Hello! It’s a bit of a a wet start to February. But let’s forget about that. 2026 Is the NATIONAL YEAR OF READING! and coming up at the beginning of March we also have WORLD BOOK DAY! What a wonderful year! Here are a few poems to celebrate the joy of reading. And don’t forget that libraries are full of books that you can take home and read for free!
WHY BOOKS ARE GREAT
In children’s corner
books await,
their pages are rustling –
don’t hesitate –
***
open them up
and inside you’ll find,
stories and poems
to fill up your mind.
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Words and pictures
to thrill and enthral.
So many different
subjects for all.
***
Stories and fact books,
History or crime.
Tales of the future.
Tales of past times.
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Books can be full
of imagination.
The ideas and dreams
of an author’s creation.
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So, go on, be curious,
take a book from the shelf.
Ask someone to read it,
or read it yourself.
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WORLD BOOK DAY?
(from my Poetry Collection: A Classroom of Stars)
Who shall I go as?
What will I be?
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Maybe a Tiger
who’s hungry for tea?
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Harry Potter? Hermione?
The Cat in the Hat?
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A Snail, or a Whale?
Or Ratine the rat?
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Stickman? A Gruffalo?
The Witch from the West?
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A Wild Thing? A Pig?
Oh, what will be best?
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Maybe Jane Austen?
Will Shakespeare would do.
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Michael Morpurgo?
Or Winnie the Pooh?
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Peter Rabbit, or Alice.
Toy Story – which toy?
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A bear? A caterpillar?
Billionaire Boy.
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Who shall I go as?
Please help me decide.
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I just cannot choose
the book lover cried.
***
World Book Day is driving me
right round the bend!
***
By the time I’ve decided
World Book Day will end!
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AND HERE’S AN OUT OF THIS WORLD IDEA…
WORD SPACE
When twilight darkens up the day,
and brings us night time fun.
***
When evening light comes out to play
as the moon outshines the sun.
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When the sky above is gleaming
down with planets, moon and stars,
***
I wonder, does a Martian see
my bedroom light from Mars?
***
I wonder, can they see the book
I’m reading in my bed?
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Perhaps they nod and say,
now that’s a book I’ve already read?
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And if that’s true, I wonder do
words go to space and float?
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To be captured in a space net
from an interstellar boat?
**
Words from all the cosmos,
not just words from earth –
***
words from every life form
that exists in the universe.
***
I wonder, does a space scribe
pen never-ending tales?
***
Does a universal bookshop
tour the cosmos for its sales?
***
I wish I was on a mission,
sent up to have a look
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because, I think the universe
could write the perfect book.
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AND HERE IS A POEM ABOUT THE JOY OF READING
THE WORLD IN MY CHAIR
(from my poetry collection: A Classroom of Stars)
Whenever I can
I curl up in my chair,
Then the magic begins.
I can go anywhere.
***
I don’t need a ticket
A train or a car,
My journey is different
So near, yet so far.
***
I don’t have to travel
I just have to look
At the words and the pages,
Inside my book.
***
The author will take me
Wherever they go.
Through pages and chapters,
the magic will grow.
***
I might be a tiger
Afloat in a boat,
Or a knight, from a castle,
Crossing a moat.
***
I might be an agent
Solving big crimes.
Or a King or a Queen
From far away times.
***
I can go anywhere,
I can be anyone,
That’s why reading books
Is SO MUCH FUN!
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