Last year's National Poetry Day was held on Thursday 3rd November.
Congratulations to all who participated in the world record breaking poetry extravaganza led by the entirely brilliant Laura Mucha!
Last year's theme was 'counting'.
Here's a counting backwards poem for young children to enjoy.
Five Little Snakes
Five little snakes playing hide and seek
Down in the woods by a watery creek.
One little snake curled up like a hoop
And off he rolled with a: “Loop-de-loop!”
Snakey-snakey, slither and slide,
One snake’s gone, now four snakes hide!
Four little snakes playing hide and seek
Down in the woods by a watery creek.
One little snake wriggle-jiggled a lot
And he tied himself into a knot.
Snakey-snakey, slither and slide,
One snake’s gone, now three snakes hide!
Three little snakes playing hide and seek
Down in the woods by a watery creek.
One little snake played at being a rope
And off he twirled down a grassy slope.
Snakey-snakey, slither and slide,
One snake’s gone, now two snakes hide!
Two little snakes playing hide and seek
Down in the woods by a watery creek.
One little snake tried to… Shush! Tiptoe!
But snakes have no toes… so away he goes.
Snakey-snakey, slither and slide,
One snake’s gone, now one snake hides!
One little snake playing hide and seek
Down in the woods by a watery creek.
He sees you but you don’t see him
‘Cos he’s in the creek enjoying a swim!
The theme for last year was 'Refuge'. A refuge is place of safety or shelter - and each person's sense of refuge will be different: from fleeing an unsafe country to a walk in woodlands where you can clear your mind. For some children it is just a small, quiet space where they can sit quietly and self-regulate.
My Space
This is my space –
My quiet space, my safe space,
My ‘slide inside and hide’ space,
My secret place, my special space,
My ‘mustn’t see me cry’ space.
When my world’s gone lumpy
And I’m feeling down and grumpy
‘Cos the dog just sits there howling
And my dad is cross and scowling
And my sister won’t stop yelling
And my mum is always telling me
That I should go and tidy up my room…
My space fits my shape,
Helps me find my own escape,
Lets me take a little break -
When I’ve got a people-ache.
© J H Rice
Poetry has been described in many different ways but, for me, it's the place where words come to exercise, play and have fun. The great joy of writing a poem is that you have to work with it rather than telling it what to do, as you might with any other form of writing. I allow my poems to grow from the page: sometimes they're funny, sometimes they rhyme, sometimes they may even be dark or mysterious.
You can hear me reading a few of my poems on The Dirigible Balloon by clicking here.
And here I am reading one of my favourite poems, 'The Hole'!
I was recently asked to write and narrate a poem for English Heritage about The Dragon of Mordiford.
You can hear me reading the story by clicking on the image below:
Congratulations to all who participated in the world record breaking poetry extravaganza led by the entirely brilliant Laura Mucha!
Last year's theme was 'counting'.
Here's a counting backwards poem for young children to enjoy.
Five Little Snakes
Five little snakes playing hide and seek
Down in the woods by a watery creek.
One little snake curled up like a hoop
And off he rolled with a: “Loop-de-loop!”
Snakey-snakey, slither and slide,
One snake’s gone, now four snakes hide!
Four little snakes playing hide and seek
Down in the woods by a watery creek.
One little snake wriggle-jiggled a lot
And he tied himself into a knot.
Snakey-snakey, slither and slide,
One snake’s gone, now three snakes hide!
Three little snakes playing hide and seek
Down in the woods by a watery creek.
One little snake played at being a rope
And off he twirled down a grassy slope.
Snakey-snakey, slither and slide,
One snake’s gone, now two snakes hide!
Two little snakes playing hide and seek
Down in the woods by a watery creek.
One little snake tried to… Shush! Tiptoe!
But snakes have no toes… so away he goes.
Snakey-snakey, slither and slide,
One snake’s gone, now one snake hides!
One little snake playing hide and seek
Down in the woods by a watery creek.
He sees you but you don’t see him
‘Cos he’s in the creek enjoying a swim!
The theme for last year was 'Refuge'. A refuge is place of safety or shelter - and each person's sense of refuge will be different: from fleeing an unsafe country to a walk in woodlands where you can clear your mind. For some children it is just a small, quiet space where they can sit quietly and self-regulate.
My Space
This is my space –
My quiet space, my safe space,
My ‘slide inside and hide’ space,
My secret place, my special space,
My ‘mustn’t see me cry’ space.
When my world’s gone lumpy
And I’m feeling down and grumpy
‘Cos the dog just sits there howling
And my dad is cross and scowling
And my sister won’t stop yelling
And my mum is always telling me
That I should go and tidy up my room…
My space fits my shape,
Helps me find my own escape,
Lets me take a little break -
When I’ve got a people-ache.
© J H Rice
Poetry has been described in many different ways but, for me, it's the place where words come to exercise, play and have fun. The great joy of writing a poem is that you have to work with it rather than telling it what to do, as you might with any other form of writing. I allow my poems to grow from the page: sometimes they're funny, sometimes they rhyme, sometimes they may even be dark or mysterious.
You can hear me reading a few of my poems on The Dirigible Balloon by clicking here.
And here I am reading one of my favourite poems, 'The Hole'!
I was recently asked to write and narrate a poem for English Heritage about The Dragon of Mordiford.
You can hear me reading the story by clicking on the image below:
