1

Years 1 and 2 Poetry Festival List

Contents

Title Page Number

I’ve Got a Dog by Anon 2

Bedtime by Eleanor Farjeon 3

The Coat by Dennis Lee 4

In the Mirror by Elizabeth Fleming 5

The Story of Flying Robert by Heinrich Hoffman 6

Sugarcake Bubble by Grace Nichols 7

Zing! Whizz! Ping! by Cynthia Rider 8

At the Funfair by John Rice 9

O Witches and Wizards by Cynthia Mitchell 10

Catch Me the Moon, Daddy by Gregor Vitez 11

The Bubble Gum Competition by Richard Edwards 12

I’m a Freezy-Wheezy Snowman by Kaye Umansky 13

Necks Time by David Whitehead 14

Knick Knack by John Kitching 15

Going Swimming by Alison Chisholm 16

Cake-O-Saurus by Celia Warren 17

Sounds Good! by Judith Nicholls 18

My Grannies by June Crebbin 19

Rickety Train Ride by Tony Mitton 20

Cats by Eleanor Farjeon 21

2

I’ve Got a Dog by Anon

I’ve got a dog as thin as a rail,

He’s got fleas all over his tail;

Every time his tail goes flop,

The fleas on the bottom all hop to the top.

3

Bedtime by Eleanor Farjeon

Five minutes, five minutes more, please!

Let me stay five minutes more!

Can’t I just finish the castle

I’m building here on the floor?

Can’t I just finish the story

I’m reading here in my book?

Can’t I just finish this bead-chain –

It is almost finished, look!

Can’t I just finish this game, please?

When a game’s once begun

It’s a pity never to find out

Whether you’ve lost or won.

Can’t I just stay five minutes?

Well, can’t I stay just four?

Three minutes, then? Two minutes?

Can’t I stay one minute more?

4

The Coat by Dennis Lee

I patched my coat with sunlight.

It lasted for a day.

I patched my coat with moonlight,

But the lining came away.

I patched my coat with lightning

And it flew off in a storm

I patched my coat with darkness:

That coat has kept me warm.

5

In the Mirror by Elizabeth Fleming

In the mirror

On the wall,

There’s a face

I always see;

Round and pink,

And rather small,

Looking back again

At me.

It is very

Rude to stare,

But she never

Thinks of that,

For her eyes are

Always there;

What can she be

Looking at?

6

The Story of Flying Robert by Heinrich Hoffman

When the rain come tumbling down

In the country or the town,

All good little girls and boys

Stay at home and mind their toys.

Robert thought – “No, when it pours,

It is better out of doors.”

Rain it did, and in a minute

Bob was in it.

What a wind! Oh! How it whistles

Through the trees and flowers and thistles!

It has caught his red umbrella;

It has caught him, silly fellow;

Up he flies

To the skies.

No one heard his screams and cries,

Through the clouds the rude wind bore him,

And his hat flew on before him.

Soon they got to such a height,

They were nearly out of sight!

And the hat went up so high,

That it really touched the sky.

No one ever yet could tell

Where they stopped, or where they fell:

Only, this one thing is plain,

Bob was never seen again!

7

Sugarcake Bubble by Grace Nichols

Sugarcake, sugarcake

Bubbling in a pot

Bubble, bubble sugarcake

Bubble thick and hot.

Sugarcake, sugarcake

Spice and coconut

Sweet and sticky

Brown and gooey.

I could eat the lot.

8

Zing! Whizz! Ping! by Cynthia Rider

Zing, whizz, ping,

Goes the popcorn in the pan.

Zing, whizz, ping,

Try and catch me, if you can.

Zing, whizz, ping,

Watch me hopping in the air.

Zing, whizz, ping,

You can eat me, if you dare.

But I’ll make your tummy sing

With a zing, whizz, ping!

9

At the Funfair by John Rice

I rode on the roller coaster,

I thought it would never stop.

It was scary and very exciting

especially right at the top.

The houses and shops looked like Lego,

below me were small coloured cars.

The thrills and the spills of the funfair

made me dizzy as wandering stars!

10

O Witches and Wizards by Cynthia Mitchell

O witches and wizards, where have you been?

We’ve been to a party for old Hallowe’en.

A Hallowe’en party! O what did you eat?

Spiced turnip lanterns and hot cauldron treat.

And after the eating what games did you play?

Old Spells, Hokey-Pokey, and Scare-Them-Away.

And after the game did you all dance together?

We danced like the North wind in rough, stormy weather.

O witches and wizards, what else did you do?

Ah, that is our secret. We cannot tell you.

11

Catch Me the Moon, Daddy by Gregor Vitez

Catch me the moon, Daddy,

Let it shine near me for a while,

Catch me the moon, Daddy,

I want to touch its smile.

The moon must shine from high above;

That’s where it needs to stay

Among the stars, to guide them home

When they return from play.

So the bunny can find his supper,

So the mouse can scamper free,

So the hedgehog can make his forays,

So the birds can sleep in the tree.

And as for you, my child,

With slender sliver thread

The moon will weave sweet dreams, so you

May slumber in your bed.

12

The Bubble Gum Competition by Richard Edwards

Billy blew a bubble,

Wanda blew one wider,

Babs breathed in instead of out –

Her bubble burst inside her.

“Right, watch me!” said Archie,

And he blew and blew and blew

And blew and blew a whopper,

And it grew and grew and grew

But grew too big, too powerful,

And you should have seen his face,

When the bubble lifted Archie

Off the earth and into space!

13

I’m a Freezy-Wheezy Snowman by Kaye Umansky

I’m a freezy-wheezy snowman,

Will you warm me with a cuddle?

Oh, dear! I think I’m melting,

And now I’m…just…a…puddle.

14

Necks Time by David Whitehead

I’m rather sorry for giraffes.

At bedtime when they take their baths

To wash their ears takes just two secs,

But it takes ten minutes to wash their necks!

15

Knick Knack by John Kitching

Knick Knack Paddywhack

Rolling stone.

I saw a dog with a mobile phone.

He was wag, wag, wagging

His long, black tail,

So I knew right then

That he had some mail.

Knick Knack Paddywhack

Rolling stone.

I saw a dog with a mobile phone.

16

Going Swimming by Alison Chisholm

Kick off your shoes, pull off your clothes,

The pool smell tingles up your nose.

That shower is freezing – shiver, shout –

Leap in the water, splash about.

Doggy paddle, slip and slop,

Jump and dive and belly flop.

Splosh the breaststroke, plunge the crawl,

Float on your back, and throw a ball.

Before you know an hour’s gone by –

Another shower – a brisk rub dry.

And then the best part of the treat –

A bag of fish and chips to eat.

17

Cake-O-Saurus by Celia Warren

Why don’t we bake

a dinosaur cake

and call it Munchosaurus:

Give it horns

of ice-cream cones

and call it Crunchosaurus.

Why don’t we bake

a dinosaur cake

and call it Stickosaurus:

Add gingernut eyes

and buttercream thighs

and call it Bickisaurus.

Why don’t we bake

a dinosaur cake

and call it whatever we think:

Then let it cool

and eat it all

until it is extinct.

18

Sounds Good! by Judith Nicholls

Sausage sizzles,

crispbreads crack;

hot dogs hiss

and flapjacks snap!

Bacon boils

and fritters fry;

apples squelch

in apple pie.

Baked beans bubble,

gravy grumbles;

popcorn pops,

and stomach rumbles…

I’M HUNGRY!

19

My Grannies by June Crebbin

I hate it, in the holiday,

When Grandma brings her pets to stay –

Her goat, her pig, her seven rats

Scare our dog and chase our cats.

Her budgies bite, her parrots shout –

And guess who has to clean them out?

My other Gran, the one I like,

Always brings her motor-bike,

And when she takes me for a ride

To picnic in the countryside,

We zoom up hills and whizz round bends –

I hate it when her visit ends!

20

Rickety Train Ride by Tony Mitton

I’m taking the train to Ricketywick.

Clickety clickety clack.

I’m sat in my seat

with a sandwich to eat

as I travel the trickety track.

It’s an ever so rickety trickety train,

and I honestly thinkety think

that before it arrives

at the end of the line

it will tip up my drinkety drink.

21

Cats by Eleanor Farjeon

Cats sleep

Anywhere,

Any table,

Any chair,

Top of piano,

Window-ledge,

In the middle,

On the edge,

Open drawer,

Empty shoe,

Anybody’s

Lap will do,

Fitted in a

Cardboard box,

In the cupboard

With your frocks –

Anywhere!

They don’t care!

Cats sleep

Anywhere.