Some of my favourite winter poems will get a LIANZA Book Award notebook woohoo!

Winter has been an extremely popular topic for poem writing. What a lot of poems arrived.  How wonderful for me but it does mean lots of you missed out on being picked to be posted this time. I was especially delighted that some classes sent in bunch of poems (terrific poems from Hillcrest School and Karitane School). It shows how poetry is bubbling away in classrooms.

The poems that really caught my eye and ear had lines that sounded good, real detail and strong images. These things make your mouth water and your ears sing as you read.

Sometimes simplicity is gold in a poem. I have picked these children to send a LIANZA Book Award notebook to: Summer W, Trinity, William S and Emma C.

But you all deserve notebooks to write poems in!

Plus I was so delighted with the huge number of wonderful poems from Hillcrest School ( I could only post a few) I am sending them a copy of my book The Letterbox Cat and other Poems. Thank you!

 
Summer in Winter

As sun burns my face
as snow tickles my toes
I wonder what is life really all about.

Summer W Year 4, age 8 Karitane School

 

The winter art

Frozen blue

With green, pink and blue cascading down

Into the ice

 

Cold white

Once flowing down

Now solid

 

The grey paint

Endlessly traveling

Down a never ending canvas

 

Falling clouds

Never ending

Until light comes

To the painting

Emma C Age: 10  Selwyn House School

 

A Winter Hill

Everyday a winter hill is silent
And it is always winter there
I went to a winter hill once
It was as cold as snow
A winter hill loves it’s home
Animals live on winter hills
Polar beers eat plants that grow
The Winter Hills have secrets!
They do not say to the animals
When the grass dies
The winter hills start to fade
While the grass dies
The winter hills tell the animals
The secrets they have kept.

Trinity Aged 7. St Andrews College. Christchurch

 

Delicate Frost

My eyes shimmer and reflect in the crumbly frost

Little dwarf icicles, rest upon the damp grass

Substance on my feet travels throughout the room

Intense arctic chill, sending an icy storm through my feet

Like a piece of broken glass sitting in my hand

Dew breaks and crumples on the strips of land

Carys F,  Room: 7 Age: 10 Hllcrest Normal School

 

Frozen Frosts

Frozen yoghurt texture, when without sunlight

Rough feeling on my chilled fingers

On different types of nature’s objects

Sugar grain size, all clumped together

Tiny ice hairs, all in a group

Shimmery and slippery underneath my feet

Charlotte H Room: 7  Age: 10 Hillcrest Normal School

 

In the morning

Fierce, Freezing feet

unReasonably cold fingers

bOiling the jug for a hot chocolate

Shiny and crunchy plants

Tinted windows filled with ice

Luca H, Room: 7 Age: 10 Hillcrest Normal School

 

Kiwi winter

Warn heater that seems to attract my dog

In the car drinking hot drinks

No one wants to go outside

Tingling feeling in my nose from the winter frost

Eating a nice warm sausage after a wet game of rugby

Rainy day great for going to the movies

Finlay Shiels Room: 7 Age: 11 Hillcrest Normal School

 

The Blizzard Frost

Frost its frigid

It looks like sodium

Random shaped ice

If you eat it you won’t have a pleasant surprise

A relative of snow

Timothy Y Age 11 Room 7 Hillcrest Normal School

 

Snow

Snow falls during night
Whiter than the rose in the lawn
The children’s delight

Enya O  Age 12 Year 8    Selwyn House School Christchurch

 

Winter

Winter means snow to me
when it falls on top of the bare branch trees
when it drops so slowly from the gray clouds
and sets softly on the ground

Niamh C  Age 11   Selwyn House School Christchurch

 

Winter

Snowflakes are drifting like elegant ballerinas with frost covered trees behind them.
White clouds cover the sky,
the gods are cold.
Children ice-skate across the lake
with their parents…. everyone is happy.
Jenna H Year 4

 

Winter

It’s winter!

Time to dress up

In warm gear

And build a big snowman

Or make snow Egyptians.

First it will be snow Egyptians

Then a big snowman.

Now I will make the snowman.

Two minutes later

I finished the snowman.

One minute later

The snowman melts so

I build a new one.

 By William S  Age: 7 years, St Andrews

 

Negative Temperatures
I wake up to find
condensation lurking
the windows,
blurring the white grass
behind them.

Outside it’s grey
and gloomy,
the temperatures
dipping lower and lower,
layer upon layer
of clothes wrap
around me.

Walking out,
my breath is visible.
Gloves protect my hands,
but my face remains
red and exposed.

The sun resides
behind the clouds,
leaving us
with slippery slopes
and a place
where negatives
are a commonality.

Ewen W aged 12, Year 8, Cobham Intermediate School, Christchurch

 
Snow Fight

Snow and frost covers the fields in a sparkly white blanket
The cows cuddle up in an airtight herd
horses rugged up.
Me and my brother run round the carpark
dogs hot on our heels.
Scraping frost off the windows,
enough for some snow balls.
BANG!  CRASH!  BOOM!
Snowballs fly everywhere
like seagulls dive bombing our heads.
We scamper inside
we look worse than the dogs.
Granny feeds us hot chocolate and toast
then sends us straight to the fire.

Brook H Year 6, age 10 Karitane School

 

Winter

Winter, where are you?
Winter, I do not see you.
I want to see your snow but it’s not here.
Why?
Winter, you are like an ice cream  – as cold as snow
you are like an ice block – as cold as ice.
Can you find a tree and dress it with snow?
Why don’t you come?

Nikki L Year 4, age 8 Karitane School

 

Winter Poem

I stand in the middle of the court
I hear the sea
or is it the wind?
I see the seagull glide in the wind
I feel the rain
I hear the rain

Bella F Year 5, age 9 Karitane School

 

 

 

Poetry Bonanza Monday: winter challenges for our shortest day, the cool LIANZA notebook to giveaway

1. If you vote for the  Children’s Choice books at The NZ Children’s Book Awards you and your school will go into the draw to win some books. A vote for The Letterbox Cat is a vote for Poetry! Voting form here.

2. Don’t forget I am on the hunt for children to pick a NZ author to interview. You pick – I try and set it up for you (class, reading group or an individual). It is a golden opportunity to do something special. paulajoygreen@gmail.com

3. I am on the hunt for children to review NZ books – any genre!   paulajoygreen@gmail.com

 

4. Still time to enter Fourth fabulous Poetry Competition

You send in 12 poems in total from your school  (an age range is an advantage but not essential).

There is no theme.

You can write any kinds of poems you like.

They get sent to The New Zealand Book Council not me.

Only winners will be notified.

Finalists and winners will be posted on the blog and on NZBC web site on Monday August 10th.

You need to send in one entry form with all the details completed.

Each poem must have child’s age, name and year.

Entry Forms here

 

5. I got some really cool notebooks at The LIANZA Children’s Book Awards. I have some to give away for this challenge.

It is the middle of winter, so time to write a winter poem. Remember real detail will make your winter poem sing.

Collect words first using your senses.

Collect things you do and see and eat.

What does it look like out your window in winter?

Does your poem sound good?

 

DEADLINE for your Winter-Poem Challenge: Wednesday July 1st

Send to paulajoygreen@gmail.com. Include your name, year, age and name of school. You can include your teacher’s name and email.

PLEASE say it’s for the Winter-Poem challenge. Put in the subject line of the email please.

I will post my favourites and have cool notebooks for a poet (Year 0 to Year 8).

 

Your winter poems are wintry, windy, wonderful delights– here are some favourites

What a bonanza bunch of winter poems arrived in my email box. Thank you young poets. You made my day with your poetry magnificence. I loved the poems that used great detail to make winter come alive on the page. As I read your poems, it felt like I could not only see winter but also taste it and hear it too. And I loved the ripple of winter activities.

Bravo!

I have picked a few to share with you which means lots of magnificent poems didn’t get posted. They were all so good to read! I have also picked a few children to send a book. I picked children who have not yet received a book from Poetry Box. So some books that I love go to: Jesse (Bravo!), Gina (Reflections of a Solitary Hamster), Charlotte (The Reluctant Little Flower Girl, kindly donated by the author, Melanie Koster), Katy (The Loblolly Boy and the Sorcerer by fabulous Christchurch author, James Norcliffe) and Lottie (a beautiful Beatrix Potter notebook to fill with poems).  I got carried away! I will have to restock my book box.

BTW If you spot a mistake in your poem I can change it for you.

First up a wonderful poem from Poetry Box regular, Daniel.
I love the short lines for this poem and the pictures that grew in my head.

Winter

On a cold day

I put on my snow boots

I am a scary yeti

I leave a trail of giant footprints

 

I walk to school

I am dragon

I have dragon breath

I leave a trail of steamy clouds

 

In the evening

I curl up snuggly beside the fire

I am a cat

Pretending there is no snow

By Daniel, Year 1, age 5, Adventure School, Porirua

 

Second up another Poetry Box regular, Ewen, This fabulous poem reminded me of a skinny wintry tree.  This poem has terrific movement!

Winter

Soaking up

the atmosphere

of winter,

the icy road,

the bare trees,

icy fingers,

icy toes,

the rain

on the road,

the cosy fire,

the sneezes,

the breezes,

the snow.

Ewen W, aged 11, Year 7, Cobham Intermediate School, Christchurch

 

Phoebe’s poem has real atmosphere and you will discover there is something special about it!

As Winter Comes  2010

The days are wet, and cold, and windy.

The nights grow longer and longer.

When the night falls the wind howls

and rain splatters on your window sill.

You know that Winter has come.

 

All snuggled up in bed with hot chocolates,

blankets and hot water bottles.

You know that you are warm and safe

for this night, and another, to come.

Phoebe wrote this poem when she was about 7. But now she is in Year 7 and 11 years old. She goes to Saint Mary’s College in Ponsonby.

 

Benjamin shows acrostic poems can be fun. I love the lines he has chosen– juicy images and juicy words!

Winter

W         Wet and windy Winter

I         In the morning there is icy ice on the grass left by Jack Frost.

N         Nudy trees on the side of the road and in the park.

T         Toasty, warm fire in the lounge at nighttime when it’s cold.

E         Extra blankets on your bed to keep you cosy.

R         Rain making puddles on the ground.

By Benjamin M, Age 8 ½, Year 4, Homeschooled

 

Fendalton School in Christchurch has been busy writing fabulous winter poems with all kinds of moods and detail. I have picked a couple to post but I loved the winteriness of them all!

Winter is everywhere

Leaves are falling,

trees are sleeping

through the long cold winter months.

Frozen lands everywhere.

The sky is grey and sad.

Lottie Mortlock Age 8

 

Winter morning

Snowflakes falling like little stars

Loving families cuddling by the fireplace

Mum’s cooking up little storms

Frozen lakes sparkle in the sunlight

Little ice crystals hanging from trees.

Lily Greenwood Age 8

 

Keeping warm

Squishy snow freezes my bitter feet.

Icy land covers my view of the mountain.

Inside fire flaming

hot cocoa spills over my winter gloves.

I feel it burning through my tingling fingers.

Marshmallows melt in my mouth

hot cocoa hmm… delicious.

Emily Smith Age 8

 

Winter poem

I awake to frost

tingling on the brim of my roof.

Crisp, crunchy ice everywhere.

I dress warmly

to play in the winter snow.

Outside I shake the icy trees

crispy snowflakes fall.

I catch them on my tongue.

They melt in my mouth.

Arnika D Age 8

 

 

Year 5/6 students from Maungatapu Primary in Tauranga have been exploring winter in poetry. They hunted for great words and great detail. All the poems stood out for me (they crackled with winter energy) but here are couple to share.

 

Winter Wonderland

I love winter

All day, funny movies

Sipping hot creamy milky cocoa

in my onezie

slurping up steaming chicken noodles next to the heater

my face a pink glow

Out the misty foggy window white peppermint grass

A howling wind moaning, groaning

 

That’s why I love winter

Kaley G

 

 

Winter

Winter has come again

as the light dies in the freeze

Furious rain drives in

My nights spent sipping

creamy hot chocolate

Watching golden embers

Aroma of hot buns

and pumpkin soup from the kitchen

My mouth waters

The cat sleeps in a ball of fur

purring like an idling car motor

Looking forward to soccer season again

And the game tomorrow

Michael D

 

 

Winter

Snuggled up alongside the fire

Cradling a cup of soup while

Rain pounds against the window

like it wants to grab me

And toss me out into the raging storm

The fire crackling

as the logs tumble down

with a shower of sparks

I take a sip of the warm delicious soup

With the comfort of the fire

feeling secure from the fierce storm outside

Samuel C

 

 

Year 3 and 4 students at Golden Sands School in Papamoa sent in a fabulous bunch of poems that were very wintry and also had little stories running through them. This was a favourite.

 

The wind was howling through the croaky rusty windows

The wind scattered into my bed like a ghost

The wind slowly crept all around the house to make it freezing

The wind quickly dashed upstairs

and that was the storm.

Jesse O Year 3

 

Wind

Wind struck

Massive drops fell from the sky

Smashing against the windows

Rain smashed the concrete

All the dogs in the neighbourhood barked

Wind whacked the tramp over

BANG!

The kennel fell apart

Cooper B Year 3

 

The Stormy Night

The wind whirls around outside

Boom! Boom! the trapdoor banged open and shut.

 

The wind howls like a wolf

in the chilly night.

 

The wind smashes me over with its strength

and doesn’t let me go

Outside the trees brush against the fence.

Max K Year 4

 

Wind War

War!

The wind factory is making cloud ghosts

They’re shooting water bombs at the ripped earth.

 

The flat grass walls shoot trees that wiggle around the grass walls

Like spears protecting Mother Earth.

 

In a school is where war begun

In the school there is a boy who wrote this poem

That boy is me!

Kaleb E Year 4

 

 

From Mangatangi School (near Miranda/ Mangatawhiri)wherethe students shared my poem, ‘White sheep, white sheep,’ and Wordsworth’s cloud poem to inspire them. I loved all the different directions these poems took with clouds. Such a joy to read them all. I have picked two to post that I especially liked.

 

The Cloud

I see a cloud

Looking like a wild horse

Galloping through

The wild wind

Leading a pack of airborne horses

I’m thinking of the freedom

They get, one day I’ll be

Part of that same pack

Of wild horses

Flying and gliding through the

Gina, Aged 10, Year 6

 

Teddy Bear Cloud

I jump in the rainy

From the stormy cloud above,

thunder, booming

wind, howling.

I’m shivering.

I want to go inside.

Thunder’s stopped booming,

wind no longer howling.

I think I’ll stay

outside,

under this teddy bear shaped

Tamara, Aged 10, Year 6

 

 Charlotte has used the senses beautifully to sparkle in her poem.

Senses of Winter

Winter looks like grey clouds, lightening flashing, brown leaves, muddy ground and bare trees.

Winter sounds like rain pattering on the roof, strong winds howling and thunder crashing making our dog bark.

Winter smells like my woolly blanket and clothes all clean after they get washed in Softly.

Winter feels like freezing ice and with the fire lit it feels cosy warm with my blanket too.

Winter tastes like my Mummy’s Chicken Pie with hot Apple Pie and ice cream for dessert.

By Charlotte M Age 5 1/ 2, Year 1 Home-schooled

 

From Ohaupo School some poems that showed how a handful of words can make so much happen in a poem when the words are as carefully chose as these.

Winter

Thunder, lightning

Raining, pouring, freezing

Grey sky,

Deep freezer.

Bodie, Year 7

 

Winter

Winter blows in,

macpac jackets being worn, and umbrellas opening

on a rainy , cold day

with dogs wearing coats, and wood burning.

Sophie, Year 6

 

 

another wwwwwwwwwwwinter challenge for you

If you look out the window or walk down the street

how do you know it’s winter?

Show me winter in a poem with the details

of what you see and hear and feel.

You might like to add an eye-popping simile.

Take a winter poem photo

or  a winter photo poem.

 

 

DEADLINE for your Winter-Poem Challenge: Thursday June 12th

Send to paulajoygreen@gmail.com. Include your name, year, age and name of school. You can include your teacher’s name and email. PLEASE say it’s for the Winter-Poem challenge.

I will post my favourites  and have a book prize for one poet (Year 0 to Year 8).

a winter poem challenge for you bRbRbR BrBrBr

At the weekend I wrote a winter poem and I invited you to do the same.

It is now officially winter. I love winter because there are lots of things I love to do and wear (and eat!) in the cold months—and they are not always gloomy months.

Yesterday was the First of June and I did have a swim in the middle of my beach run and it was cold but it just amazing. Tingling fun.

Go on the hunt for winter words and show me all the things you love about winter. Write a poem without using the word love but show me why winter is special.

Play with the order you put things.

Listen to the sound of each line.

I will give you some more tips tomorrow!

 

DEADLINE for your Winter-Poem Challenge: Thursday June 12th

Send to paulajoygreen@gmail.com. Include your name, year, age and name of school. You can include your teacher’s name and email. PLEASE say it’s for the Winter-Poem challenge.

I will post my favourites and have a book prize for one poet.

 

 

The winners: You not only see but you can hear these winter poems!

Some students in Year Three at St Ignatius Catholic School in Auckland sent in some winter poems, but in a way that surprised me. You get to see what they have written and you also get to hear what they have written. I loved hearing them read aloud. I haven’t picked one winner of the winter-poem competition ….  I have picked the whole class.

Read and hear their   winter poems.

 

Thanks to Scholastic I am sending the class a copy of the wonderful Blue Moon Bird by Sabrina Malcom (2010). Do write and tell us what you think of the book. The language is delicious.

building a winter poem hut — let’s go!

Imagine you are making a hut in winter.

What will it be made of?

What will you take into the hut?

What will you wear?

 

My Winter Hut

My winter hut is made of blocks of ice

and bits of wood and old books.

I have to wear three jumpers

and my red coat to keep warm.

I have a box to sit on.

It is really windy.

I might read one

of the books.

 

You have a go! Send your winter hut poem to paulajoygreen@gmail.com Include your name, age, year and name of school. Include your teacher’s name and email.