I write poems for primary school children, encouraging a love of language and storytelling, on a wide range of themes: mythical characters, space probes, history, feminism, feelings, poetic form, school, friendship, animals… You can watch me performing some of these on the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education’s fantastic Poetryline website.

 

My poems are featured in children’s poetry anthologies from Macmillan, Otter-Barry Books, and Nosy Crow, as well as comprehension text books from Bloomsbury and Schofield & Sims. Recent anthology publications include And Everything Will be Glad to See You (Nosy Crow, 2022) and a week’s worth of poems in The Big Amazing Poetry Book (Macmillan, 2022).

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I am the author of the Brown Bear Wood series, published by Magic Cat and illustrated by Freya Hartas. The first book, If You Go Down to the Woods Today, was published in 2021. It’s a sumptuously illustrated search-and-find poetry book, exploring a magical woodland world through the four seasons, with poems to read and things to spot. It was featured in The Bookseller, was a Sunday Times Children’s Book of the Week, and received a prestigious Kirkus starred review. The second book in the series, Grand Old Oak and the Birthday Ball, came out in 2023 and tells the story of a surprise party to celebrate Oak’s 500th birthday. The series also includes board books, jigsaw puzzles and other activities.

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I have co-edited three poetry anthologies for children with the Emma Press: Falling Out of the Sky: Poems about Myths and Monsters (2015, shortlisted for the CLPE’s children's poetry award), Watcher of the Skies: Poems about Space and Aliens (2016) and The Head that Wears a Crown: Poems about Kings and Queens (2018).

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I am the editor of Tyger Tyger Magazine, an online journal of poems for children, which publishes 12 new poems on a shared theme once a term..I’m a member of the Children’s Poetry Summit and contribute to their brilliant blog. I have also taught writing courses on children’s poetry for The Poetry School.

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I regularly perform at schools all around the country and can tailor a performance and/or workshops to your requirements. Please contact me for further details.

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