Kids, you are absolute superstars! We are so proud of you. LoveReading4Kids is delighted to announce the winners of the 2024 Poetry Prize in association with National Poetry Day, today during the UK’s biggest annual celebration of poetry.
What better time to celebrate the creativity of our young poets across the nation and bring people together to enjoy, discover and share words that matter.
Earlier this year, with the backing of National Poetry Day, LoveReading4Kids launched our sixth annual poetry competition for children aged 7- 11 from across the UK. The theme this year is "Counting" and it was amazing to read what you created in response to the theme in your droves; what a talented bunch you are!
It was an immensely difficult task for the judging panel to pin the hundreds and hundreds of entries down to the shortlist. They then debated and battled for their Judges' Winner.
One of our Judges Joanne Owen commented: “In a word, wow! The standard of entries was incredible, with such varied styles and subjects showcasing the breadth and depth of young creative talent.”
Without further ado, let’s announce our winning poets. And my, it was a joy reading the hundreds of wonderful poems, so thank you to every child who shared their poems with us. Bravo!
The winning poet, awarded by the Judges is Kitty Wootton, age 11, of Churcher's College Senior School in Petersfield in Hampshire with their poem Count Dracula. Kitty is awarded a trophy, a certificate, a £50 LoveReading4Kids Gift Card for themselves and £250 LoveReading4Kids Gift Card for their school, a batch of beautiful poetry books thanks to publisher Macmillan Children's Books and a visit to their school from National Poetry Day ambassador Laura Mucha, co-author of the fantastic poetry collection Being Me and recent winner of The Week Junior Book Award Welcome to Our Table.
Take a look at Kitty’s award-winning poem below. Well done, Kitty!
Count Dracula by Kitty Wootton
One vampire, standing there,
Two vicious fangs he bears,
In a fine suit of Sunday best,
With three blood stains upon his chestFive bulbs of garlic, around my neck
He takes six more, suspicious steps
I tightly clutch seven wooden stakes
And hear him draw one sharp intakeI stumbled where eight tombstones lie,
That mark where several souls reside
Over nine marble graves, white as bone
The vampire advances, face set in stoneI try to run, I try to scream,
But the agile vampire’s swift and neat,
Ten fingers clutch my paling form,
Thunder strikes, begins a stormTwo fangs sink into my flesh,
I draw one final human breath
Waking from our coffin lair,
Two vampires now
A
lethal
pair
We must say a huge congratulations to the runner up, Ellie Uregian, age 10 of William Patten Primary School in Hackney with their poem 20 Steps. Ellie wins a certificate, £25 LoveReading4Kids Gift Card and batch of gorgeous poetry books.
20 Steps by Ellie Uregian
One to walk
Two to talkThree to ride a balance bike
Four to learn how to be the girl you want to be
Five to learn how to read and write
Six to understand your wish is not your command
Seven to dream about what you hope to be
Eight to learn things don’t always go your way
Nine to sort about all those friendship problems
Ten to double digit up your life
Eleven to realise life isn’t the same all the time
Twelve to know childhood’s about to go
Thirteen to be a teen for the very first time
Fourteen to have your first date
Fifteen to believe in yourself
Sixteen to have the party of your dreams, your sweet 16
Seventeen to see your future unfold
Eighteen, it’s so great, about to graduate
Nineteen to university
Twenty to find your own way to be you
And let’s not forget a huge round of applause for all of our shortlisted poets.
LoveReading Managing Director Deborah Maclaren shared: “We continue to be delighted with the response to this competition and want to thank every child for sharing their poems with us. It was an incredibly rewarding and inspiring journey of creativity reading the hundreds of entries. Bravo to all of our poets."
Forward Arts Foundation is responsible for National Poetry Day on the first Thursday of October. This annual mass celebration, founded by William Sieghart CBE in 1994, brings the nation together around the performance, sharing and making of poems: it is the highpoint of our year-round campaign to raise awareness of poetry’s value.
National Poetry Day 2024 is today, Thursday 3rd October.
@PoetryDayUK
#NationalPoetryDay
And a big thank you to our partners National Poetry Day and Macmillan Children's Books for their support of this year's competition.
20 Steps by Ellie Uregian
One to walk
Two to talk
Three to ride a balance bike
Four to learn how to be the girl you want to be
Five to learn how to read and write
Six to understand your wish is not your command
Seven to dream about what you hope to be
Eight to learn things don’t always go your way
Nine to sort about all those friendship problems
Ten to double digit up your life
Eleven to realise life isn’t the same all the time
Twelve to know childhood’s about to go
Thirteen to be a teen for the very first time
Fourteen to have your first date
Fifteen to believe in yourself
Sixteen to have the party of your dreams, your sweet 16
Seventeen to see your future unfold
Eighteen, it’s so great, about to graduate
Nineteen to university
Twenty to find your own way to be you
Count Dracula by Kitty Wootton
Count Dracula
One vampire, standing there,
Two vicious fangs he bears,
In a fine suit of Sunday best,
With three blood stains upon his chestFive bulbs of garlic, around my neck
He takes six more, suspicious steps
I tightly clutch seven wooden stakes
And hear him draw one sharp intakeI stumbled where eight tombstones lie,
That mark where several souls reside
Over nine marble graves, white as bone
The vampire advances, face set in stoneI try to run, I try to scream,
But the agile vampire’s swift and neat,
Ten fingers clutch my paling form,
Thunder strikes, begins a stormTwo fangs sink into my flesh,
I draw one final human breath
Waking from our coffin lair,
Two vampires now
A
lethal
pair
Counting Combinations by Maddie Charlesworth
Can you count to 5?
Or can you count to 10?
1,2,3,4,5 and then
Do it again to make
The number 10
Numbers, numbers
10, 9, 8
You see numbers
When you check your weight
Numbers, numbers
10, 9, 8
You see numbers
On your garden gate.
Can you count to 5?
Or can you count to 10?
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and then
Count up to 10
And back again.
Empty by Wren Tapley
The flu'y clouds,
The flying birds,
The fabulous flowers.
The fresh air,
The wild fragrant berries too.
My head was foggy,
Full of loads of things,
That I really couldn’t hold onto.
But the next day,
My head was empty.
Except for the mushy bit inside.
...spontaneously, in the back of the car
after a trip to the Walled Gardens at
Croome, Worcestershire last month.
It seems to be about the healing e=ect of
nature on a busy mind. We were shocked
by the sophisticated concept and the
cheeky ‘wink’ at the end!
How Many Bumblebees in the Trees? by Graihagh Gwenllian Dawson
Today I saw one bumblebee,
Flying all around me,
It came to rest up on my head,
But went into the tree instead.Along came another bumblebee,
Then there was two flying free,
The tree had flowers coloured red,
The bumblebees loved them, they said.The flowers bloomed big and bright,
A third bumblebee took to flight,
He landed in the tree so high,
And waved for the others to come by.So many bumblebees came by,
Full of buzzing in the sky,
I lost count of what was there,
I'm sure they're flying everywhere.
Nature Counting by Clara Boniface
1 gull
12 ragwort
4 trees
1 fuchsia
31 cinnabar moth caterpillars
1 honey bee
1 hoverfly
13 stinging nettles
18 daisies
25 dandelions
1 buttercup
7 clovers
3 strawberry plants
2 flies
2 seeds
1 rock
1 fish
7 ants
5 sunflowers135 things I found in nature today
The Climate Clock by Elizabeth Osborne
Tick, tick, tick, tock,
The time is up.
No more planet, no more world,
The peril was concealed under a veil.Tick, tick, tick, tock,
Everything's gone.
The count was at one,
But now the time is done.Tick, tick, tick, tock,
Humans have destroyed the Earth.
And there is zero chance of rebirth,
This is not a time of mirth.Animals, plants,
Sea, land,
Ideas, plans.The planet's too hot,
They've lost the lot.
One chance: gone.
All gone.Tick, tick, tick, tock,
The count is over.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Time is now up and done.Tick, tick, tick, tock,
The climate clock has stopped.