Children's Poetry in The Poetry Zone

The Poetry Zone has been working closely with Class Act to set up an agency for schools that will take the stress out of booking visitors, that is inexpensive and that will offer only the very best writers and artists for schools. Check it out here.

A super day for children and staff - Roger's performance really brought poetry alive for us all
- Binfield C of E Primary School, Berkshire

I laughed so much I had to re-do my make up - Teacher at St Margaret's Primary, Dover

Roger Stevens is a poet, author and musician. He has had over two hundred poems for children published in wide-ranging anthologies from The Secret Lives of Teachers (Macmillan) to The Works (Every kind of poem you will ever need for the Literacy Hour) (Macmillan). His solo collections include Why Otters Don't Wear Socks and The Monster That Ate the Universe (Macmillan) His other books include Vikings Don't Wear Pants (K.E.P) (with Celia Warren), an anthology The Secret Life of Pants (A&C Black) and an acclaimed verse-novel for teenagers The Journal of Danny Chaucer (Poet) (Orion) which was broadcast by Roger on BBC Radio 4 as the Afternoon Play.
Roger is also a member of the Poetry Society's poetryclass initiative - for school INSET programmes and teacher training. For more details of poetryclass see the Poetry Zone Links

"...the teachers were totally engaged and it was pitched at exactly the right level. The responses on the evaluation forms are a testimony to the high quality of the session." (INSET day with Coral Rumble at Waltham Forest)

"A brilliant and well-presented INSET. Roger certainly gave me a lot of confidence and ideas as to how to teach poetry in my class and year group."
-Singlegate Primary School, London

"Thank you for a wonderful morning... A really enjoyable visit for us all..."
-Monk's Walk School, Herts

Performance
Roger performs poems, reads extracts from his books, tells stories and explains what it's like to be a writer. He answers the questions: How do you find ideas? Do you make a lot of money? How do you start writing? What different kinds of writing are there? And he explains why you have to be determined and never give up. The performance includes music, humour and lots of audience participation. It lasts about an hour and is suitable for children of all ages.
Roger is also available for Family Evenings. Invite your parents back in the evening with their children to hear Roger perform and answer questions about being a poet.The Danny Chaucer Road Show. Roger reads extracts from Danny Chaucer accompanied on his electric guitar. Session includes a workshop.
For Years 8 and 9.

Writing Workshops
Roger explains how to write stories or poems. He works with large or small groups of children of any age and draws on his classroom experience to produce a souvenir of his visit featuring the children's work. This could be a full-length story, a collection of short stories, a book of poems or a class newspaper or magazine. Roger is happy to work with other writers or artists. Sessions can be tailored to fit the requirements of a school or library. Ideal for book weeks.

Brian Moses writes and edits poetry and picture books for children, and resource books for teachers. His classroom manual, Catapults and Kingfishers: Teaching Poetry in Primary Schools (co-written with Pie Corbett ) (OUP) is now a National Strategy recommended title. (And available in the PZ Recommended Reading section) He has also produced four anthologies for Heinemann's Literacy World and a BIG book of Character Portraits for Longman. His latest book of poems Barking Back At Dogs is also available from The Poetry Zone shop.

Reading his own poetry
These are presentations to the whole school, or to infants and juniors separately, in an attempt to show that poetry isn't something that just sits on the page. Rather it can be brought to life using a variety of voices, movement and instruments. Sessions last between 45 minutes and one hour.

Writing Workshops
Usually it is possible to arrange three such sessions and a reading in a one-day visit. Workshops last an hour and involve single classes or a class size group of children in writing their own poems. Follow up sheets are available.

Other activities available are:
In-Service Training Days
The Work of a Writer
Family Writing Evenings
Establishing the Reading Habit
Writers' Trails.

Celia writes poetry and stories mainly for children, as well as articles and reviews in teachers' magazines, e.g. Infant Projects (Scholastic) and Literacy and Learning (Questions Publishers Ltd).
Her poems for children appear in over sixty anthologies, some have been broadcast on BBC Radio for Schools and recited by children in a number of verse speaking festivals. Recent story titles have appeared in Ginn's Supersonics (stories in rhyming verse) - Skittles and Skullbone and Meg's Mad Magnet and Reading 360 Pocket Books - Damien and the Alien Socks; OUP's Oxford Literacy Web, e.g. Alex the Ant and Billy Beetle, Heinemann's Rhymeworld, e.g. Bertha Purse the Nurse, Hairy Bears The Shark and the Shipwreck; Collins Educational - A Fishy Tale. Her most recent publication by Ginn/Rigby Literacy is NEVER SIT ON A SQUID: (available from the Recommended Reading section) a collection of poems for older KS2 readers with a reading age of around 7. Each poem entertains while also providing a focus to help develop the reader's phonological awareness. For older children (and particularly boys!) VIKINGS DON'T WEAR PANTS (K.E.P) (with Roger Stevens) is to be recommended.
New fiction titles recently appeared in major educational publishers, Rigby
Star in Great Britain and Rigby Literacy in the USA.

Celia provides workshops for pre-school, KS1 and KS2. These encourage the
children's creativity through participation in poetry readings and develop
their writing skills through practical, structured writing sessions. She
also provides Teacher Insets e.g. Using Poetry in the Classroom and Using
Poetry to Increase Phonological Awareness.

Here is what children have written about her visits

I liked the bits where the dinosaurs popped up - Beth, Yoxall.

I loved it when we was bears going splis splash splosh - Katy,
Lichfield.

Blood and Bones was brilliant beacuse it was creepy - Ben, Tamworth.

My favourite poem was about the parrot because the parrot was really
funny and rude. Please come to our school again - Kerry, Chase
Terrace.

When I'm older I want to be a person just like you - Emily, Chase
Terrace.

I really enjoid today when you read the football poems. And all the
poems - Jamie, Shobnall.

The best poem I liked was the one about yucky descuctsing Poems -
Jemma, Shobnall.

I would like to see you again. you are a very good author and powit -
Kirsty, Burton-upon-Trent.

My brother has read one of your books before. He said it was great! -
Beth, Derby.

Jan Dean is based in the North West. She performs her poetry in schools and runs writing workshops. Performances run between 20 - 50 minutes, depending on the sort of day the school has in mind. Workshops usually take an hour and are with one class. These focus on generating ideas and playing with words before getting down to the craft of writing. Jan specialises in 'acting onto paper' as a way of writing in character. Why words are like hedgehogs escaping from litter-bins and how a poem weaves into itself are also key approaches. She doesn't do the same workshop with each group during the day - that way teachers can compare notes and pool ideas based on the workshops. Jan also runs INSET days where staff can exercise their own creative muscles before applying what they've experienced to the teaching of creative writing.

Jan has written ten novels for children. Her most recent are:
Harry and the Megabyte Brain. (CUP 1998) a short funny book which is part of CUP's Literacy Package. It is also written as a play for use in groups of six. Harry & the Megabyte Brain - The Play (CUP2000)

The Claygate Hound (Macdonald 1999) is part of the TREMORS series - a short and scary read. Cheesy's Monsters - is a series of four humorous books featuring Cheesy Adams - monster specialist and his friend Zoom: Frogsnot Ate My Goldfish, Kraxis and the Cow-Juice Soup, Babysitting Jellyblob, Needlebelly and the Bully Boy (Macdonald 1999)

Due later in 2000 - Much Ado About Nothing & Twelfth Night - these are part of Hodder's Shakespeare's Stories series which is accredited by the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Jan's poems appear in a great many anthologies including Comic Verse. Ed McGough (Kingfisher), Children's Poetry. Ed Rosen. (Kingfisher) Read Me - A Poem A Day for The National Year of Reading (Macmillan) Unzip Your Lips (Macmillan), Read Me 2 (Macmillan) The Word Party (Macmillan) ...and many others.

Jan's latest book is Wallpapering the Cat (Macmillan Children's Books)

An in-depth interview with Jan detailing the writing of a particular poem is featured in Creating Writers- a literacy manual for schools by James Carter (Routledge)

For more details contact Jan at: glitter.poems@virgin.net

John Foster is the country's most prolific poetry anthologist, having compiled over 100 anthologies of children's poetry. His first collection A First Poetry Book was published in 1979 and since then he has edited many favourites including Twinkle Twinkle Chocolate Bar, the Poetry Paintbox series, Schools Out, Crack Another Yolk, Word Whirls and Whizz Bang Orang Utan. His most recent anthologies include Football Fever, a new book of football poems and My First Oxford Book of Poetry. He is also the editor of the books in the poetry strands of the Oxford Reading Tree and Oxford Literacy Web..
John has collaborated with award-winning artist Korky Paul on five books, the most popular of which is Dinosaur Poems, and now has several of his own original collections published by Oxford University Press.These range from the four books in the Lollipops series of rhymes for younger children to collections for 9-14 year olds such as Four O'Clock Friday and Making Waves, which contain a mixture of humorous and serious poems. Many of poems deal with things that happen in children's everyday lives and have been praised for their "wisdom and enlightenment."
John is well-known for his lively poetry performances for all age groups. His performances for very young children involve lots of audience participation with finger rhymes, action rhymes and chanting rhymes, while for older primary children he performs favourite poems from his own collections, such as "Football Story" and "Ten Dancing Dinosaurs", together with selected poems from his anthologies, such as Gareth Owen's "Excuses, Excuses" and Jack Ousbey's "Gran Can You Rap?".
As a former teacher, John is keen that his workshops should help young people to understanding the writing process and he enjoys using the question-and-answer sessions that develop following his performances for this purpose.

John has this to say about his writing:
I write poems because I enjoy playing with words. I like making children laugh, so a lot of the poems are about the amusing things that adults and children do. But as well as entertaining young readers, I want to make them think so I write serious poems also, about topics such as bullying and the environment. Once I've got an idea for a poem, I get a pen or pencil and do the first draft, which usually takes between half an hour and an hour. Then, I'll go back late that day or the following day and do a second draft. Once I've redrafted the poem, I'll show it to my wife. We discuss the poem together and sometimes she'll suggest ways it could be changed either to improve the language or to develop the idea that I'm trying to put across.

Original poetry collections by John Foster
Four O'Clock Friday Oxford University Press 1991
Standing on the Sidelines Oxford University Press 1995
You Little Monkey! Oxford University Press 1996
Making Waves Oxford University Press 1997
Bouncing Ben Oxford University Press 1998
Doctor Proctor Oxford University Press 1998
My Magic Anorak Oxford University Press 1999
Bare Bear Oxford University Press 1999
Climb Aboard the Poetry Plane Oxford University Press 2000
The Word Wizard Oxford University Press 2000

Joiner-turned-social worker Gez Walsh has collected together a ribald, rollicking ragbag of verse (and worse) which has been delighting kids at his many readings at schools, festivals and on the radio. In the last few years his best-selling collections have been riding high in the national ratings, as more and more kids have discovered Gez's warped view on life and what it means to have a smelly grandad and a spotty bum. If you've ever pruned grandpa or got your toe stuck up the bathtap, read on...

Parents and Teachers of Britain (and elsewhere) - If your kids are the sort who decide to wallpaper your bathroom without asking (or telling) you, then give next door's car a coat of polycell just to see what happens, this book is for them. More importantly, if they show no interest in reading "ordinary" books, try this one. You never know, it just might work.

Other books by Gez are - The Return of the Spot, Someone's Nicked My Knickers, The Man in The Skirt (a school-based sword and sorcery novel featuring Wilf Sexton, hero of the Spot books) and his latest - Parents, Zits and Hairy Bits.

Bitey, The Veggie Vampire: Weird Poems for Wacky Children. Can a vampire ever be cuddly? Can a vampire be a vegetarian? Derby-based author and illustrator Chris White thinks so, and to prove it, he's produced a collection of children's poems featuring Bitey, the Veggie Vampire.

This book is Chris's first full-length collection of children's poetry, and is published by The King's England Press, who are fast carving a niche in the wonderful world of weird and wacky bad taste poetry for children.

A bundle of energy on stage. Lots of audience participation and drawing - from the children in the audience, too. Very funny - a kind of Young Person's Stand-up Comedian Poet - Roger Stevens

Andrew is an Anglo-Czech poet, author, anthologist, storyteller, didgeridoo player, broadcaster and creative writing tutor. He lives in a converted chapel in Shropshire and has two goldfish and a six-toed cat called Merlin. He has written and edited over 25 books and is part of Dept of Education, Poetry Society Poetry Class initiative,
training teachers in Inset. In the 14 years that he's been involved in Education he has visited over 1000 schools working with all ages from infants to the sixth form. He performs at festivals and in libraries and schools for audiences of up to 250 children as well as running writing workshops.

His latest books include -
THE UNIDENTIFIED FRYING OMELETTE (Hodder-Wayland) - A fabulous Feast of Form Poems - available in the Poetry Zone Shop and
POEMS WITH ATTITUDE (Hodder-Wayland) (Also available in the Poetry Zone Shop.) Poems With Attitude, co-written with his wife, Polly, is a hard-hitting and humorous collection of poems for teenagers. It sold an amazing 7000 copies in its first six months and is already in its second edition.
Here's what Kay Ecclestone in School Librarian had to say about it -

One of the problems with poetry I find is that it is difficult to ensure that it is read. Generally, requests for poetry in the LRC are preceded by "I've got to find a…" and never an indication that they might enjoy it once they found it. Buy this collection and it will be read. Read by staff and teachers to pupils and then read by pupils themselves for both the pain and pleasure the poems induce.
The collection is divided into themes of Snogging, Friends, Family, Bullying, Sexuality, Booze and Drugs. Each section begins with a dictionary definition of that theme. As soon as I pulled it out of the package and saw the title, I started to read and I didn't stop until it was removed from me because we were late. I read sections out loud to my husband, saying 'listen to this, 'this is brilliant' and 'I can't wait to try it out'. It sat on the settee and I couldn't resist the temptation to pick it up and read again, dipping in and out of it, reading aloud. I took it into work and, before it was catalogued, read bits to my colleagues. Pupils overheard as they came into the LRC. They then had 'just a quick look' and read bits to each other when they were supposed to be working.
I cannot emphasise how much every school needs this - in the library, in the classroom, for assembly, for tutorials, for PHSE, left on windowsills for the pupils to pick up - everywhere. As well as brilliant in themselves, the poems are the ideal starting point for all those awkward conversations that you know you must have, but don't know how to start - the ones on bullying, sex and drugs.
In fact, I cannot emphasise how much every teenager needs this, because somewhere in this slim book is going to be the poem that they could have written.

To contact Andrew visit his website at www.tallpoet.com
or e-mail tallpoet@compuserve.com

Andrea Shavick

Andrea Shavick is based around Herts/Bucks/Beds/North London.
Her funny poems for children appear in Grandma Was Eaten By A Shark! and in lots of anthologies including: Ridiculous Relatives, The Word Party, Unzip Your Lips Again, We Are Not Alone, Read Me 2, Wild Wacky Animals, Spectacular Spooks, Historical Hysterical Tudors, The Works, Superheros, Word Works, Elephantasia, The Cowpat Throwing Contest, Rhymes Around The Year, The King's Pyjamas, Words to Whisper, Eccentric Epitaphs, Teasing Tongue Twisters, Loony Limericks and When the Teacher Isn't Looking.
Andrea is also an established children's author. Her picture books include the worldwide bestseller You'll Soon Grow, Alex (Orchard); The Truth About Babies (OUP); The Truth About Families (OUP); Zap and the Alien (OUP); and The Best Pet (Ginn).
For junior school children and teenagers she's written a biography of Roald Dahl called Roald Dahl - What's Their Story? (OUP). She's also the author of 3 non-fiction books for adults.

Andrea Shavick is available for the following activities in schools:
Author Talks. Andrea gives enjoyable and highly interactive talks to children of all ages, from Reception to Secondary, from single class groups to entire schools. She answers the questions: Why did you start writing? Where do your ideas come from? What do you actually do every day? Was English your best subject at school? and many more. Andrea also performs lots of poems and reads from her children's picture books - a great favourite with young audiences.

Author Talks with a more educational flavour. For older children Andrea explains how a book is made, going through each stage in detail, from idea to finished product. She brings along dummy books, picture proofs and her own drafts, complete with unbelievable publisher's comments! She explains how to re-draft and research - two essential skills not just for writers but everyone.

Poetry Workshops. Andrea also runs extremely successful and enjoyable poetry workshops for children between 9 and 15. If you would like a combination of talk and workshop for your school, that's okay, too.

Also available. Author Talks for adults, conferences etc. Author Talks for writers groups - How To Get Published

…a wonderful treat for the children. Since your visit there's been a huge waiting list for your books from our library. Send us more!
- St John's Prep, Herts

Thank you so much for providing such an entertaining and informative session at the Book Conference. A most enjoyable morning - Volunteer Reading Help, Annual Conference.

Thanks for coming. You are a wonderful Poet - Amber, Chesham Prep School, Bucks

I really like you - Emma, 5, St John's, Potters Bar, Herts

Thankx for coming in and making it fun. You're brilliant - Sam, Chesham Prep School

Much, much better than lessons - Hamish, Chesham Prep School

Can't wait to send you my poems - Ross, Roebuck School, Stevenage

Can you read Grandma Was Eaten By A Shark! five more times - Alexandra, High Beeches School

Your book about the little boy who wants to grow was so funny - Lauren, St John's

A most interesting morning - we can't wait to put it all into practice - Harpenden Writers Group, Beds.

For more details email Andrea via her website www.shavick.com

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CORAL RUMBLE

Coral Rumble has worked as a poet and performer for many years, and now specializes in writing and performing for children.
She was responsible for the poetry slot on Premier Radio 1995 - 96, and contributed to a series of programmes for BBC Thames Valley, on how to become a writer. Coral was commissioned in 1999 to write poems to be displayed, in mosaic tiling, in the subways of Maidenhead town centre. She is featured in "Favourite Poets" published by HODDER CHILDREN'S BOOKS.

Coral's first collection of poems for children, Baboons' Bottoms was published by INITIATIVE PRESS in 1995, and was reprinted in 1997 and 1999. Creatures, Teachers and Family Features was published by MACDONALD YOUNG BOOKS in August 1999. Her latest book is Breaking the Rules and other poems (Lion Children's Books) She has contributed to many anthologies for children published by LION, OUP, WAYLAND, SCHOLASTIC, FOLENS, GINN, COLLINS, MACMILLAN, CONSTABLE AND ROBINSON, CARROLL HEINEMANN,
BELITHA PRESS and BADGER PUBLISHING.
You will find her work in various trade books.

Coral works widely in schools, from day visits to residency work, and feels completely 'at home' as she used to be a teacher herself.
She enjoys working with all age groups, and talks through the needs and abilities of the pupils in each school, with the organising teacher, before the visit. Coral has recently become very involved with summer schools for children who are struggling with their literacy. This has included teacher training and poetry workshops for children at a large number of schools in the Southeast.

In addition, Coral is a member of the team of poets formed to deliver INSET training on behalf of the Poetry Society and DfEE.
This new, countrywide venture is called 'poetryclass'. She also works regularly on the Poetry Society's 'Poet in the City' scheme. Coral often performs and gives workshops at arts centres, bookshops, libraries, theatres and festivals, and gets involved in local community arts projects. She has just been asked to join the team of poets giving 'Reading Poetry' workshops for the Poetry Library, at the Royal Festival Hall in London. In 1999 she was a Reader in Residence for Surrey Libraries, alongside Winston Nzinga Lewis, David Orme and illustrator, Mik Brown.

Contact Coral on rumblerhythms@hotmail.com

Chrissie Gittins

Chrissie Gittins was born in Lancashire and now lives in Forest Hill, London. Her poetry for adults has been published and broadcast widely, and her children's poems have appeared in many anthologies. She has read at the Royal Festival Hall, the Edinburgh International Book Festival and the British Council Bangkok. In 1999 she completed a Poetry Society Poetry Place at the Refugee Council and she was the 2000/1 Writer-in-Residence with Maidstone Borough Council. In 2001 she was awarded a fellowship at Hawthornden Castle.

She is a member of the Poetry Society's poetryclass training team for teachers and for 2002/3 she is Poet-in-Residence with 'gifted and talented' pupils in Southwark. Chrissie also writes short stories and radio Drama.

The Powder Monkey won the category for poems for 9 - 12 year olds in the 2002 Belmont Poetry Prize. Bradshaw Plots his Revenge was a runner-up in the poems for 5 - 8 year olds category. Her latest book for children is Now You See Me Now You... (Rabbit Hole Publications)

We were delighted with how Chrissie worked with the teachers and children in our school - and the poem for Ruksar in assembly was a real treat - the memory of that will stay with her for ever.
- Headteacher, Robert Blair Primary School, Islington

Chrissie provided a very good, challenging stimulus which was appropriate for the students. (Year 9 boys). Most accomplished. Her rapport with the students was excellent. They took it seriously and with obvious enjoyment.'
- Head of English, Oakwood Park Grammar School, Maidstone.

To contact Chrissie - chrissie.gittins@btinternet.com

Website - www.chrissiegittins.co.uk

Jane Clarke

Jane writes stories and poems for children. Her published books are Plodney Creeper Supersloth, Sherman Swaps Shells, Only Tadpoles have Tails, and Smoky Dragons. Tusk Trouble will be out soon, and Dino Dog and Gilbert the Great are to follow in 2004. Jane's poems are published in loads of anthologies - there's a full list of them on her web site.
Jane (a trained teacher) loves to visit pre-school, KS1 and KS2, and interact with the kids. She's happy to give a poetry performance, talk about being a writer, or take a poetry workshop - or a mixture of all 3 - and along the way will generate lots of ideas for future writing projects. In workshops, she'll make sure everyone has fun writing poetry - it's not brain surgery, and no-one gets hurt if things go wrong!
Jane is based in the Netherlands and is visiting International Schools in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg as well as in Britain. She'll be moving back to Britain in 2004.

For more information, including contact details, visit her website:
www.jane-clarke.co.uk

Here are some comments from schools she's visited:

'Your contribution was inspirational... the children were awe-struck! - St. Josephs Primary School, Epsom
Fantastic! You deserve star billing! AC Montessori School, Ohain (Belgium)
Your visit was the highlight of Book Week for the Infants. British School of Brussels We're still laughing… and still writing poems… Antwerp International School Everyone really enjoyed your performances and readings. British Junior Academy of Brussels
Terrific... everyone is very keen for you to come back. Greenfield School, Woking

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James Carter

James Carter is a poet and guitarist. He is also a popular visitor to Primary schools around the UK where he gives poetry (with music) performances and workshops. A widely anthologised children's poet, James' critically-acclaimed collection of children's poems, Cars Stars Electric Guitars (Walker Books) is a recommended Poetry Bookshelf title.

James is an INSET provider, a lecturer in Children's Literature/Creative Writing at Reading University and the author of four creative writing books for Primary teachers. James lives in South Oxfordshire with his family but travels all over the UK to perform and run workshops.

James is available for :
.... Poetry Performances
.... Poetry Workshops
.... One Day Events/Residencies
.... INSET - Writing and Performing Poetry in the Primary Classroom

Praise for James' visits to schools :

Thankyou for sharing your brilliant poems - you really inspired me. (Year 5 girl)

Your poems were fandabadozy! I enjoyed them as much as I enjoy watching Man U score a goal. (Year 6 boy)

James Carter was a breath of fresh air in our school. He changed the children's concept of poetry and poets. The children were enthralled by his unquie approach to writing and the work they produced in his workshop was exciting.
Jenny Freeman - Literacy Co-ordinator - Eynsham Community Primary School

James was an inspiration. His poetry set to guitar music was a hit with all the children from reception to Yr 6. The workshops were fun and the children produced some excellent poems.
Wendy Jacobs - Headteacher - Ewelme CE (A) Primary School

Praise for James' creative writing books for teachers

Just Imagine [David Fulton 2002] : Pie Corbett - NLS Adviser/poet - This has the exciting richness which all the best books in this field have - it tantalises, inviting and exciting the reader.
Creating Writers [Routledge 2001] : David Almond - Novelist/Carnegie Medal-winning author of 'Skellig' : I'm extremely impressed with 'Creating Writers' and I refer to it and recommend it during school visits and talks. It really explores its subject, and offers an important, beautifully-researched and well-expressed alternative to shallow, quick-fix approaches to creative writing.

Praise for Cars Stars Electric Guitars

Jacqueline Wilson : James Carter is an exciting new voice, imaginative and innovative. Children will love these poems.
Poetryzone website : An excellent book - a great variety of funny and thoughtful poems presented in a lively and entertaining manner, packed with humour and originality. A definite buy for the classroom. Will children like it? Yes, very much.

Contact James at jamescarterpoet@btinternet.com

For Paul Cookson's details, booking forms etc.
visit his website -

www.paulcooksonpoet.co.uk

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