Poetry Prompts: All sorts of ways to start a poem from Joseph Coelho

by Joseph Coelho, Georgie Birkett (Illustrator), Amanda Quartey (Illustrator), Grasya Oliyko (Illustrator), Viola Wang (Illustrator)

Overview

A compendium of poetry prompts from Joseph Coelho (Children's Laureate 2022-2024).

Each fun and engaging prompt for writing a poem helps children discover how to write poems and then read them out loud. This is a book to build confidence and literacy skills through channeling children's imaginations. 

This is a book for the whole family to enjoy, bright, cheerful but cool illustrations will appeal to children of all primary ages.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780711285149
Publisher:	Frances Lincoln Children's Books
Publication date:	10/17/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	64
File size:	14 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	7 - 9 Years

About the Author

JOSEPH COELHO is the Waterstones Children's Laureate 2022-2024. In 2019 he won the Independent Bookshop Week Picture Book Award for If All the World Were which has been translated into over 10 languages. He has been long-listed for The Carnegie Children's Award with his poetry collection 'Overheard In A Tower Block', which was also shortlisted for the CLPE CLiPPA Poetry Award and Longlisted for the UKLA Book Awards. He won the 2015 CLPE CLiPPA Poetry Award with his debut poetry collection Werewolf Club Rules. His debut Picture Book, Luna Loves Library Day was voted one of the nations favourite picture books by a survey led by World Book Day. His other poetry books include How To Write Poems and A Year Of Nature Poems .

He has written plays for companies including: Soho Theatre, Polka Theatre, The Unicorn Theatre, Theatre Royal York, Oily Cart and The Spark Children's Festival to name a few. 

Joseph has been a guest poet on Cbeebies Rhyme Rocket, Radio 4's Poetry Playtime and Front Row. He is the presenter of BBC's Teach Poetry (Oct 2018) and features in DiscoveryEDUK's Poetry Curriculum.

Amanda Quartey is an illustrator based in the UK. At the age of 14 she moved to Ghana and studied art, and later returned to the UK to study Graphic Design. She has worked on a variety of published projects.

JOSEPH COELHO is the Waterstones Children's Laureate 2022-2024. In 2019 he won the Independent Bookshop Week Picture Book Award for If All the World Were which has been translated into over 10 languages. He has been long-listed for The Carnegie Children's Award with his poetry collection 'Overheard In A Tower Block', which was also shortlisted for the CLPE CLiPPA Poetry Award and Longlisted for the UKLA Book Awards. He won the 2015 CLPE CLiPPA Poetry Award with his debut poetry collection Werewolf Club Rules. His debut Picture Book, Luna Loves Library Day was voted one of the nations favourite picture books by a survey led by World Book Day. His other poetry books include How To Write Poems and A Year Of Nature Poems . He has written plays for companies including: Soho Theatre, Polka Theatre, The Unicorn Theatre, Theatre Royal York, Oily Cart and The Spark Children's Festival to name a few.  Joseph has been a guest poet on Cbeebies Rhyme Rocket, Radio 4's Poetry Playtime and Front Row. He is the presenter of BBC's Teach Poetry (Oct 2018) and features in DiscoveryEDUK's Poetry Curriculum.
Amanda Quartey is an illustrator based in the UK. At the age of 14 she moved to Ghana and studied art, and later returned to the UK to study Graphic Design. She has worked on a variety of published projects.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Prompt 1: A Notebook of Your Own
Prompt 2: One Word Poems
Prompt 3: I Am Poem
Prompt 4: Fun with Rhymes
Prompt 5: Take Your Pen on a Journey
Prompt 6: Onomatopoeia
Prompt 7: Diminuendo Poems
Prompt 8: Black-Out Poems
Prompt 9: Bug Poem
Prompt 10: Sounds of the Environment
Prompt 11: Halloween Poem
Prompt 12: Ways to Describe Colors
Prompt 13: Simile Hunt
Prompt 14: Poems to be Read Fast
Prompt 15: Writing on Rocks
Prompt 16: Turning Similes into Metaphors
Prompt 17: Emotion Poems
Prompt 18: My Favorite Food
Prompt 19: Reading Aloud in Different Voices
Prompt 20: Objects with Voices
Prompt 21: Whispering Poems
Prompt 22: Haikus
Prompt 23: Pancake Day
Prompt 24: Tongue Twisters
Prompt 25: World Refugee Day
Prompt 26: Easter Triolets
Prompt 27: Repeating a Line
Prompt 28: Found Poems
Prompt 29: Dance Poetry
Prompt 30: Recipe Poems
Prompt 31: Make Believe Animals
Prompt 32: Photo Poetry
Prompt 33: Renga Poems
Prompt 34: Heart Poems
Prompt 35: Animal Voices
Prompt 36: Abecedarius
Prompt 37: Christmas
Prompt 38: New Year’s Resolution
Prompt 39: A Poet-Tree
Prompt 40: Plastic Pollution
Prompt 41: Homophones
 

Editorial Reviews

“Discover 50 ways to write and perform a poem with Children’s Laureate Joseph Coelho. A great resource for both home and in the classroom with illustrations from four artists.”—The Bookseller - Back to School

"From the children’s laureate Joseph Coelho, meanwhile, comes a standing invitation to creativity in the form of Poetry Prompts, illustrated by four different artists with naïve, colourful charm. Coelho is passionate about making poetry accessible, and this collection of ways to get started, complete with “poetry power-ups” and performance hints, should appeal strongly to children of five and up – and may well entice older children along, too.”—The Guardian – Best children's books of 2023

"Discover all sorts of ways to write and perform a poem with Waterstones Children’s Laureate Coelho.”—The Bookseller

“filled with engaging tips, tricks and guides on how to start writing, performing and enjoying poetry.”—Books for Keeps

From the Publisher

10/01/2023

Gr 2–4—The ideas of Joseph Coelho, Waterstones Children's Laureate, invite young and old to become poets. Rollicking, bouncy, and rhythmic poems work together to open wide children's imaginations and unlock the fear of writing poetry. With unforgettable images, this book invites readers to dream in words that become exuberant, busy, and colorful, while appearing to pour straight from the pages into a young writer's mind and pencil. Helpful resources present a plethora of poems, including but not limited to haikus, blackout, renga, and heart. The magic continues as clever wordplay on each page displays an extra writing challenge: a "Poetry Power-Up," where children are asked, "What poetic worlds will you discover?" The illustrations are winsome, brightly colored digital drawings from four different illustrators that artfully fill each page. An appealing and fun read-aloud book most suitable for educators tempting energetic children to start writing. VERDICT An ideal big book of ebullient resources sure to promote confidence while young imaginations run wild discovering the art of writing poetry.—Lyn Smith

School Library Journal

2023-09-09
Children’s Laureate Coelho encourages young readers to awaken “the poet within.”

The author offers 41 ways to get started…beginning with hard-to-follow directions for folding and tearing a sheet of paper to make a blank booklet but going on to more helpful demonstrations of one-word poems (“the trick is to have a long title”), rhyme and repetition, alliteration, onomatopoeia, concrete and found poetry, select poetic forms such as haiku and (for a special challenge) triolets, and poems for holidays or other occasions. If his examples set low bars for regular rhythms or heightened language—“In the middle of the NIGHT / two KNIGHTS had a thought / to head out for adventure, / to leave behind their boring fort”—they are at least easy to emulate, and for more ambitious writers he does add a “Poetry Power-Up” exercise for each prompt. Coelho also occasionally breaks from the generally jocular tone to suggest, for instance, crafting a poem about plastic waste or on the theme of “Home Is…” for World Refugee Day. Four illustrators working in closely similar styles depict a racially diverse cast of children in exuberant poses along with colorful figures of fanciful flora, fauna, and food to provide further inspiration. The message that poetry is “about having fun with words” comes through loud and clear.

Enticing suggestions and exercises for budding Byrons and hesitant Heaneys. (Instructional picture book. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews