Caryl Hart, Children’s Author

Last week I spent a very happy day with some children at The Children's Hospital, Sheffield.   We had a great time making rhyme machines, and rhino mobiles and making up rhymes.  The hospital has a number of amazing classrooms, to help children keep up with their schoolwork while they are receiving treatment.  The staff are amazing as are the children, so I can't wait for my next session in a couple of weeks' time.

Thanks go to Decathlon, for giving me a trolley to cart my stuff around with, and to John Lewis for donating some lovely ribbons and bibbons and sparkly stuff.

Don't Dip Your Chips in Your Drink, Kate! was officially launched on Thursday 22nd October at Sheffield Central Children's Library.  Check out my website to see what we got up to! 

Oh, and sorry, we've eaten all the cake and didn't save you any!

http://www.take2theweb.com/pub/litton/ca/af.html

We're getting ready for Hallowe'en, so here is a funny rhyme to get you in the mood.

Vampire Fred

When Freddy the vampire went shopping
The shopkeeper said, "You look ill."
Fred rolled his red eyes
Saying, "I'm not surprised"
"Just look at the size of this bill"

To read the rest, go to the Kids' Club here and follow the links:
http://www.take2theweb.com/pub/litton/ca/i.html

Check out my new Kids' Club
You can read each other's poems, make a rhyme machine and find some great links too.

http://www.take2theweb.com/pub/litton/ca/i.html

Go on!  It's FUN!!

Visit the National Poetry Society website, and you can knit yourself a poem!
Simply type your poem in, and it will appear in knitted squares before your eyes!

Top tip.  Write one line at a time in the box, then do two paragraph returns.  This gives a good space between lines.
Have fun!

http://www.poetrysociety.org.uk/content/knit/knitgame/

There are bats in my attic
And I know they are there
Sleeping in the darkness
Of their little batty lair

When I go to bed at bed time
I hear them squeak and fly
Then go down stairs to tell my dad
But he thinks it's a lie

I found my old rope ladder
And attached it to the sill
Then I opened up the little door
And felt an icy chill

I smelled a sickly stench
Of wee, and poo and mice
I smelled a horrid smell
That didn't smell that nice

It smelled of rotten eggshells
Of cabbages and loos
It smelled of something nasty
That I think was sloppy poos

There are bats in my attic
And I know they are there
Sleeping in the darkness
Of their little batty lair.

Well done Jess, what a fantastic poem!

I wrote this poem because my daughter swears she heard bats above her ceiling in the night.  Bats are very very special because they are so rare and clever.  If you have bats in your attic make sure you take good care of them. 

There are bats up in our attic
I can hear their flapping wings
When I'm lying in my bed at night
Thinking ghostly things

My mum says it's just squirrels
My dad says its a bird
But I know the truth, it's bats alright
Cos this is what I've heard.

Flap flap
Squeak squeak
Rustle, scrabble, plop
I dread to think what kind of stuff
Those little batties drop.

The attic must be covered
In their little batty pellets
They're piling up above my head
I'm surprised no one can smell it

Today I found a ladder
And climbed up in the loft
To try and see their silky wings
And downy fur so soft

I saw their great enormous ears
And little mousy faces
As they dangled in a tidy line
Snoring in their places

Yes, there's bats up in my attic
They're tiny and they're rare
And it isn't true that flying bats
Get tangled in your hair

For bats are very clever
They can see their way around
Not with their eyes like we do
But by making tiny sounds

While I'm at school, they sleep and sleep
Cozy in our loft
Then fly around at night time
Catching bugs and moths

So I'm happy as I lie in bed
With the covers pulled up tight
Chattering with my special friends
In the middle of the night.

Andrew's Batty Poem:

Bats Bats
They wear big hats
The don't like cats
That sit on mats

Kseniya Simonova is a Ukrainian artist who just won Ukraine's version of "America's Got Talent." She uses a giant light box, dramatic music, imagination and "sand painting" skills to interpret Germany's invasion and occupation of Ukraine during WWII.

There's a spider in my bedroom
Its legs are long and hairy
Its sitting just above the door
Looking mean and scary
 
I' d call my mum to help me
But she won't be any use
she's just as scared as I am
when a spider's on the loose

My dad is not much better
He'd poke it with a broom
Then the spider would just run and hide
Somewhere in my room