Here are the ten winners of the Imaginary Pets competition. They each receive a copy of John Hegley's brilliant new book My Dog is a Carrot and a copy of James Carter's Cars, Stars and Electric guitars. Well done!!!

For more info: My Dog is a Carrot and Cars, Stars and Electric Guitars

Curious by Lydia Ankrom (aged 12)

I wanted a dog so very badly,
I imagined one
And called him Bradley.
I fed him tulips from Dad's garden bed,
And at night let him sleep
At the foot of my bed.
He was well behaved- and didn't make much sound.
He didn't knock things over when he ran around.
But one day Mum was Vacuuming, and
Bradley was Curious...
FWOOP!
Gone.

Imaginary Pooh by Tasneem Zaheen (aged 7)

Pooh is my best friend.
Every day I like to play with him.
Pooh is a bear.
Unlike real bears he is easy to care for.
He never messes up my room.
Or my house.
All my secrets are safe with him.
Sometimes we go fishing to the pond nearby.
Pooh fetches some honey while I catch fish.
Sometimes we get a big catch and lots of honey, too.
When the whole family takes
a picnic by the lake.
We enjoy the day by picking apples
And swimming in the lake.
When I do my home work
Pooh sits quietly beside me.
At night we brush our teeth
and with sleepy eyes & happy thoughts
we both go to bed.

My Imaginary Pet by Rachael Campbell (aged 12)

He's always there, he's always close
A friend as loyal as one could need,
He's not quite human but I don't mind
From terrors deep my mind he freed.

Mom doesn't mind, he makes no mess
She pats the air and says 'Good Dog',
I say to her 'You've missed his head,
and for all you know he could be a frog'.

He sits at my right hand, always aware
Of the past, of the present, of the latest trend,
he watches, he listens, but best of all
He'll be with me until the end.
He's an everlasting friend.

Wild! by Stephanie Watson (aged 11)

I've got an elephant
bigger than a tree,
I've got a mouse
that is smaller than me!

I've got a giraffe
his neck is very long,
I've got a parrot
who will sing you a song.

All of these animals
as I'm sure you will agree,
are rather strange as household pets
but they all belong to ME!!!

Peanut by Sarah-Lynn Robinson (aged 11)

I once had a pet who was a peanut
Who I looked after with very much care.
'Cause having a pet who's a peanut,
Is usually extremely rare.
He lived under my bed,
Where not a single thing was thrown.
He was invisible except to me,
So to everyone else he was unknown.
Then one day he went travelling,
Right behind my back.
Without anything with him,
But his little sack.
When I found out he was missing,
I went searching on and on.
And soon dreadfully thinking,
He would always be gone.
But then one day I found him,
Hurt and hit by a car.
I didn't know what to do.
I guess he travelled too far.
I took him right home
and he thankfully soon recovered,
But now I have an even rarer pet,
'Cause now he's peanut butter!

Pet Dragon by Aimee Crump (aged 9)

I have an Imaginary pet dragon,
He likes to play and toy around.
He's always messing up my room,
But never makes a single sound.

He gets a bit scary,
But only when annoyed.
He would never show his teeth or claws,
To a little harmless boy.

My Mum has never seen him,
Neither has my Dad.
When they hear a snorting sound,
They think they're going mad.

I love my Imaginary pet dragon,
Now I'm older I see him less.
I'm sure he's still in my room,
As it's always a flamin' mess!

Imaginary Friend by Stuart Furlonger (Year 7)

The mists of the swamps
Outside a ruined gothic castle
With a nasty vampire

The ragged zombie
Who swoops in the cellar
With a vulture bodyguard

A tall big monster
Who roams the Himalayas
Who wears a white coat

A small ugly creature
A damp stinking moat with a ogre
And an old mouldy coffin

A red-eyed spooky thing
In a round house on dark night
Who says a voodoo charm

A fluffy werewolf
With a horrible grave yard
A lick with blood taste

A spooky green man
Who was struck by lightning
A scientist made it.

A weird looking thing
Who lives in the churchyard
Has a stench of green liquid

A black sorcerer
A black tall tower in a castle
With a shiny ball

A monster who kills people
In Transylvania on nights
Bats with gloomy eyes kill

Pet by Philippa Cole (aged 13)

My pet the cleverest in the land
It tells me all the answers
Helping me answer everything in the tests

My pet invisible to all except me
I watch it dance outside the classroom window
Stifling a laugh as it trips in the grass

My pet thinks he's a super hunter
Crouching in the plants behind the shed
Jumping out and scaring away the birds

My pet's a real messy eater,
I forever have to clean his mess
Quick as I can before mum gets home
Seeing it all on the floor and then I get the blame...

My pet I like him really
I mean everyone's got to have an excuse
A scapegoat, it wasn't me miss, Honest

It was My Pet

Stacy Stegosaurus by Alysha Bhatti (aged 8)

My precious dinosaurus
Popped out from the page,
And bowed on the stage

She spoke in a roar,
That shook the big door.

Children have no fear
You may find this queer

For I'm back in time
With my story in rhyme

An asteroid struck
And brought bad luck

The dust and the smoke,
Made everyone choke

It blocked the sun,
The crises had begun.

It was cold worldwide
The plants all died.

Alas to conclude,
There was no food

Extinct was my race
From the planet's face.

Now, that I am back
On the time track

Can I please stay?
Make friends and play

Cool, said I
Thanks for dropping by

My homework is complete
Let's go out for a treat

Mot by Nicole Anne Braganza (aged 15)

Here's someone, I'll introduce to you
- A new pet that I've got.
He's very strange, a little deranged
By the way, his name is Mot
Now he lives inside my thalymus
In my thinking spot - the bunk
He jabbers when I'm studying
HE'S the reason that I FLUNK!!!
He's the master of my nightmares,
And he decides my dreams,
Yes, he's my sole companion,
As funny as that seems.
He goes to places unheard of,
He makes my mind a whirl,
He may be weird, he may be wild,
But most of all....UNREAL!!

WE HAD LOTS OF BRILLIANT ENTRIES. HERE ARE THE BEST OF THE REST!!!
Well done everyone who entered.

My Imaginary Monkey by Tara Freeman (aged 10)

I have an imaginary monkey,
He is very big and strong,
And is always eating snakes,
That's why his tail is sharp and long.

Mum is going mad,
When we're going for a swim,
She hears these funny noises,
But she can't see a thing.

My Monkey listens to music,
But when he comes to school,
My friends think that I'm mad,
When I say he's acting cool.

I love my imaginary monkey,
I would never leave him out,
He loves to hang around with me,
To play and scream and shout!

Imaginary Pet by Robin Lawson (aged 12)

My dog's name is Spot.
He's a chocolate lab.
He gets to come everywhere.
He even rides in cabs.
Spot never eats the garbage
Or chases the mail man.
He never makes messes
And he drinks soda from the can.
Spot is no plain old dog.
He can do lots of tricks.
He can play dead
And fetch sticks.
Spot is no ordinary dog.
He's invisible, don't you know?
Because he's my imaginary pet.
And he comes wherever I go.

Imaginary Pet by Tana Bishop (aged 12)

My imaginary pet
is not like anything yet
it's not brown and fluffy
and of course does not drink coffee
it look more like a toffee
it does not have a name
which is quite insane
and it is not at all plain
it's pink and has curly locks
it lives in a shed at the docks
it eats frogs and little puppy dogs
that's all about my imaginary pet
the best you'll ever get.

Jam Jar by Jack Margetson (aged 7)

My cat is very,
Extraordinary,
His name is Jam Jar,
He likes the rain,
He reads the paper to check the television,
And he is a cat that's really, really fat,
He eats buns,
And watches 'Chums',
I don't like that kind of cat.

My Silver Dolphin by Alice Margetson (aged 9)

My dolphin's called Sylvia,
She's very pretty, very small, very smooth and silver,
Her eyes are purple in the Summer
and silver every other time.
When I play hide and seek with her,
she changes to black, so I can't see her.
When she gets hot
she goes purple.

She's very good at swimming in the canal,
She goes to swimming club with me
and she pulls me along in races,
She gets her own food - seaweed, water, and cod,
Apart from Sundays, when I give her tuna
as a treat for pulling me in the pool.

Sylvia talks but no one knows apart from you and me.
I love her.

My Imaginary Pet by Hannah Igoe (aged 9)

My
Yoyo
Isn't
Much fun
Aligators are
Great!
In my pond
Nine not seven
And different colours too
Red
Yellow
Pink,
Eat not me only my
Teacher!

We didn't really have a teacher's section, but this teacher entered the competition and so we made a section specially for her. No prize - but well done!

TEACHERS' SECTION

My Pet... My Friend by Sue Taylor

All through my childhood
I felt sad and neglected,
Then along came my friend
And me, he protected.

I used to call out
To my Mum or my Dad
But nobody came
And that made me sad.

I was all alone
In this big family,
Then along came my friend
And he loved me.

He would sit and listen
To me all day,
He never got tired
Of the things I'd say.

His love had no boundaries
No conditions or rules,
My family didn't want me
But he said, "Hey you...

I'll always be here
By your side, anywhere
I'll help you get through
To show you I care!".

I'll never forget
My imaginary pet,
He helped me survive
Things I need to forget.

He's ever so important
We all need one sometimes,
To remind us we're special
In those sad, sad times.

My Dog is a Carrot by John Hegley (Walker Books)

John Hegley's doggie may not wear glasses, but then she is a carrot. Enter this poet's weird, witty and bespectacled world and meet grandma with her filthy glasses, the organic leak who has learned how to speak, the octopus who gets a nasty shocktopus, and a whole cast of other interesting characters. Surprising, serious, and sometimes just plain surprising, this is a collection of poems even your dog will love. Unless, of course, your dog is a carrot too.

Cars, Stars and Electric Guitars Poems
by James Carter (Walker Books)

Rummage around inside James Carter's head and find Darren the dolphin-shaped balloon, a list of things to ask Noah, two poems about crisps, plenty of shape poems, a world record attempt and lots, lots more, in this remarkable, funny and highly original poetry collection.

"James Carter is an exciting new voice, imaginative
and innovative." - Jacqueline Wilson

WATCH OUT FOR NEW COMPETITIONS IN
THE POETRY ZONE

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