Whose Rhyme is it Anyway?

Happy New Year! I hope everyone received books, pens, and a bottle of their favourite gin, for Christmas, too.

The absolute highlight of the festive period for me, was time spent with schoolchildren in sparkly jumpers, sharing my festive poems. A school visit and a community event were both delightfully full of laughter, imagination, and chocolate Santas.

I often think about the reasons we write poetry. As a teen, I wrote for the love of creating an almost-song-lyric; an image, and for the burning need to commit angst and unrequited love to paper. Later, it was for portfolios, approval, and occasionally for weddings. I write adult poetry for many reasons, still, but today I’m thinking about my poetry for children. And that’s the thing: Poetry FOR Children. I call myself a children’s poet, but most days I am to be found making myself extremely happy by writing poetry *suitable for children*, planning, submitting work, Zooming with fellow children’s poets, and chatting under the wide-reaching, hug-worthy Tree of Support which is The Online Writing Community. Oh, that tree is a wonderful thing! Especially its branch of children’s writers – sorry – who are THE most supportive crowd and do as much to boost and encourage each other as they do for themselves. But they are adults, too (albeit fellow writers, from whom I have learnt a lot, and who boost my confidence each and every day).

So, The Children.

I am currently securing visits to schools in World Book Week, planning my next community events (I have been approached by several parents and children, asking for an Easter event…the chocolate Santas may have started something!) and thinking of fun ways to promote and enjoy my upcoming poetry collections for children, with, well, children! They are the WHY, after all (along with the obvious ‘Because I love it!’).

When my first collection is published (May ‘23), I will refrain from stopping children in shops and reading them poems. I promise I won’t force every child in my son’s school to buy a copy. And I almost certainly will not make my 5yo have a Poetry Party for his 6th birthday. BUT I will be doing my best to get my poetry to the eyes and ears of children, to get them joyfully joining in with call-and-response poems, poems with actions, poems which make them think, and poems which prompt them to tell me long stories afterwards, about something that has happened to them.

That’s the point of all this, after all.

Happy reading, writing, and poeming.

Attie x