Author Archives: australianchildrenspoetry
“ Boo-book Week” by Louise McCarthy
Leave a comment
“Boo-book week!” hooted the boobook owl,
Last night from half past two.
“Boo-book, boo-book, boo-book week.”
It hooted as it flew.
And on and on until the dawn,
When suddenly it quit.
Then “Cock-a-doodle-doodle-do!” the rooster crowed a bit.
Followed by, “Bok bawk! Bok bawk!
Bok bawk, bok bawk, bok BOOK week!
The hens clucked on, they did not cease –
All day, bok bawk, bok BOOK week!
So that is how I know,
That this week is boo-book week.
Or as the hens prefer to say –
Bok bawk, bok bawk, bok BOOK week
“Make reading your secret power” by James Aitchison
Leave a commentMake reading your secret power
Wimpy Kid and Winnie the Pooh,
Harry Potter, Peter Rabbit,
Ranger’s Apprentice and Dr Who
All give you the reading habit.
The words form pictures in your mind —
Just read a book and find out how!
You will never get left behind
When reading’s your secret power!
“Evolving Books” by Toni Newell
Leave a commentEvolving Books
When I was very young,
My mother read to me,
And I met ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’,
And young ‘Heidi’,
Then there was ‘Charlotte’,
And ‘Koala Lou’,
‘Thomas the Tank Engine’,
And the ‘Gruffalo’.
When I was a little older,
And had learned how to read,
I met Enid Blyton,
Her ‘Famous Five’, I believe,
And later it was science,
And then literature galore,
Biology and math equations,
History, art, and even more.
And later in my life,
When the decision was mine,
I embraced murder mysteries,
Biographies and crime.
There is so much to choose from,
And so very much to learn,
But with technical evolution,
Let’s pray our books don’t burn.
”Reading Is My Secret Power” by Kylie Covark
Leave a comment
Psst!
I’ve got special powers!
Do you promise not to tell?
My powers are a secret;
Lean in and listen well.
I can open any door,
And answer any, ‘Why?’
I can travel back
In time and space,
And sometimes even fly.
I’ve got every super power
That a kid could ever need.
And you can have them too,
My friend,
If you just sit and read
”Book Week” by Julie Cahill
Leave a commentBook Week
Book Week comes and Book Week goes
To keep us on our tippy toes
Wondering what we all should wear?
Make-up, perfume, curly hair?
The theme’s diverse on stories read
Let me see, I’ll think in bed
I’ll tie my thinking cap up tight . . .
And stay awake for half the night
‘Harry Potter,’ he’s the guy
But Harrys will already fly
Into classrooms; out of books
Giving teachers cheeky looks
The Grinch – now he would make a scene
I’ll paint my face all slimy green
On second thoughts, maybe not
I’d end up like some slimy snot
How about a super Hero?
Batman, Spidy, to stir the marrow
But then again I am a girl
so feminine could take a whirl
Cinderella, Tinker Bell
Elsa, Anna, Rapunzel
Hey, I could grow my hair . . .
Not when we are almost there
Perhaps I’ll give the thought a miss
Write a story; use a twist
Yes, I know now who I’ll be
Here I come as crafty me
“Shine Moon” by Andrew Carter
Leave a commentShine Moon
Rats race to the moon for the biggest piece of cheese
Fat rats fly on upward on a perilous lunar mission
Flying on rocketing clouds – their tails stiff in the breeze
They no not what will come of their loony decision.
Earth’s plagued by starving rats begging food to eat
A fragile globe is spoiled – killed for meat of beasts.
Ratus ratus moves to the moon in a rocket ship fleet
Hoping science will provide more than cheese for feasts.
…
Only one man lives on the moon – one Mister Scribbly Dibbler
He plays a mystery moony tune – on a silvery harmonica
Snorts some moonshine whiskey; what a rhymey riddler
His origins remembered from forbears in Thessalonica.
Mr Scribble scribbles a riddle deep inside a crater –
Isn’t science fun? Will we see you later?
“Moon Theory” by Louise McCarthy
Leave a comment
Before I’d heard,
Before I knew,
That the moon was far away –
Too far to get to in one day,
“Impossible!” I heard you say –
I had thought,
Before I knew –
(I was ready to explore)
That I would fetch a piece of moon,
And keep it to adore.
You see I’d noticed, very often,
Or at least I’d understood,
Others must have done the same,
And so I thought I could –
Piece by piece they’d take it down,
Then build it up again,
Then take it down and build it up –
Again and again and again.
“Moon-talk” by Katherine Gallagher
Leave a commentMoon-talk
Moon, creamy white stone,
precious . . . Stick with the legends –
better at a distance.
My litany could go on –
I don’t want to visit,
take a machine-ride against gravity
brain-open.
But if I change my mind
Moon won’t have any
say in it.
©Katherine Gallagher
(Published in The Eye’s Circle, Rigmarole Press)
Australian Children’s Poetry 