The Interactive Grandad

by David Blackburn

Having been a teacher of English and drama for many years, I have often had to teach poetry. Sometimes this was on a quite sophisticated level to students preparing for university entry. On other occasions, it was to eleven year olds, where the very word ‘poetry’ can have the habit of sending some youngsters into a deep sigh! That’s where you read them the poem, Baby’s Epitaph' to them. If it does nothing else, it proves that poetry can be great fun! For ten years I was closely involved with a primary school in the English West Midlands, where I was Chair of Governors, and one of my joys was to go in and work with the older classes on poetry. That is where these nonsense and humorous verses come in. They were written specifically with children in mind, and deal with the absurd, the fanciful, the fantastical and the bizarre. You will meet goats in space; the Fluffins; a very unusual football player; favourite Uncles who never do what grown ups are supposed to; tongue-twisters that are guaranteed to knock out all your teeth! – and so the list goes on. These verses always went down well in school, and often the youngsters would be rolling about in their seats when we were reading them. I hope you enjoy reading them – especially to children!
David Blackburn

64 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 4, 2013