Author: Charlie Bown

Day 12 – One More Cup of Tea

| Charlie Bown

I have found myself uttering the phrase “I just need one more cup of tea” more often in recent years. Whether that has anything to do with the addition of two small, energetic humans joining our household is up for debate, but I would wager it does.

Our son’s frustration at my “one more cup of tea” was the inspiration behind this poem and he nodded along sagely when I first read it to him. His favourite part (and something which works well with poetry for children) is the repeated line at the end of each stanza, and how that alters slightly for the last line. He likes knowing what’s coming and the fact that he can remember and join in with that line.

Have a go at writing a poem where the last line of each stanza is the same. You could try changing the very last one slightly for effect. What about having a repeated line which changes tense from past to present to future as the poem goes on?

Day 11 – Questions and Answers

| Charlie Bown

Question and Answer poems are so much fun to write! You don’t have to separate out the questions and answers like I have – they can follow one another like a conversation.

If I asked you, “What’s your favourite colour?” you might answer ‘Red’ or ‘Green’. Try answering that question again with your poet hat on.

What’s your favourite colour?
It’s the forests and valleys. The grass beneath my toes.
It’s a strawberry fresh for picking. The moon, blood-angry with the sun.

Have a go at writing some question and answer poetry. You can use these question prompts to get you started.

Where does the sun go at night?
How far away is the moon?
Why does the morning bird sing?
Where is the missing sock?

Day 10 – My Stick (By Sasha Kuntz)

| Charlie Bown

Today is a little bit different because instead of one of my poems, I am sharing writing from another author who has been in touch. I am delighted to share Sasha’s poem, ‘My Stick’, which was inspired by the ‘Treasure’ prompt from my Day 7 post.

One of the wonderful things I’ve noticed since reaching out to the writing community via Facebook and Twitter, is how wonderfully supportive they are of one another. It is certainly one of the happier parts of the internet and it is a pleasure to pass on some of that writing support to another poet today.

It can be really scary to share your writing with people, especially a stranger! So thank you to Sasha for getting in touch and for your fab poem:

March 9th – Earwig

| Charlie Bown

I wrote this poem when our son misheard the word ‘earache’ and refused to believe me when I said it wasn’t ‘earwig’. Combined with his mispronunciation of the word ‘antibiotics’ it was a poem waiting to happen.

(It’s also true that my mum used to say that we should wear our hats to avoid earache – I have no idea if that is medically sound advice, or just something parents say – like watching too much television makes your eyes go square.)

Children often mispronounce words. Did you mispronounce any when you were younger? My little brother said ‘Heliplopter’ instead of ‘Helicopter’ which we like to remind him sometimes now he’s a grown up doing grown up things.

One of the things I love about writing children’s poetry is the fun that is to be found when playing with words and language. Children do this naturally as they are learning to speak. Have a go at writing a poem with some mispronounced or misused words and see what you can come up with.

Remember, you can always email me any poems – I’d love to see them and share them on here!

charliebownauthor@outlook.com

March 8th – Polly

| Charlie Bown

I wrote this poem for my son’s class as this year they celebrated World Book Day as pirates.

I remembered reading some advice a while ago about writing poems. It said that there are lots of poems about pirates (and that’s true!) – so how do you make yours different?

One way to do that is to think about the traditional traits associated with pirates and then turn them on their head. What would a poem about a worried or nervous pirate be like? Perhaps you could write one about a pirate who rescues people, instead of threatening them. Taking a character stereotype and reversing it is great fun to explore with poetry.

I wanted the surprise in my poem to come at the end – when we hear that the pirate is actually the ship’s parrot. But you might reveal your surprise earlier.

Have a go at writing a poem about a character with a surprising twist. Perhaps a Dinosaur who is really good at saving people (instead of eating them!) or a fairy who likes to bring bad luck, instead of making wishes come true. Have fun!

March 7th – Lionel’s Entourage Mirage

| Charlie Bown

I wrote this poem as part of a competition, using a word prompt. The word I was given was ‘entourage’.

The first thing I did was read a definition of the word:

ENTOURAGE
noun

  1. a group of people attending or surrounding an important person. “an entourage of loyal courtiers”

Then I created a mind-map around the definition, taking each part in turn.

‘A group of people’ – what if they weren’t people? Who else might they be?

‘surrounding’ – for what reason? Could it be sinister? Funny? How close could they get?

‘an important person’ – Why is the person (or animal) important? Are they only important to the entourage?

I then thought about what entourage meant to me. It meant celebrity culture – adoring fans surrounding a popular singer or actor.

All these questions and thoughts helped me get to the stage where I had the idea for this poem.

‘A group of people’ (fleas) ‘surrounding’ (living on) ‘an important person’ (Lionel). Poor Lionel, who has adoring fans by day who take photos and upload them to social media, but is left alone at night with his real entourage – his fleas.

A writing prompt can be a fun way into a poem – especially if you take the time to really think about all the different ways that word could be interpreted. Have a go with one of the following words:

adopted

treasure

disaster

March 6th – The Cold

| Charlie Bown

This poem is great fun to perform – you can even throw in a few well timed sneezes of your own.

Have a go at writing a poem with only two words on each line. Try and keep the endings the same. Your first line is:

Chicken Pox

…

March 5th – Boys Can’t Be A Princess

| Charlie Bown

I loved writing this poem and I really enjoy reading it with children. The ending always makes them laugh and it’s great fun to have two people read the poem as a conversation.

Have a go at writing a conversation poem. Who might be talking? Could it be a conversation between a parent and child – what if they swap traditional roles? Maybe the child could be telling the parent off for being silly… my son does this a lot to me!

What about a conversation poem between animals, or inanimate objects? Imagine what a pair of shoes or a bowl of fruit might have a conversation about – there is lots of fun to be had!

March 4th – Dinosaur

| Charlie Bown

Depending on how confident children feel with drama activities, this activity can be done in a group or as individuals.

If working in a group ask children to choose an animal – living, extinct or fictional. Working together they have to create the animal using their bodies, working together to move around the space. Once they feel confident moving as a team encourage them to add sound effects, then give them different challenges to act out. How would your animal eat? Sleep? Interact with other animals in the room?

Once you’ve had fun exploring the animals, create word banks using the drama to guide you. To extend the activity think about what the animal might represent (Lions = bravery, Foxes = sly etc) can you add those characteristics into the poem? What happens if you reverse them – write a poem about a shy lion or a kind fox.

Use “If I were a…” as the poem’s starting prompt.