Poetry Box on tour with Storylines from Blenheim to Timaru: my poems, children’s poems, photos and 3 secret poetry challenges with Groovy Fish to give away

Philippa, Eileen, me, Vasanti and Libby – Anne took the photo!

 

 

On the road poem

 

The mountains disappear into the grey sky

but everywhere I look I see more mountains

 

I imagine the mountain peaks looking down

 asking me Where are you going?

What will you discover?

Will you poetry dance in schools?

 

Paula Green

 

 

When Storylines invited me to do a children’s author tour from Bleheim to Timaru I instantly said yes after several years of saying no to things. Now that my big book Wild Honey is in the world I have more time for school visits, author tours and festivals. Exciting!

I was with Libby Limbrick (the Storylines rep), Anne Dickson (Manager of the Community Library at Mahurangi East and Storylines committee member) and three authors: Vasanti Unka (picture book whizz), Philippa Werry (writer of fiction and nonfiction fascinations) and Eileen Merriman (who crafts YA and adult fictions that move you and make you think). It was a DREAM TEAM.

This was the best author Tour I have ever been on – every school was a highlight and STORYLINES made sure we had comfy beds, full tummies, good coffee, yummy meals and quiet times.

So THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to the Storylines crew, the authors and all the schools that made this a memorable week.

 

t h e  v e r y  f a b u l o u s  S t o r y l i n e s  T o u r

 

Here is my tour – I didn’t keep a diary so this is from memory. After the first day I wrote the poems down when we were making them up but I can’t read all the words now as I was writing so FAST. Do let me know if I got your poem wrong. And a thousand apologies to the first schools because I have not got copies of the poems we made up together.

BTW all the words come from the students – none from me. I just ask questions!

I loved reading from my brand new book Groovy Fish (Cuba Press).

 

 

I have three secret poetry challenges in my blog and some copies of Groovy Fish to give away. DEADLINE is FRIDAY so be in QUICK!!

 

 

 

my top poetry tips for Y0 to Y13 and beyond

 

use your EARS – listen to the music your poem makes

use your EYES – gather bits of the physical world for your poem

poems can FEEL the world – heart

poems can THINK the world – mind

poems are freedom to play with words and subjects in any way you like

 

 

 

Day One

 

 

 

 

First stop for Eileen and me is Ward School –  we got to see the whole school (45) from NE to Y6. Such a warm welcome to start our journey but I am so sad because I didn’t write the poems down. The room was full of bounding imaginations and glittery words firing. Eileen talked about becoming a doctor and a writer – even when she had hurdles  in her path. And about how she felt something something was missing in her life when she had grown up – writing stories.

And now she does it all the time. Even when she is on a really really busy Storylines Tour! I loved how she talked about making characters glow in a story.

 

My turn to do poetry! I am wondering what I am saying in this photo? Maybe there are poems hiding in the ceiling or in the clouds! I am wearing my AROHA T shirt on the first day because I LOVE writing poems.

 

 

 

 

Next up Kaikoura High School and a group of Y8 to Y10s. I got to have scrumptious egg sandwiches with the librarian and English teachers and talk about poetry and Wild Honey. Oh and crisp Nelson apples (my uncles were Māpua orchardists!)

 

I read my poem ‘The First School Journal Ever‘ from The Baker’s Thumbprint (Seraph Press) and talked about the way School Journal stories took me back in time, across the world and around home. I LOVED reading them. They made me want to write.

We made up a poem about childhood with crunching crayfish, digging in the sand with diggers, the taste of play dough, the smell of hot sausages, being adopted and much much more. It was a cool poem. The poetry energy in the room inspired me to make up my own poem in the van.

 

When I Was Five

 

I started writing poems when I was five

with the Matāpouri ocean and the giraffe clouds

and the sticky fat crayons and red hot tomato soup

and the crunchy Māpua apples and the leaning

tower of library books that

got my words

flipping and floating and flying.

 

Paula Green

 

I loved exploring Kaikoura: the knobbled white rocks bright against the brilliant blue sea.

 

After talking to the fabulous Kaikoura High School students I got to crunch on crayfish and it was so YUM!

Vasanti, me, Eileen, Philippa and Libby on the way to dinner in the biting wind that soon switched off in the toasty sun.

Nearly crayfish time! Thank you Kaikoura for filling me with poetry and delicious food.

 

Day Two

We drove over the windy inland road with the bumpy hills and the elbow bends

and I nearly threw up until I breathed in the sweet air next to the braided river.

As we twisted and turned I wanted to breathe in the hills and the sky and the

rushing water because every way I looked I saw beauty.

 

 

Vasanti and I got to spend time with Y1 to Y6 at Waiau School and the Principal played the guitar and students stood and sang a magnificent waiata as a thank you.

Vasanti had drawn pictures to tell her story about becoming an author and it is so so good I want her to make it into a book. She talked about how she felt uncool as a girl but how she now feels really cool. I especially loved the illustration of her four older sisters and her one younger brother standing in a line wearing the clothes their mother had made them. Her mother had run out of the orange material by the time she got to Vana so Vana had to have blue in her dress as well as orange which felt very uncool.

I had such fun when the children and I sent words whizzing and whirling and we made up a cat poem:

 

A Cat Poem

 

I am a fat fat cat

I am cute cute cat

I am pretty kitty cat

I am a sleepy sleepy cat

I’m a cat with a hat

I’m a cat with a bat

I’m a cat with a cap

I like to chase rats

I’m a fat flash cat

eating dog biscuits!

 

Waiau School

 

(PS Our greedy cat would eat dog biscuits if we let her because she thinks she’s a dog I am sure – see The Letterbox Cat)

 

Next Amuri Area School with Eileen. I had Y0 to Y6 and had a cracking good time reading Groovy Fish poems. We made up another cat poem because I love making up cat poems and they are never exactly the same. I love the way poem endings can make you laugh or cry, or ponder or puzzle, or have a twist in their tail!

 

Another Cat Poem

 

Black cat

scruffy cat

dusty cat

Meow!

 

I’m a fat fat cat

I’m a doctor cat

I’m a skinny cat

I’m a driver cat

 

I’m a silly crazy cat

I’m a mouse-eating cat

I’m a wide and racing cat

I”M A DOG!!

 

Amuri Area School

 

We read my Shabby Dinosaur poem from Groovy Fish and heard all the things that make him as full as a bull with happiness. Happy poems make me shine inside so I once did a happy-poem challenge on the blog.Here are some of my favourite happy poems from the challenge.

Amuri Area School was a very happy school and we made up this poem about what makes us happy. I felt shiny inside!

 

Happiness

 

All my kittens

going to the circus

dogs

drawing

playing rugby

wild cats

eating potatoes

a cute little bunny

going home after school.

 

Amuri Area School

 

 

 

At the end of a long and marvelous day we drove through the darkening hills towards the slate grey sky and I was as happy as the shabby dinosaur – filled to the brim with poems. My favourite and most frequent question so far:

 

 Why do you write poetry Paula?

Because poems can do anything, there are no rules, and poetry makes me happy.

 

 

Day 3

 

 

We stayed the night in Amberley and I wandered down by myself to the excellent Little Vintage Espresso to have poached eggs on toast and coffee in a small cup!

 

Eggs for Breakfast

 

Make the most of poached eggs on toast

when you are driving from the coast

 

with a little yellow sun in your tummy

that shines all day

 

Paula Green

 

 

 

First stop Waipara School (45 students). The older children were on camp and the younger children were at Sports Day so I had the seven Year 5s. How special was that? It was even more special because Toby had the library copy of The Letterbox Cat at home so I read some of his favourite poems. We made up a bunch of poems using our ears and eyes.

 

Panda

 

Black and white

like the night

like the moon

furry black

furry white

hunting for bamboo

eating and sleeping.

 

Waipara School

 

We read my ‘anifable‘ poem from The Letterbox Cat where you make up new animals mixing half of one with half of another and then deciding what they like to do.

 

Anifables

 

The snalion is

slithery and loud.

The panduin is

cold and hungry.

 

The hipmouse is

wrinkly and small.

The hippocat is

greedy and grey.

 

The rhiger is

ferocious and fast.

The butterfish is

flappy and scaly.

 

Waipara School

 

I especially loved the cat paintings on the wall of the classroom.

 

 

Back on the road and Philippa, Libby and I stopped at Rangiora Public Library because Rangiora Borough School sent fifty Y5 and 6 students to hear us. I was fascinated by Philippa’s wonderful scrapbook with her girlhood stories and successes. I was even more fascinated by the fact she has been to Antarctica and written a book about it. Now that I am home I am going shopping for her books. Her writing makes me spellbound!

We were welcomed by a dog and next by the fabulous librarian and poet Jason Clements (Doc Drumheller) with a nourishing lunch.

 

 

Once again the room filled like a poetry ocean: swishing words, wavy words, sweet and salty words. Here is the cat poem we made up.

 

Cat

 

I’m a flat flat cat

I’m a ratty tatty cat

 

I’m a flying aeroplane cat

I’m a tree climbing cat

 

I’m a black sack cat

I’m a black jack cat

 

I’m a fluffy wuffy cat

I’m a click clack cat

 

ust kidding – I’m a dog!

 

Rangiora Borough School

 

 

On the road and Anne and I are at Leithfield School with fifty Y5 and 6 students. Yummo egg sandwiches with peppermint tea (I have a bag full of tea choices) and I am good to go. And even a dog is joining in the poetry session.

 

 

Anne took a whole load of photos of me getting expressive with poetry.

 

 

The students were like a bubbling South Island river of words. What fun we had!

I was in the mood to make up a moon poem. This was the children came up with:

 

Moon

 

The big bright moon

the big round moon

the big fat moon

 

cheesy cheesy moon

shiny dimpled moon

rough bumpy moon

 

big chungous moon

a glowing ball of silver

massive pearl in the sky

shining light upon us

 

Leithfield School

 

I had seen signs for a beach but I never saw the sea so I got the children to show me their beach in a poem:

 

Leithfield Beach

 

Roaring waves

wet and stony

salty water

 

the mouldy pipe

deep dark edge

handful of stones

teaspoon of salt

 

sparkling blue water

different shades of navy

seashells everywhere

musky driftwood

 

dribbles of pebbles

crooked car park

wet and wild

 

Leithfield School

 

Back in the van to drive to Christchurch – the sky looks dangerous as the lightning flashes and forks – big black clouds dropping fat drops of rain (like in Bill Nagelkerke‘s poem). We are driving into a storm but the motel is cosy and dry.  I lie on the bed and turn on my inner sleep mode like I am a computer.

We had an evening event at Burnside High School to share stories and poetry with anyone who loves children’s literature.

I read the poem I wrote for the Prime Minister’s baby – I had never read it aloud before in front of an audience but I did record it for my blog.

I also got everyone to think about the power and magic of stories and where they were carried us as a child. We made up a poem together:

 

Stories

 

Stories lead us to hills that open

so we can walk inside

to where the sidewalk ends

to Narnia in the back of my parents’ wardrobe

to African rainforests

to the cherry tree in the garden

to the dusty attic

to camels in the desert

to the bathing shed on the wharf

to the moon and the stars

to our back lawns.

 

A bunch of children’s literature fans

 

 

Day 4

 

 

 

A city school after all the little country schools! First yummo date scone and coffee from my favourite cafe Little Poms.

I got to go to St Albans Primary to spend poetry time with nearly 400 children (Y1 to Y4, I think I had the biggest and the smallest group of tour!).

 

It is always exciting to do poetry in a hall FULL of children because I never know what will happen. I always do my silent test – we are all one-hundred-per-cent silent – listening to sounds outside. You never know what you might hear: a train, birds, crickets, cars, sheep, the wind in the trees, the rain, thunder, a siren, chat chatting voices, laughter.

Levi sent me a cool travel poem he had written after my visit and now I am inspired by him to write a travel poem!

We had such a cool poetry time but I was so excited writing down our poems I can only read one of them (see the happy poem below). The rest is too-fast scribble! I am SAD!!

We made up a mysterious poem about the wild wild wind but I can’t read my writing and it seems to have chocolate milk, a fox, a chicken, a super sheep and something lovely in it! It is a mystery poem! So I am going to challenge you to write one instead!

 

A BONUS POETRY BOX CHALLENGE: Y1 to Y8  You have to write a poem with at least three of these things in and I will post them on Poetry Box on Monday morning (December 2nd).

the wild wild wind, chocolate milk, a fox, a chicken, a super sheep and something lovely

Deadline: Friday 29th November

Send to: paulajoygreen@gmail.com

Include: your name, age, year, name of school

DON’T FORGET to put BONUS POEM in subject line

 

HOWEVER I could read the wonderful happy poem we made up. I felt like I was glowing with all the happy ideas, the warm mihi, and the sizzling poetry.

Poems can have one word on a line or right to the edge of the page. It changes the way a poem looks and it changes the music. Have fun playing with that.

 

Happiness

 

Watching the bird

making a nest in the tree

my fluffy grey dog

my cute little puppy

stargazing

watching the trees sway

watching my fish playing together

I love playing with my friend.

 

St Albans Primary

 

BACK on the road again to the second school of the day,  Darfield Primary. All the bends and elbows in the roads have disappeared and the roads are long and straight. There is always something fascinating to see out the window as though little poems are hiding in the paddocks, the mountains and the sky.

 

 

 

Vasanti and I got to present to 84 Y5 and 6s (although maybe it was a bit less). We both loved the artwork on the classroom walls. I loved hearing Vana’s story again.

 

Somehow we seem to make up sea-related poems. We made up a whale poem with only two words on the line. Try saying it out out loud!

 

The Whale

 

Splish splash

belly flop

clever clap

slimy smooth

big fat

really fast

super song

zig zag

I’m really a SUBMARINE!

 

Darfield Primary

 

We made up a penguin poem (we had a vote on which bird) and ended up with short snappy lines again!

 

The Little Blue Penguin

 

Flip flop

in the water

slide on ice

splish splash

a little furry

blue black shiny

tiny flightless

 

I am a penguin

living in Aotearoa

I’m an old surfer dude!

 

Darfield Primary

 

 

 

 

Darfield Primary School had my favourite tree. It deserves a poem!

 

A SECOND BONUS POETRY BOX CHALLENGE: Y1 to Y8  Write a a poem inspired by this tree and I will post some on Poetry Box on Monday morning (December 2nd).

Deadline: Friday 29th November

Send to: paulajoygreen@gmail.com

Include: your name, age, year, name of school

DON’T FORGET to put TREE POEM in subject line

 

 

Back on the road again and I soon I am eating a scrumptious filled roll with the super librarians at Ashburton College Library in the actual library. Woohoo!

I spent time with a fabulous bunch of Y9 and 10 who had chosen to come to the session. The students listened intently and contributed widely (one has already sent me a magnificent poem that I loved so much!). I love the fact so many students joined in at all the schools I visited. Inspiring!

 

 

With mountains on my mind and in the corner of every view it was time to make up a wee mountain poem. Little poems can be magnificent.

 

The Mountain

 

I’m a tall strong mountain

sky high

big bold

snowy rugged

jutting crippled

shadowed dark

 

Ashburton College Library

 

Then it was back to childhood – to the things that stand out in memory. It made me want to make up my own childhood poem. This was the students came up with:

 

Childhood

 

Sweet peaches sweet cherries

fairy bread cotton candy

familiar smell of sausages

grandparent’s cookies

sticky rice

 

Back home where the kookaburra sing

playing on the swing set

climbing the orchid tree

making daisy chains

running out into the farm playing

my guitar under the tree

 

Down the river

to the ocean

running through grass

do it all again

I’ll remember

 

Imagine

 

Ashburton College Library

 

We headed off to Timaru for our last night and our last events on Friday. We stopped off at a veggie place and stocked up on:

 

On the road

 

We got

the plumpest sweetest

tasting blueberries

in the world

juicy juicy strawberries

and pale green avocados

from the veggie man

 

and he thought

we were Australian spies

with our dark shades on

but we were busy

imagining

how to make stories

sweet and sour and crisp.

 

Paula Green

 

Next stop Temuka poettry (my pick) because I LOVE pottery (which is almost like poetry) so I bought a few plates to carry on the plane. As soon as I got home I made a homemade basil pesto, roast veggie, pasta salad to put on it. YUM!

 

 

 

Day 5  (the last day!)

Vasanti, Eileen, Libby, me in Timaru

 

Every morning before we headed off most of us got a good strong coffee. We loved the sign in this cafe and I loved a sign with one word hiding. One of my favourite questions at schools was:

Where do you get your ideas from Paula?

From what I see, hear, feel, think, taste, imagine!

 

 

 

I got Anne to take a photo because this was a poem in the waiting!

 

Keep Calm and Carry

 

One shiny moon

two shimmering oceans

three daring stilt walkers

four hot-air balloons

five tūī singing

six date scones warm and buttery

seven seals gliding

eight clouds drifting

nine plump peaches

ten fascinating questions

 

in your acrobatic mind

as you watch the sun rise

on the shiny green paddock.

 

Paula Green

 

A THIRD BONUS POETRY BOX CHALLENGE: Y1 to Y8  Write a a poem using my title Keep Calm and Carry. 

It can be as short or as long as you like – let your imagination go dancing. Make up your own pattern. Play with how many words go on the line. LISTEN to every line.

and I will post some on Poetry Box on Monday morning (December 2nd).

 

Deadline: Friday 29th November

Send to: paulajoygreen@gmail.com

Include: your name, age, year, name of school

DON’T FORGET to put CALM POEM in subject line

 

 

 

We spent our last night in Timaru. Just one visit in Timaru before heading back to Christchurch and I got to go to Grantlea Downs School and do poetry with the whole school (Y1 to 8) in the hall.

 

The artwork in the foyer was fabulous!

 

 

I sat in the school waiting for it to fill to the brim. I was wearing my map-of-the-moon T shirt and wearing black so I was dressed like the moon in the night sky.

I told the school they were like one big whanau so I  let the youngest members of the family (NE and Y1) make up a moon poem with me before we did anything else.

They stood in line and stood up like poets, and used loud poet’s voices and let their words sail out of the hall to land in the trees. I asked them to pick one moon word but some picked lots and they didn’t matter a drop because poetry has no rules. Poetry is where we get to PLAY! and have FUN!

 

The Moon

 

A blue moon

looks like the sun moon

shining star

black

orange and bright

tells us it’s night

spinning sparkling

bright MOON!

 

Grantlea Downs School

 

Then I got to walk down the stage right into the audience! WOW! That was fun. Everyone joined in and was bubbling over with poems.  A fountain of poems! A waterfall of poems! A bright sky of poems! Timaru had had a big hail storm with hail the size of golf balls. It had been so windy we made up a windy windy poem.

 

The Wind

 

The strong wind

the powerful wind

the wispy wind

 

the wind blows

the winds breaks the bush

the wind comes and goes

 

wishing wind

flushing wind

the wind was furious

 

Grantlea Downs School

 

Oh I was sad to leave the school because it was my last session and now it was time to head back home.

 

We stopped off at a cool cafe in Ashburton called Nosh and I had yummy yummy sushi. I had seen a place in one town called Secret Japanese Food and I wanted to write a poem about sushi with little secrets in  it.

 

Secret Sushi

 

In my sushi you will discover

the story of a hedgehog and a goat

a trapdoor to the moon

sparkling oceans

a map of the sky

and a secret letter from a secret owl.

 

Paula Green

 

Now it was time drive home past the grey rivers running and over the long bridges stretching and the green paddocks glistening to Christchurch to get my plane home.

 

This was the best author tour I have ever done because I loved every single school visit and I loved the other inspirational authors and I loved the way Storylines looked after us when we all worked so hard and when there was a truck load (van load) of travelling.

Thank you to every school I visited.  You have inspired me.

 

Back home to the bush and the ocean and the quiet (and our cats and Molly our dog).

 

 

 

Poetry Box noticeboard: Storylines Notable Books 2019

Storylines Notable Books List 2019

The 2019 Storylines Children’s Literature  Notable Book List, for the highest quality books in four genres published during 2018, is compiled from more than 100 entries from publishers by expert panels of authors, teachers, librarians, academics and parents.

The annual list was begun by Storylines in 1999 and selection is eagerly sought by authors, illustrators and publishers. It provides a useful reading and purchasing guide to families, schools and libraries, and to young readers.

Go here to see the list

If you have a favourite on the list let me know why you love it and I will post your comments and the book cover.

paulajoygreen@gmail.com

This was my favourite. I posted about it on the blog because I LOVED it so much!

The Mapmakers’ Race, Eirlys Hunter, Gecko Press, 2018

The Mapmakers’ Race is a glorious read.

If you are looking for a story that ripples with imagination and sings in the ear because it is so beautifully written, this your perfect holiday read. I adore it.

The Santander family is an adventurous family and they are hoping to go on The Great Map Race to win lots of money. But the father is mysteriously not back from exploring and the mother got left behind in a train mishap.

So it is up to the four children to get to the finishing line first (it takes a month) and chart the best train route through treacherous terrain.

Most of the other teams are so greedy to win they will do anything to get there. Villainous!

Once I started reading this book, I didn’t want to stop. I loved the characters and their special skills, especially the way Francie draws the maps for the train routes by seeing everything from above. She doesn’t talk but she has a special sight skill that drains her rather perilously at times.

I also grew very fond of young Beckett who drove them in a horse and trap to the race meeting. He ended up travelling with them because he wanted the train route to go through his neglected village. He turned out to be a godsend because he made their food supplies stretch further in the most delicious ways.

 

Plus there are the bonus little stories that get told to Humphrey, the youngest sibling, to soothe him. Oh and the mechanical horses that belong to another team!

This book, like Barbara Else’s magnificent Travelling Restaurant series, is set to become a classic because it has all the ingredients that make a story shine: suspense, tricky situations, learning curves, real things shifted a little by an agile imagination, fascinating places and equally fascinating characters.

I was sorry when the book ended but I spotted a launch point for a sequel. Fingers crossed!

Congratulations Eirlys Hunter on this must-read book.

 

Gecko Press page

 

Thank you Storylines — and a few favourite poems from today

I had a hairy drive from the west into the city in the driving rain. It was worth it!

But what a lovely day I had talking about poetry with individual children in the poetry zone, signing the odd book or two and doing a book talk with the fabulous Leonie Agnew and Sacha Cotter on becoming an author.

Storylines works so hard to bring events like this to families. Bravo and thank you for all your hard work and dedication. I salute you.

Here are a couple of poems I loved from the Poetry Zone. I loved these poems because they sounded really good when I read them aloud. They are often quite simple. I loved some of the repeating words which helped the sound of the poems. These poems are all quite simple. I love the way squid shimmers in the middle of Maren’s poem. Ah poetry bliss!

I just got to breeze in and read what they had written. Lucky me!

 

Poetry Bonanza Monday; a little pack of popping poetry news and surprises for you

 

This is the last week of Term One!  Happy holidays dear poetry fans!

1. Last night the NZ cricket team showed they can be gracious winners and gracious losers. For me good cricket can be like poetry which ever side is shining!

2. Yesterday I went to the Storylines Award Ceremony where new writers won awards that will see their very first book published. Exciting!

Storylines also announced the Notable Book Awards for 2014. I was very delighted that The Letterbox Cat and Other Poems and A Treasury of NZ Poems For Children were picked. I got to read three poems there. I read one by me, one by my hero Margaret Mahy and Caleb‘s fabulous poem ‘The Poet’ (he was from Russley School in Christchurch).  Storylines work hard for children and children’s books all year!

Poetry doesn’t know where its home is! Sometimes it is non fiction and sometimes it is junior fiction! I always think it is fiction as so much of poetry is invented but sometimes it records the world and then I think it is non fiction …. so I guess it belongs in both places.

 

3. This week I am going to post my favourite odes on Thursday.

 

4. This week  I am also going to post a surprise pack of poems I got from Russley School that I just LOVE!

5. And I will tell you about my fabulous visit to another school.

6. In the first week of term Three I will announce the details of The Fourth Fabulous Poetry Competition!

 

7. I have started work on my next collection of poems for children … using the titles you gave me on my Hot Spot Poetry Tour. It is such fun.  It will take me at least a year to write these poems.

8. You still have time to send me an Ode to Cricket!

9. During the holidays you can write me a letter in the form of a poem and tell me something wonderful you saw. Details below.

10. Interview challenge: I am on the hunt for children and classes to interview NZ writers again this year. If you want  to do this you need to tell me the name of the author and why you want to interview them. You need to tell me your name, school, age, year and name of teacher and if you are a whole class. I will pick my favourites and see if I can get the author to do the interview  with you. I will post this challenge again at the beginning of Term 2. If I pick you, I will give your more details. I will have a prize pack of books for my favourite interview.

 

 

 

My Storylines Family Day and Book Launch album

Yesterday was a rainy rainy day in Auckland but that didn’t stop masses of children and parents coming to the Aotea Centre to meet loads of children’s authors and do loads of activities. I got to launch my new book, The Letterbox Cat and Other Poems, and to spend time in the wonderful poetry zone.

I had a wonderful minder called Patricia who went and got me pumpkin soup to keep my energy up.

Penny from Scholastic launched my book with the best speech ever. She talked about what poetry does and why they picked the book. Just like me, she loves American poet, Shel Silverstein‘s Where the Sidewalk Ends.

I had picked him in my Top 5 Poetry Books for children for The New Zealand Book Council’s latest Booknotes Unbound.

My launch was special to me as children helped me out.

Emily from Balmoral School read a cat poem, along with Venetia, Lucy, Helen and Ollie from Gladstone School, and Skye, Sultan, Sarah, Lyrix and Toa from Glen Eden Primary School. The cat poems were stunning and the children all read with poise and confidence.

Cornwall Park School had students perform three of my poems and i was so moved at the way they brought the poems to life: ‘At Sea,’ ‘Faces,’ and ‘A Snail Poem.’ They made me smile and laugh out loud! And we all loved the reciting snail sliding across the stage. Oh the funny faces and the wavy sea. Thanks to Colleen and Jane for taking time out of your busy school schedules.

St Kentigern’s School for Girls also astonished me with their performances of ‘The Gargle Bird’ and ‘Rain.’ They made poems make music in the air. I loved the way they used their hands as much as their voices. Wow! Thanks to Judy for her dedication to words and books and creating such terrific recitals.

Myles Lawford, the illustrator, turned up to help me sign books and did cool pictures for everyone. Paper P;lus and Glenfield has some left over signed copies by him!

The Poetry Zone was full of cool activities. There was a poetry picnic, poetry mystery boxes and poetry feel boxes. Children who wrote poems got to read them at the mic! That was pretty amazing. I have posted my favourite poems from the mystery box below.

I was delighted to meet so many poetry fans. It was a splendid day so a big and especial thanks to the wonderful Storylines team. Thank you!

Here is my Family Day Photo Album (some photos are a bit fuzyy but you get the occasion!)

 

 

And here is my favourite poem from the mystery box:

Storylines Poem by Evan (age 11)

A poem ‘about green’

LEAVES falling, spinning down to the
GRASS, covered in fresh morning dew.  A young boy wears green
SHORTS and a loose stripy green
T-SHIRT too.  The sounds of the mountain
KEA squawking very proudly.  Nearby in a green
CREEK an
ALLIGATOR chomps loudly and as the young boy retires to bed
He has sweet dreams about the colour….RED

Juliette MacIver takes the stage at the Vodafone Events Centre

Juliette MacIver is about to go on stage talking about the fabulous toucan that has landed on her head.

I love the way her stories are zimming and zittering with delicious words. Juliette is really great with rhyme and beat so her stories always sound good. This is a story writer who uses her ear.

Google her and discover her fabulous books.

 

Write and tell me about one of her books that you love!

Send to paulajoygreen@gmail.com

Include your name, age, year and name of school.

I might be able to find a book prize for you.

Dear poetry fans

Only two more sleeps until the launch of The Letterbox Cat at Storylines Family Day.

Noon at Aotea Centre on Sunday

Only four more sleeps until I fly to Christchurch to visit schools thanks to The New Zealand Book Council. I am looking forward to meeting Russley School, the South Island winner of The Third Fabulous Poetry Competition.

And you still have time to send in your ‘Our Place’ poems to get a spot to read with me on my Hot Spot Poetry Tour of NZ.

Regards
Paula

My first selfie on Poetry Box

Today Storylines is presenting to South Auckland Schools at the Vodafone Event Centre. I took a selfie with the fabulous audience and one with author Cath Mayo.

It Is fun day.

What I saw outside my window this morning

I am staying in a hotel in the city ready to start my Auckland Storylines Tour. Look what I saw out my window this morning! I am really high up. Almost as high as the Sky Tower. On the other side I can see the shimmering harbour. This is such a treat!

I couldn’t go for my beach run this morning so I swam in the hotel pool. Today I am off to West Auckland schools and will get to meet the three other author/illustrators I am travelling with.

This afternoon I hope to post a new challenge. A challenge close to my heart! I hope to get loads of poems!

I will keep you posted ….. Excuse the pun!

Help crowd fund Storylines Family Days– they have three days to reach their target

This is from Storylines. Can you help? I took my girls to these Family Days for years and now I participate as an author. They are gift!

 

Three days left to boost Storylines Family Days!
The Storylines Festival Family Days are nearly upon us and we have just three days left to reach our crowd-funding target of $10,000.

The Family Days are and always have been free for children and their families. There are now six of them round the country and every year thousands and thousands of New Zealand children get to meet the writers, illustrators and storytellers who are telling our stories right here and now, inspiring them to become eager and engaged readers and writers. You can see the fantastic line-up for each centre in this newsletter.

The thing is, the Family Days cost a lot to run, and Storylines Trust is a charity. This year Storylines is running a crowd-funding campaign to help cover the costs of the Family Days and we’d be over the goodnight moon if you’d join us by making a small donation to the cause. If we don’t make our target we have to refund all the donations to the existing donors.

I know we can do it with your help. Thank you so much to you many wonderful people who have already donated helping us achieve 58% of our target.
Here are some comments from some of our 50 generous donors. What encouraging words…thanks a million!!
Storylines! It has been 21 years of fun; fantasy; fantastic sparking of family joy in books and reading — and it is not over yet! On you go!
Here’s to another great year of Storylines Family Days. I will have grandchildren there for the first time this year. Hooray!
Go Storylines! Keep putting those local authors and illustrators together with children.
A great way to help Storylines keep on firing children’s imaginations.
Best $50 I ever invested!
A great organisation doing a lot to promote children’s literature in New Zealand.

Please help Storylines, every donation, however big or small, helps hugely.
Libby Limbrick (Chair, Storylines Trust)

Donate to Boosted here.