over the world. He has held residencies at numerous schools, is an official National Poetry Day Ambassador, and was shortlisted for a National Literacy Trust Award and the Laugh Out Loud Award. Joshua works with children of all ages and abilities, as well as running training days for teachers and doing comedy and spoken word performances for grown ups. His website is here and his book, I don’t Like Poetry, illustrated by Chris Piascik, here. His latest book is I Bet I Can Make You Laugh, published by Bloomsbury and illustrated by Tim Wesson.

The poem Joshua has sent appears in I Bet I Can Make You Laugh (I bet he can!):

Vexing Rex

If you want to annoy my dog,

(and I mean really, really annoy him),

don’t bother taking his dinner.

He’ll look bemused, maybe let out

a whine, but he can handle it.

Nor is it any use to snatch his toy,

or to cut short his walk –

he’ll get confused, maybe sulk

for a time, but he’ll face it with patience.

No, if you want to really, really annoy my dog

just blow

very softly

on his head.

He’ll bristle and yelp

and bat the breeze with his paws…

He’ll snuffle and yap

and snap the gust with his jaws…

If you want to really, really annoy my dog,

a tiny little puff or air

will get him as growly

as a grizzly bear.

And it isn’t just my dog:

if you want to really, really annoy my dad

just do what I do

and climb in bed with him,

on a Sunday morning,

and blow

very gently

in his face…

If you would like to blog hop to the next AtoZ Challenge post then follow this link.

Children’s Poets’ Climate Change Blog: Be the Change

Liz’s Blog: Liz Brownlee Poet

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A to Z Challenge 2019

#AtoZ Challenge, U is for Useless by A F Harrold

Posted on April 24, 2019April 21, 2019 by Liz Brownlee

A.F. Harrold is a children’s author and children’s poet who writes and performs for both grown ups and children. He can often be found in school halls pointing at children and sharing his poems, and even more often in the bath, thinking them up… His latest wonderful poetry book is Things You Find in a Poet’s Beard, illustrated by Chris Riddell in my favourite colour. A. F.’s Website is here and Twitter here.

Here is the brilliant poem beginning with ‘U’ that A. F. has sent for the Poetry Feast:

Useless

I feel as useful as a kipper that’s been kept in a kettle,

as useful as a conker in your socks,

as useful as a top hat that’s been stuffed with orange jelly

and then balanced on the head of a fox.

I feel as useful as an ostrich on the number eighteen bus,

as useful as a desert in a pool,

as useful as a sausage that you’ve asked for assistance

with the homework that you’ve brought home from school.

I feel as useful as a cabbage that’s learnt to play cricket,

as useful as a llama on the moon,

as useful as a trifle that is sitting on the sideboard

saying ‘Eat me’ out of sight of a spoon.

But enough about me,

let’s talk about you…

If you would like to blog hop to the next AtoZ Challenge post, please follow this link.

Children’s Poets’ Climate Change blog: Be the Change

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A to Z Challenge 2019

#AtoZ Challenge; T is for Nick Toczek

Posted on April 23, 2019April 21, 2019 by Liz Brownlee

Nick Toczek is a British writer and performer who has had more than forty books and dozens of recording published. As well as being a poet, he’s a rock journalist (for the magazine RnR), a radio broadcaster with his own week show (on BCB Radio), a professional magician and puppeteer, and an authority on the activities of racist groups in the UK and in America. His Authors Abroad page is here, and his brand new website is here.

Here is the lovely poem Nick has sent for the Poetry Feast:

GROWING

A branch begins as a twig.

A piglet becomes a pig.

When I’m older, I’ll be big,

Biggerty, biggerty, big.

An elephant starts off small,

And little bricks build a wall.

When I’m older, I’ll be tall,

Tiggerty, tiggerty, tall.

Maybe a baby just cries

Yet learns with its ears and eyes.

When I’m older, I’ll be wise,

Wiggerty, wiggerty, wise.

Our legs and our arms get long,

Grow muscles where they belong.

When I’m older, I’ll be strong,

Striggerty, striggerty, strong.

And anyone can be cruel,

A bully, a beast, a fool.

When I’m older, I’ll be cool,

Kiggerty, kiggerty, cool.

If you would like to blog hop to the next AtoZ Challenge poet then follow this link.

Children’s Poets’ Climate Change Blog: Be the Change

Liz’s Blog: Liz Brownlee Poet

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A to Z Challenge 2019

#AtoZ Challenge; R is for Coral Rumble

Posted on April 20, 2019April 18, 2019 by Liz Brownlee

Coral Rumble has worked as a poet and performer for many years and now specialises in writing and performing for children. She has three collections, Creatures, Teachers and Family Features, Breaking the Rules, illustrated by Nigel Baines, and My Teacher’s as Wild as a Bison, also illustrated by Nigel Baines, and has poems in over 100 anthologies for young people. She performs and gives workshops art centres, books shops, libraries, theatres and festivals. Her website is here.

Here is the lovely poem Coral has sent for the Poetry Feast – it also has an ‘R’ in the title!

LOOKING FOR RILEY

Riley had dragged the emptiness to school.
It would seem wrong to leave it in his bedroom
Where he had filled silent spaces with sobs.
Grandma had gone, but her songs hung in the air,
Small memories, pockets of comfort.

And now, in a dusty corner of the PE cupboard,
Riley sat and rocked and clutched his knees,
Resting his chin on his shiny, worn trousers
Stretching over his bent legs, hiding away
From questions he’d be asked, but couldn’t answer.

They were all looking for Riley, the teachers, Mrs Moore.
They would try to wipe his grief away, catch his tears
Before they hit the ground, before they made a mark
In the dust, before they stopped falling of their own accord.
So I hid with him, and somehow, it made him smile.

If you would like to blog hop to the next AtoZ Challenge post then follow this link.

Children’s Poets’ Climate Change blog: Be the Change

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A to Z Challenge 2019

#AtoZ Challenge; O is for Eric Ode

Posted on April 17, 2019April 15, 2019 by Liz Brownlee

Eric Ode (pronounced Oh-dee) is a national award-winning children’s singer/songwriter, an author and widely published poet, and a thoroughly engaging entertainer. His performances include interactive music, stories, skits, poetry, props and puppets. One of his latest books is Sea Star Wishes, Poems from the Coast, illustrated by Erik Brooks, available here in the UK and here in the US. Eric’s website is here.

This is the wonderful poem he has sent for the Poetry Feast, from Otters, Snails and Tadpole Tails!

THE RIVER OTTER

The river otter

twists and tosses,

loops and spins,

out and in.

He turns and totters,

twirls until

we can not tell

where one end ends

and one begins.

We wonder as

we watch him roll

and jumble-tumble

over, under,

through the water—

How does he keep

from tying into

one big otter knot

while behaving

quite exactly

as a river otter

ought?

If you would like to blog hop to the next AtoZ Challenge post, please follow this link.

Children’s Poets’ Climate Change blog: Be the Change

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A to Z Challenge 2019

AtoZ Challenge: N is for Now That I Really Think About It by Shauna Darling Robertson

Posted on April 16, 2019April 15, 2019 by Liz Brownlee

Shauna Darling Robertson’s poems for adults and children have been set to music, performed by actors, displayed on buses, turned into short films, made into comic art, hung on a pub wall and published in a variety of magazines and anthologies. Shauna also makes artwork and loves working with other writers, artists, musicians and film-makers to explore and play with poetry in different ways. Her lovely website is here.

This is the fabulous poem she has sent for the Poetry Feast:

Now That I Really Think About It

My friends all say I think too much.
I think they could be right.

I think my way throughout the day
and think myself awake at night.

Outside, I think of ways back in.
Once in, I think things out again.

I chat with John and think of Jane.
In rain, I think about the sun.
When Jane comes round, I think of John.

At school I think of going home.
When home alone, I think of friends.
If blue, I think of red or pink – it never ends
and now I’m thinking hard about
how much I tend to think.

I tell all this to Jane, she says,
your brain must have a kink.
But John, he looks me in the eye,
asks why I think so much.

I think about it deep and long,
then round and square
and down and up,
then left and right
and like and such

I really make a meal of it
but think it’s best I don’t reveal
the reason that I think I think.
(I’m not sure how I feel.)

If you would like to blog hop to the next AtoZ Challenge then please follow this link.

Children’s Poets’ Climate Change blog: Be the Change

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A to Z Challenge 2019

#AtoZChallenge; M is for Michaela Morgan

Posted on April 15, 2019April 8, 2019 by Liz Brownlee

And who else could it be, with such a perfect name other than award-winning poet Michaela Morgan? Michaela has had over 140 titles published including poetry, picture books, junior novels and non-fiction. She is a regular visitor to schools. Her 2016 poetry book Wonderland: Alice in Poetry, illustrations by Tenniel, was shortlisted for the prestigious CLiPPA Award for poetry and her 2017 collection Reaching the Stars: Poems About Extraordinary Women and Girls co-authored with Jan Dean and Liz Brownlee won the North Somerset Teachers’ Book Award 2017. Her book How To Teach Poetry: Writing Workshops, stresses the importance of poetry across the curriculum.

Here is the poem Michaela has chosen, from Reaching the Stars.

Tinker… Tailor

I could be a lawyer, a doctor, a teacher, a vet.

I could be a mother, an artist, or the pilot of a jet.

I could be the one who speaks up for a revolution

Or a steady force for status, calm, order, institution.

I could be a strutting model or a structural engineer

Or I could march in uniform to fight foe, or fire, or fear.

I could be a juggler… a jeweller…

What could be my scene?

Whatever it is, I choose to be

A fully fledged human being.

If you would like to blog hop to another AtoZ Challenge please follow this link.

Children’s Poets’ Climate Change blog: Be the Change

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A to Z Challenge 2019

#AtoZ Challenge; L is for Laura Mucha

Posted on April 13, 2019April 8, 2019 by Liz Brownlee

My L poet for the poetry feast is the bundle of fun, Laura Mucha. Laura worked as a face painter, studied flying trapeze, philosophy and psychology, and swam in Antarctica before becoming a lawyer. Now she spends most of her time playing with words. Her poetry has been published in books, magazines and newspapers around the world, and she’s performed on BBC Radio, at festivals and in schools. In 2016, she won the Caterpillar Poetry Prize. Laura’s latest book, however, is a non-fiction one about Love – Love Factually. You can read and listen to Laura’s poetry here.

This is the poem Laura sent for us to enjoy:

MIRROR, MIRROR

I’ll show you if broccoli’s jammed in your teeth
or toothpaste is smeared on your lip,
your frowns won’t escape, every face that you make
I’ll reflect – don’t neglect me. Look quick!

Come by, say hello, and I’ll make sure you know
that there’s orange all over your chin,
your eyes need a wipe or your nose needs a blow,
and I’ll even remind you to grin.

So do pop along as I’d love to help out –
as long as you don’t come and gawk.
Just take a quick peek to ensure you look chic,
and then turn around, honey, and walk.

If you’d like to blog hop to the next AtoZ Challenge post, follow this link.

Children’s Poets’ Climate Change blog: Be the Change

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Liz’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lizpoet

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Children’s Poetry Summit Twitter: https://twitter.com/kidspoetsummit

A to Z Challenge 2019

#AtoZ Challenge; J is for James Carter

Posted on April 11, 2019April 8, 2019 by Liz Brownlee

James Carter is an award-winning children’s poet, non-fiction and educational writer and INSET provider. He is the author of over 16 popular and best-selling poetry titles. James travels all over the UK and abroad with his guitar (that’s Keith) and melodica (that’s Steve) to give very lively poetry/music performances and workshops. His latest poetry/non-fiction picture book, Once Upon A Star (Little Tiger Press) was BooksforKeeps’ Book of the Week March 2018. His new book, Spaced Out, an anthology of space poems, edited with Brian Moses, is just out on May 9th! James’ website is here.

Here is the great shape poem James sent:

If you would like to blog hop to the next AtoZ Challenge, follow this link.

Children’s Poets’ Climate Change blog: Be the Change

Liz’s Blog: Liz Brownlee Poet

Liz’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lizpoet

KidsPoets4Climate Twitter: https://twitter.com/poets4climate

Children’s Poetry Summit Twitter: https://twitter.com/kidspoetsummit

A to Z Challenge 2019

AtoZ Challenge; H is for Sue Hardy-Dawson

Posted on April 9, 2019April 8, 2019 by Liz Brownlee

Sue Hardy-Dawson is a Yorkshire born poet, artist, and illustrator (she illustrated poet Matt Goodfellow’s first book, Carry Me Away), and is widely published in children’s poetry anthologies. She enjoys visiting schools and has provided workshops for the Prince of Wales Foundation for Children and the Arts. Being dyslexic she takes a special interest in encouraging reluctant readers and writers. Her first solo collection, of illustrated poems, Where Zebras Go (Otter-Barry Books) was long-listed for the North Somerset Teachers’ 2017 Book Award and shortlisted for the CLiPPA 2018. Sue has a new collection of shape poems, Apes to Zebras (Bloomsbury) with Roger Stevens and Liz Brownlee, and her second solo collection If I Were Other than Myself (Troika) is due out soon!

Here is her wonderful hare poem for the poetry feast:

The Shape of Hare

Sometimes he is long and thin
others, just ears
a grass apostrophe
but mostly he’s gone
lacing the meadow
with damp loam shadows.

somewhere distant
he’s a constellation
shades on the moon
waxing about cloud hills

he who has watched
our ancestors prayers
and dances
knows only the beat as rainfalls
the gentle music of silence
moist winds

inside he’s the rattan
of storm bent trees
soft bones sinking into fern
blanched stone
hardly a touch
from the breath of his feet
forged in earth
as the land falls below

If you would like to blog hop to another AtoZ Challenge, please follow this link to Beth Lapin.

Children’s Poets’ Climate Change blog: Be the Change

Liz’s Blog: Liz Brownlee Poet

Liz’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lizpoet

KidsPoets4Climate Twitter: https://twitter.com/poets4climate

Children’s Poetry Summit Twitter: https://twitter.com/kidspoetsummit

A to Z Challenge 2019

#AtoZChallenge; G is for Matt Goodfellow

Posted on April 8, 2019April 7, 2019 by Liz Brownlee

Matt Goodfellow (links to What Poetry Offers in the Classroom) is a poet and National Poetry Day Ambassador. His most recent collections are The Same Inside (Macmillan 2018), written with Liz Brownlee (me!) and Roger Stevens, and his solo collection, Chicken on the Roof illustrated by Hanna Asen (Otter Barry 2018). He visits schools, libraries and festivals to deliver high-energy, fun-filled poetry performances and workshops. His new book, Be the Change, Poems about Sustainability, written with Roger Stevens and Liz Brownlee (me, again!), is out in August. Matt’s website is here.

Matt sent this beautiful poem from Chicken on the Roof, saying: “I wrote it for my mum, who died nearly 20 years ago, as a reminder to her, and myself, that memories live on. I hear and see echoes of her wherever I go.”

Still There

I see you near the river,

half-extinguished by the mist.

I see you in the summer fields

where dandelions drift.

I see you through the stubble plains,

autumn at your back.

I see you on the skyline

when night is winter black.

I follow you down shadow-lanes

where memories still pass.

I walk within your footsteps,

haloed in the morning grass.

If you would like to blog hop to another AtoZ Challenge, follow this link.

Children’s Poets’ Climate Change blog: Be the Change

Liz’s Blog: Liz Brownlee Poet

Liz’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lizpoet

KidsPoets4Climate Twitter: https://twitter.com/poets4climate

Children’s Poetry Summit Twitter: https://twitter.com/kidspoetsummit

A to Z Challenge 2019

#AtoZChallenge; F is for Fish Ventriloquist, by Brian Moses

Posted on April 6, 2019April 5, 2019 by Liz Brownlee

Lovely Brian Moses (links to Where Do You Get Your Ideas From?) has been a professional children’s poet since 1988; he has over 200 books published including volumes of his own poetry such as A Cat Called Elvis and Lost Magic: The Very Best of Brian Moses , (both Macmillan and illustrated by Chris Garbutt), anthologies, and picture books. Over 1 million copies of Brian’s poetry books have been sold by Macmillan. His poem ‘Walking With My Iguana’ is one of the most listened to poems on the Poetry Archive. Brian has visited well over 3,000 schools to run writing workshops and perform his own poetry and percussion shows in the UK and abroad; CBBC once commissioned him to write a poem for the Queen’s 80th birthday! His website is here, blog is here, and Twitter is here.

This is the great poem Brian sent for the letter ‘F’ in the A-Z:

Fish Ventriloquist

I wanted to be the world’s first fish ventriloquist,

so I searched and searched for the sort of fish

that might share the spotlight with me,

till somewhere near the Caspian Sea

I spoke with a cod who had found God

but all he wanted to do was pray with me.

In Yokohama I came across a shark

who had the sort of cut and thrust for showbiz life

but was more concerned with finding a wife.

I found a plaice with the most expressive face

but when I tried to put words into her mouth

she spat them out. I found an eel

whose personality was electric, but she was too much

of a shocker for me. I trembled every time I touched her.

I found a pike I liked immensely, but

he didn’t like me, spat in my eyes each time

I tried to handle him. There was a ray who I could pass

the time of day with and a monkfish had possibilities

till I discovered he had taken a vow of silence.

Then right at the end of my search when I thought

I’d be returning to puppets and dolls,

I found a fish that was perfect, but although I swam

with him, ocean after ocean, offered him money, fortune

and fame, his name in lights, a season in Vegas,

he stubbornly refused to be swayed.

People would have paid thousands for the illusion

of a talking fish. In a world where we celebrate

the sham and the fake, fish ventriloquism

could have been my big break.

If you would like to blog hop to another AtoZ Challenge post please follow this link.

Children’s Poets’ Climate Change blog: Be the Change

Liz’s Blog: Liz Brownlee Poet

Liz’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lizpoet

KidsPoets4Climate Twitter: https://twitter.com/poets4climate

Children’s Poetry Summit Twitter: https://twitter.com/kidspoetsummit

XXX

Vexing Rex

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