poetry, Young Writers in Action

Young writers in action: Beach pollution

BEACH POLLUTION
Anishka, 7, QLD

The beach I used to go,
Always showed me fantastic show.
The fishes splashed, the dolphins dashed,
Nature is always at its best.
The days passed,
Now, it has all gone and faded.
No more ice-cream,
Not even a cone,
No more fishes,
Not even a dolphin.
Not anything to be seen,
Not anything to be so keen.
I think, we changed sea’s face,
And made this beach a mess.
It is now full of sea weed,
I picked it all for a good deed.

A hand stretched out to the sea. image courtesy pexels.com

 


Anishka is a regular contributor to Alphabet Soup — you can read all her earlier work here.

Young Writers in Action

Young writers in action: Fishing

FISHING
A first play by Gabriel, 6, NSW

Footprints in beach Sand (photo courtesy of pexels.com)[Setting: At the beach]

Dad: Let’s get fishing on the beach.

Josh: OK, Dad.

Gabe: OK, Dad. Dad, can I dig a channel from the water to the sand so the fish can swim in?

Dad: Yes, you can.

Gabe: Thank you. [Gabriel starts digging.] Dad, I caught no fish!

Dad: That means you need to make it longer, Gabe.

Gabe: OK. But I am tired and hungry.

Josh: Me too.

Dad: OK, let’s go home.

Gabe: But let’s keep on fishing for one more minute.

Josh and Dad : [sadly] OK

Gabe: I think you have got a fish, Dad.

Dad: Yes, I have. I will throw it back into the water.

Gabe: Dad, why did you throw it into my channel? But thank you, because it is mine now!

THE END


Gabriel is a regular contributer to Alphabet Soup. You can read some of his earlier work here. If YOU would like to send us a story, drawing, poem, or book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy writing!

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authors, illustrator, Pass the Book Baton

Pass the book baton: Kylie Howarth

PASS THE BOOK BATON

It’s Friday! And that means it’s time for Pass the Book Baton. Every week Alphabet Soup features a book creator who will answer one question before throwing a new question to the next Friday visitor. (It’s kind of like a book relay in slow motion.)

Today the book baton is passed to picture book author and illustrator, Kylie Howarth. Kylie’s books have been published in Australia, New Zealand, France and the USA. She grew up in the country with a dog, sheep, orphaned kangaroos and even an echidna.

Last week Geoff Havel asked:
How much of your love of stories and your ability to write them comes from your own childhood on a farm and how much comes from being surrounded by children now?

Kylie Howarth answers:
I do draw from my own childhood and now more than ever appreciate all the experiences my parents gave me. Not every kid had pet kangaroos or spent a year traveling around Australia. As a child I loved drawing and have always been fond of animals and the beach, which are both reoccurring themes in my books.

That being said I am now focused on creating stories that my children love. Their interests and personalities are definitely the biggest inspiration for my work. They contribute so much to my books too as I am constantly tweaking text and layouts based on their reactions and feedback. We also create paintings together in our backyard art sessions, which I then scan and use as textures in my illustrations.

For more info about Kylie Howarth and her books (and colouring sheets and craft activities), visit www.kyliehowarth.com


Celebrating Australia: a year in poetry (cover)And now Kylie Howarth passes the baton to the next Friday visitor — Lorraine Marwood. Lorraine is an award-winning children’s author and poet. Her most recent poetry collection is Celebrating Australia: A Year in Poetry.

Kylie asks:
“Which of your poems or books means the most to you?”
..
Check in every Friday for questions and answers from children’s authors and illustrators.
 ..
See you next week!

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