Image: Harrison Reid I have now completed the illustrations for a second poetry book for the publisher Otter-Barry Books. The first, “The Poetry World of John Agard”, written by John Ag…

I have only performed my poem Marble Run once. It’s in my new collection, Poems on Toast, and is a poem that I loved writing. It was created completely differently to the way my process usually wor…

Starfish are golden stars having a break from the night sky  (Rachel) Writing on location can bring the sort of insights to written work that just aren’t possible in the classroom. Rachel’s id…

Like so many of us, I’ve spent much of this blistering August watching scorched grass and wildfire warnings scroll across my screen. After a summer this relentlessly hot, asking children to think a…

I write poetry for grown ups as well as children, but it occurred to me recently that I have never really written a poem (for grown ups) about being a children’s poet. I have written many words abo…

I first got the idea of using a Spinning Wheel of Poetry after shadowing the brilliant poet Justin Coe. Justin had a wheel he occasionally used in workshops and advised that unveiling it to a room …

Anna Wilson’s poem about her tortoise, Hercules, coming out of hibernation is all of us shaking off the colder months and turning towards the sun. The Labours of HerculesI lift the box lid,push asi…

Brian Bilston – Revealed! I had a new book come out recently. It purports to be “an alternative guide to writing and enjoying poetry”: a fondly facetious exploration of the “craft” of poetry,…

We are thrilled to have a blog by this year’s Caterpillar Prize judge, Robert Schechter, and the announcement of the winners! I want to thank Rebecca O’Connor for continuing to sponsor …

A year ago, Air India flight AI171 crashed, killing all but one of the passengers and crew. The morning after, our headteacher at Barlby Primary School asked the Early Years team to meet him as soo…

At the end of a recent school visit, a teacher showed me videos of children outside in the drizzle, performing poems they had created themselves that morning. She told me that during their forest s…

Brandford Boase Award 2024 Books for Keeps has been taking children’s literature seriously since its launch in March 1980 and that includes poetry written for children. It might seem unnecessary to…

Skeleton leafLifeless like tissueLaces neatly threadedGentle, fragileThe silk delicate embroideryThe veins spreadingNetwork carefully stitchedBony like witch’sFingersBackbone gentle andTenderSally,…

Who are you and which publishing house do you work for? Penny Thomas, I’m the editor at Firefly Press children’s and YA publisher. How long have you been editing poetry for children and how many ch…

Who are you and which publishing house do you work for? Penny Thomas, I’m the editor at Firefly Press children’s and YA publisher. How long have you been editing poetry for children and how many ch…

The Dewey Decimal system puts poetry in the library’s nonfiction section. Yet a lot of people think these genres have nothing in common.  Heck, I used to think they had nothing in common.&nbsp…

I’m fresh from the online announcement of the shortlisted books for the 2026 CLPE Poetry Award 2026 (aka the CLiPPA.) This featured five poems read aloud, and it was a spellbinding selection of wha…

It was March 2020, and I was in technical rehearsals at The Riverfront Theatre, Newport, readying for opening night, when the theatres, and everything else, were suddenly closed. I had spent much o…

It was March 2020, and I was in technical rehearsals at The Riverfront Theatre, Newport, readying for opening night, when the theatres, and everything else, were suddenly closed. I had spent much o…

For me, one of the most rewarding aspects of visiting schools over the last thirty years or so has been working with teachers, helping them to teach using poetry more effectively. As I’m sure both …

This week and next week we have two blogs for teachers, the first from Jon Biddle, showcasing how he has used poetry to create and inspire a rich reading culture in his school, and the second by Ro…

I Am Ray’s Imaginary Friend concerns a young boy who finds that his family have to leave the village he loves and move to a busy town. Ray has always found changing circumstances difficult to cope …

Hello, I’m Billie, Learning and Participation Coordinator at The Poetry Society. Over the past few months, I’ve had the pleasure of working on the Tower Hamlets Junior Slam, a long-running partners…

I have three issues with children’s poetry in bookshops: there’s not enough of it, the variety of the books on sale is limited, and if it is stocked, its profile is too low. Many smalle…

I met Jonathan a few years ago; he was a good poet-friend. We decided to do some co-writing online. Our first rule was that there was no pressure and we’d only do it when it was fun. No obligation.…

As writers we are all ideas detectives, on the hunt for different things to inspire us. Sometimes it’s the conversations that we overhear or something we read in newspapers or online. Sometimes it’…

© Paul Blakemore In 2026 I’ll be publishing my second poetry collection, again with Troika books sometime in the summer. I never thought I’d have been in a position to write one children’s collecti…

L. B. Here is week two of the Christmas and winter poems our brilliant children’s poets from the UK and abroad have kindly sent us. A very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Peaceful New Year to…

At Christmas we like to give our wonderful bloggers a holiday – instead, we’d like to thank the brilliant children’s poets from the UK and abroad who have kindly sent us a two-wee…

I’ve been thinking a lot about how we first fall in love with language – what causes the spark that helps us to understand that words are there for enjoyment as well as communication.  Of cour…

In another of our series of Editors’ Profiles, we asked Roy Johnson of Troika Books to tell us what he and Troika are up to right now. Who are you and which publisher do you work for? Roy Johnson, …

Who are you? Hi, I’m Attie Lime. I write poetry for children. I love sharing my poems during school visits and at festivals. I have been called an Adventure Poet, a Performance Poet and a Pop…

As readers of this blog will be aware, it takes work to write a decent rhyming poem. It’s easy for those who haven’t tried it to think otherwise – rhymes are easy, right? Tight, light, fight,…

On Saturday 11 October 2025, folk across the UK will once again celebrate Bookshop Day, an annual event organised by the Booksellers Association through its Books Are My Bag campaign. Somehow, I ha…

ALT: a picture of a rabbit with the words let 's have some fun above it

A selection of poems and resources for children and young people that can be used to inspire on National Poetry Day and all year round!