Tag: poetry

Posted in authors, illustrator, teachers' resources

2024 Young Readers Day Out at State Library of WA!

Posted on by Alphabet Soup
A flyer for the Event

If you live near Perth, WA, make sure you’re at the State Library of WA on 17 November for the 2024 Young Readers Day Out!

Meet some of WA’s most well-known children’s book authors and illustrators for a morning packed with activities, including:
• Helping illustrators compete in an interactive illustration duel
• Learning how to draw your favourite book characters
• Peeking behind-the-scenes to find out how these stories come to life
• Meeting and chatting with twelve children’s book authors and illustrators.

This event is suitable for book-lovers of all ages, but perfect for ages 0-12. All children must be accompanied by an adult.

Meet these amazing book creators:
Rebecca M. Newman
Kelly Canby
Sharon Giltrow
Ash Harrier
Steve Heron
Laura Holloway
Lorraine Horsley
Kylie Howarth
Chenée Marrapodi
Jevita Nilson
Kristy Nita Brown
Renae Hayward

Cost: $20 + booking fee

Each ticket includes:
• Entry for up to 6 people
• 1 x $20 voucher at the Boffins Books pop-up shop on the day
• Gift bag with bookmarks, colouring-in sheets and more

Date:
Sunday, 17 November 2024, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Venue:
State Library of WA @statelibrarywa

Bookings essential via Trybooking.

A poster showing four of the presenters
A poster showing four of the presenters
A poster showing four of the presenters
Posted in Book reviews by kids

Book review: Right Way Down and Other Poems

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

REVIEWED BY CLASS 4K AT GREAT SOUTHERN GRAMMAR, WA

Right Way Down and Other Poems, edited by Rebecca M. Newman & Sally Murphy, illustrated by Briony Stewart, Fremantle Press, ISBN 9781760993429

Alphabet Soup is a co-publisher of this book and provided a review copy.

Right Way Down and Other Poems is a great book filled with fun and awesome poems. Each poem tells a little story that makes you think. Some even make you laugh out loud.

The poems voted as our favourites were:

  1. ‘How to be a Dragon Egg’ by Rebecca Newman – This poem made you feel that you were the dragon in that egg.
  2. ‘Right Way Down‘ by Sally Murphy – The front cover is such a good design and we had fun reading this poem upside down.
  3. ‘Rain!‘ – When we read this poem in class, it was raining, and the poem put words to what we were hearing.

Why It’s Great: The poems are easy to read and have a nice rhythm, so they sound good when you read them out loud and even to yourself. The words are simple but create vivid pictures in your mind.

Pictures: The book has lots of black and white drawings that don’t overshadow the poem and still lets you create your own pictures when reading the poem. 

Overall: Right Way Down and Other Poems is a fantastic book for kids and adults. It’s great reading  for those spare couple of minutes you find in your day. If you love great poems, you’ll really love this book!

Right Way Down and Other Poems is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookshop or local library.

Take a sneak peek inside the book

Download the Teachers’ Notes

Download an activity sheet to write your own poem!

Right Way Down and Other Poems, edited by Rebecca M Newman and Sally Murphy

This is the first ever book review from Class 4K at Great Southern Grammar. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Posted in authors

Children’s Books at Perth Festival

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

Rebecca M. Newman, Alphabet Soup’s managing editor and the co-editor of Right Way Down and Other Poems, will be at the Perth Festival Writers Weekend on Saturday 24 February 2024. You can catch Rebecca at two sessions.

For adults:

Presenters on the ‘Telling Tales’ panel at the 2024 Perth Festival Writers Weekend.
Presenters on the ‘Telling Tales’ panel at the 2024 Perth Festival Writers Weekend.
'Telling Tales' (panel session, 45 mins).
10am, 24 February 2024 at the State Library of WA. 
Price: Pay what you can. Suggested price, $24. Book tickets here!
Presented in association with Writing WA.

The creative minds of James Foley (Secret Agent Mole), Kylie Howarth (Crocs Stole My Socks) and Rebecca M Newman (Right Way Down) come together for an exhilarating conversation hosted by Writing WA Chair Lesley Reece AM. Join these writers and illustrators as they delve into the secrets of crafting engaging stories for young minds and celebrate the wonders of storytelling.

For children:

A flyer with two book covers and the text: Story Time with Tracey Dembo and Rebecca M Newman
Join Tracey Dembo & Rebecca M Newman for a live reading session at the State Library of WA
'Story Time with Tracey Dembo & Rebecca M. Newman'. (50 mins)
11am, 24 February 2024, Education Centre, State Library of WA.
Price: 'pay what you can' (even $0) but you will need to book to secure a spot. 
Book tickets here!
Presented in association with Writing WA.

Tracey Dembo and Rebecca M. Newman combine their picture book and poetry forces to bring you an exciting one hour live reading session for kids! This session is going to have everything from time machines to rockets, cricket, shoelaces, the alphabet, and dragon eggs.

View the full Writers Weekend festival program here.

See you at the library!

Posted in Book reviews by kids

Book review: It’s the Sound of the Thing

Posted on by Alphabet Soup
The cover of It's the Sound of the Thing by Maxine Beneba Clarke

It’s the Sound of the Thing by Maxine Beneba Clarke, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing, ISBN 9781761212123

REVIEWED BY NINA, 10, NSW. Nina received a review copy of this book.

Maxine Beneba Clarke’s book It’s the Sound of the Thing is a stunning collection of 100 poems that features limericks, haikus, sonnets, tongue twisters, funny poems, serious poems any type of poem you could think of. The ideas for the poems are creative and fantastic! They are about all sorts of things (a messy room, your grannies dancing, phones, teenagers and more).

Good for readers of all ages but best suited for ages 8-12 years old. It makes you wonder what type of poem will come next.

I personally rate this book 10/10. I would highly recommend reading it. 

This is Nina’s first book review for Alphabet Soup. To send us YOUR book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy reading!

Posted in poetry, Soup Blog Poetry Festival

The return of Alphabet Soup’s Poetry Festival!

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

Last year we held our first ever Poetry Festival, right here on the website. Hold onto your hats — it’s back! From 25 October when you visit our website you’ll find interviews, book reviews, tips and hints, interesting links, giveaways and of course … poems! (October is also our birthday month — what a fabulous month to celebrate poetry.)

And here’s a cheery poster to make it look official:

Poetry Festival

Posted in Soup Blog Poetry Festival

Tuesday Challenge – a 5-senses poem

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

autumn leavesToday’s challenge is to write a 5-line poem using your five senses — sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch. You might like to write a poem describing apples, a season, or your favourite colour (or your least favourite colour!).

—

Here’s one our editor (Rebecca) wrote:

Autumn is orange, red and brown

It sounds like rice bubbles for breakfast

It tastes like apple pie

It smells like freshly dug earth

It feels like skipping into the wind

Perhaps you could write a 5-senses poem about a feeling or an idea. (Check out some interesting Senses Poems here.)

We’d love to read your 5-senses poems — if it’s OK with your parents or teacher, post yours in the comments below!

Posted in poetry, teachers' resources

Free poetry workshops in Fremantle, WA

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

Who writes poetry these days? Aren’t poets just dead guys from the nineteenth century?

There are talented local poets, young and old, reading, writing and publishing their poetry right now – and you can meet them! Get stuck into writing your own poetry with Western Australian poets Caroline Caddy, Scott-Patrick Mitchell, J.P Quinton and A.J. Betts.

Age: Suitable for writers 12 years and up with a genuine interest in writing and an aptitude for creativity.
Where: Fremantle Children’s Literature Centre
When: Monday 26 July 2010. Morning workshop: 10:00-11:30am or Afternoon workshop: 12:30-2:00pm

Book now – places are limited!

Poetry collection available for purchase at the workshop ($24.95 each) – get it signed by a poet! Teachers must accompany students, and can count the session as professional development for WACOT.

For more info, email: admin@fremantlepress.com.au or phone: 08 9430 6331

Posted in poetry, teachers' resources

A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

As we mentioned earlier, April is National Poetry Month in the US, and we’ve borrowed the idea because we rather like poetry. Later in the week we hope to have a real live poet visiting the blog, so be sure to check back!

In the meantime, here is a fantastic book by Paul B. Janeczko (illustrated by Chris Raschka).

A Kick in the Head (cover)

This book is a collection of poems with a brief explanation about the rules for each form included. 29 forms are covered – some of them are ones you might already recognise, like Haiku, Tanka, Cinquain, Villanelle and List Poem. Perhaps you can find a copy of A Kick in the Head at your library. Be inspired to write your own poem, and then you can carry it around with you on Thursday for Poem In Your Pocket Day! (Or leave a short poem in our comments, and we’ll pretend it’s an online pocket!)

Here’s a couplet I wrote after reading A Kick in the Head:

I wish that it were chocolate cake –
but CAULIFLOWER is in to bake.*

*Actually, I love cauliflower cheese. It’s just that sometimes I’d rather have cake …

This book was selected for review from the Editor’s own collection.