What is your favourite primary school age suitable poem?

[nowwearefour]

dd1 has to learn one by heart over half term and perform it afterwards. Any recommendations welcome!

Thanks

Ogden Nash is great for kids. I would say the pig but probably too short so
The Germ
A mighty creature is the germ
though smaller than the pachyderm.
his cutomary dwelling place
is deep within the human race.
His childish pride he often pleases
by giving people strange diseases.
Do you my poppet feel infirm?
You probably contain a germ.

fabulous ideas! i like the peas and honey one! but also lots of otehrs. for her to choose, not me! Any more for any more?

Some Hilaire Belloc is fun, if a tad ghoulish. I love Henry King:

THE Chief Defect of Henry King
Was chewing little bits of String.
At last he swallowed some which tied
Itself in ugly Knots inside.
Physicians of the Utmost Fame
Were called at once; but when they came
They answered, as they took their Fees,
'There is no Cure for this Disease.
Henry will very soon be dead.'
His parents stood about his Bed
Lamenting his Untimely Death,
When Henry, with his Latest Breath,
Cried 'Oh, my Friends, be warned by me,
That Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch, and Tea
Are all the Human Frame requires...'
With that, the Wretched Child expires.

Matilda is a bit too long, but even funnier. And what about Lear? The Akond of Swat again is a bit long but it is soo fun to read, especially if you do actions and emphasise the SWAT!!! at the end. I love Calico Pie as well because it is silly and a little bit sad, and has a few repeated bits:

Calico Pie,
The little Birds fly
Down to the calico tree,
Their wings were blue,
And they sang 'Tilly-loo!'
Till away they flew,--
And they never came back to me!
They never came back!
They never came back!
They never came back to me!

Calico Jam,
The little Fish swam,
Over the syllabub sea,
He took off his hat,
To the Sole and the Sprat,
And the Willeby-Wat,--
But he never came back to me!
He never came back!
He never came back!
He never came back to me!

Calico Ban,
The little Mice ran,
To be ready in time for tea,
Flippity flup,
They drank it all up,
And danced in the cup,--
But they never came back to me!
They never came back!
They never came back!
They never came back to me!

Calico Drum,
The Grasshoppers come,
The Butterfly, Beetle, and Bee,
Over the ground,
Around and around,
With a hop and a bound,--
But they never came back to me!
They never came back!
They never came back!
They never came back to me!

Or if you want something serious you could try Full Moon and Little Frieda by Ted Hughes...

A cool small evening shrunk to a dog bark and the clank of a bucket -
And you listening.
A spider's web, tense for the dew's touch.
A pail lifted, still and brimming - mirror
To tempt a first star to a tremor.

Cows are going home in the lane there, looping the hedges with their warm
wreaths of breath -
A dark river of blood, many boulders,
Balancing unspilled milk.
'Moon!' you cry suddenly, 'Moon! Moon!'

The moon has stepped back like an artist gazing amazed at a work
That points at him amazed.

Oh and I third Ning Nang Nong, she's probably find it hilarious.

I really liked (and still remember from my primary school days) "In Winter I get up at night". I think its because it really hit home with me about having to get up in the dark and go to bed when it was still light and I so wanted to play. My DD (10yrs) has learnt it too and says it with great feeling

sky in my pie

© By kaili gardner

Waiter! there's a sky in my pie,
Remove at once if you please,
You can keep your incredible sunsets
I ordered mincemeat and cheese.
I can't stand nightingales singing
Or clouds all burnished with gold,
The whispering breeze is disturbing the peas
And making my chips go all cold.
I don't care if the chef is an artist
Whose canvases hang in the Tate,
I want two veg and puff pastry
Not the universe heaped on my plate.
Ok ill try just a spoonful
I suppose I've got nothing to lose.
Mmm the colours quite tickle the pallet
With a blend of delicate hues.
The sun has a custardy flavour
And the clouds are as light as air,
The wind with a chewier texture,
With a hint of cinnamon there?
This sky is simply delicious
Why have I not tried it before?
I can chew my way through to eternity
And still have room left for more.
Having acquired a taste for the cosmos
I shall polish this sunset off soon,
I can't wait to tuck into the night sky,
Waiter please bring me the moon.

The pobble who has no toes.....
Honestly!

Agree with charley- I recited the owl and the pussycat to my class when I was five years old....

These are brilliant. Will be printing this off in morning

All my dc like:
"Windy Nights (R L Stevenson)
Whenever the moon and stars are set
Whenever the wind is high
All night long in the dark and wet
A man goes riding by
Late at night when the fires are out
Why does he gallop and gallop about?

Whenever the trees are crying out loud
And the ships are tossed at sea
By on the Highway, low and loud
By at the gallop goes he
By at the gallop he goes and then
By he comes back at the gallop again"
Lovely rhythm...

Also "Stopping by the Woods on a snowy evening"-Robert Frost great if they need a poem to write a story about later.

"Loveliest of trees"-Houseman is a good one for discussion.

"Albert and the Lion" very popular at my primary school, also "three ha'pence a foot" (about Noah's ark) by whoever it was...

I learnt "Heaven" by Rupert brook when I was in year 4 or 5. I loved the poem, lovely words that roll off your tongue. However didn't understand a lot of it then, but I can still recite it now.

"Cats sleep anywhere" Eleanor Fargeon (not the right spelling) and "There was a naughty boy" are both very easy to learn.

I loved Tam O Shanter when I was in primary school but its far too long to recite by heart.

"who's that tickling my back?" said the wall
"Me" said the caterpillar.
"I'm learning to crawl."

Shel Silverstein- who wrote lots of other wonderful poems that kids love.

YY to the Kings Breakfast. Any AA Milne is great to read aloud but I love that one particularly as well as Market Square

I had a penny,
A bright new penny,
I took my penny
To the market square.
I wanted a rabbit,
A little brown rabbit,
And I looked for a rabbit
'Most everywhere.

For I went to the stall where they sold sweet lavender
("Only a penny for a bunch of lavender!").
"Have you got a rabbit, 'cos I don't want lavender?"
But they hadn't got a rabbit, not anywhere there.

I had a penny,
And I had another penny,
I took my pennies
To the market square.
I did want a rabbit,
A little baby rabbit,
And I looked for rabbits
'Most everywhere.

And I went to the stall where they sold fresh mackerel
("Now then! Tuppence for a fresh-caught mackerel!").
"Have you got a rabbit, 'cos I don't like mackerel?"
But they hadn't got a rabbit, not anywhere there.

I found a sixpence,
A little white sixpence.
I took it in my hand
To the market square.
I was buying my rabbit
I do like rabbits),
And I looked for my rabbit
'Most everywhere.

So I went to the stall where they sold fine saucepans
("Walk up, walk up, sixpence for a saucepan!").
"Could I have a rabbit, 'cos we've got two saucepans?"
But they hadn't got a rabbit, not anywhere there.

I had nuffin',
No, I hadn't got nuffin',
So I didn't go down
To the market square;
But I walked on the common,
The old-gold common...
And I saw little rabbits
'Most everywhere!

So I'm sorry for the people who sell fine saucepans,
I'm sorry for the people who sell fresh mackerel,
I'm sorry for the people who sell sweet lavender,
'Cos they haven't got a rabbit, not anywhere there!

Or Edward Lear - Quangle Wangle or Jumblies.

Here's another one I've always loved

I THINK that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day, 5
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain. 10

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Actually I have just re-read Tam O Shanter - think primary school in Scotland in the 80's was maybe a bit different to today!

Little Rabbit Foo Foo by Michael Rosen is very funny. It would lent itself to being acted out.

is Kevin Whately reading it.

The sair finger by Walter wingate I learnt it at school and I still remember it! I won the burns prize!

Glaikit

Ye've hurt yet finger
Pair wee man
Yer pinkie dearie me
Well just you haud it that way
Til ah get ma specs and see

My so it is and there's the skelf
....,,,,,,,

Fill in the rest! (but predictive text doesn't like the spellings!)

What a fab thread. More votes for Lear and A A Milne. Loving all this talk of qwangle wangles and pobbles' toes - oh and the dong with the luminous nose [so very tragic - sniff].

Has anyone mentioned The Listeners by Walter de la Mare? I remember learning that at primary school. (Good for the older child.)

That's it inkle!! :o finger without the hard g!!

You can only get away with it in Scotland!

A tortoise can't go out to play
Or sell his house, or rent it
for when he moves
his house moves too
and nothing can prevent it!

Abby
I was just about to start typing that !!
Faster than Fairies

and James James Morrison Morrison
or THeyre Changing Guard at Buckingham palace
or John had great big waterproof boots
or lines and squares

AA Milne wrote BEAUTIFUL poetry

(((( Kings breakfast)))

for my sisters 21st her best friend did a version of that that I STILL love

and Edward Lear
The Jumblies
among others

Just to update she picked please mrs butler but both dds are really enjoying lots of the suggested poems so thank you! Ning nang Nong going down ESP well along with kings breakfast!

I love Custard the dragon:

www.eecs.harvard.edu/~keith/poems/Custard.html