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Splendid, Josie!
Written by Katanga (805 comments posted) 13th May 2008 |
Yet again, a lovely one!
"Then when they get bigger, they'll live on their own
And they'll each have a little house under a stone."
Gosh! The way the meter leads to 'litlte' being stressed is gentle magic! i.e. LITTLE house, not little HOUSE, which would be the natural stress in prose.
Brilliant!
It makes me somewhat melancholy, in a good way - yes, woodlice, but doesn't it apply to all of us until we've spread our wings and learned to fly?
All good children's poetry applies equally, if not more, to adults, in my opinion - and I'm not alone! It's a commonplace obviousness that not enough high-falutin people realise . . .
Try 'Haroun and the Sea' - Salmon Rushdie etc etc
GW, and your own inspiring poetry, have helped me to fly!
Thank you! Ooooooh! I feel a creepy crawly on my neck and in my soul!
Cheers! We'll be in touch, I hope . . .
John XXX
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Written by mia_ms_kim (915 comments posted) 13th May 2008 |
Oh, dear. After all these bug poems, I'm beginning to think these creatures are actually human. I might start talking to one pretty soon. Enjoyed, Josie. The egg business freaks me out.
Is there a word missing from second line, that should rhyme with "do"? "I live under that stone – no, not in" Or is it saying Wanda doesn't live IN the stone???
Mia  |
Written by WeeAnn (35 comments posted) 13th May 2008 |
Hi Josie,
We are learning all the time. I didn't know that the female woodlouse carried her eggs around with her, but I suppose I've never looked that closely.
I love your 'bug' poems, and I think a book sounds great.
Regards
WeeAnn
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Written by Josie (2538 comments posted) 14th May 2008 |
| Thank you everyone. Oh goodness! My daughter phoned me when I was doing this yestrerday and I pressed the button before changing the end of line two. Ha ha - You were left to work out what I was going to say. A good exercise. There are lots of talking points for children here John. There are many larger animals that carry their children around - and children may relate to being carried "in" their mummy's tummy. They will also relate to staying with their mother until they are old enough to stand on their own two feet - something other mini-beasts don't often do. I didn't actually realize that they were cousins to lobsters and crabs either (until I researched this). Yes, for adults it is interesting. Interesting talking points to add to poems to stir up discussions. |
Written by Josie (2538 comments posted) 14th May 2008 |
| PS For Mia: It's good, when writing for children, to give these little characters names. Children just don't think of them as "it" but living in a miniscule world, with a daily life similar to ours. They actually love "names" and remember them well, as I've found out. I've invented names for my characters and children know them. (Another story). |
Katanga, SalmOn Rushdie???
Written by mia_ms_kim (915 comments posted) 14th May 2008 |
A very fishy writer... Hmmm... Isn't the guy's name SalmAn Rushdie??? Will look up his Haroun poem!
Mia  |
Salmon Rushed It!!
Written by Katanga (805 comments posted) 14th May 2008 |
Ah yes Mia! Ha! Ha! My foolish error! I must have rushed it! Ho!
'Haroun and the sea' (if I've spelt it right!) is actually a long short story or a short novel - can't remember how many words exactly.
Anyway, well worth reading - packed with rich imagery, kind of poetic prose.
If you get round to it, do let me know what you think!
Cheers!
John |
Written by Fledermaus (3160 comments posted) 16th May 2008 |
I had to look up what a wood-louse is. Do you know what they're called in Dutch? Pissebed, which means something like Pee-in-bed I don't know for sure why they're called that, but as a kid I thought it was a funny name.
Nice poem! |
Written by mr_soul (80 comments posted) 18th May 2008 |
Haha, very interesting Fledermaus. It is strange how some names come about.
Josie, this made me smile. I must admit I'm not the biggest fans of creepie-crawlies and the like yet this was lovely, I almost want to keep one of these as a pet now. What I think's great about this, and all the others you've written, is the way you strike the right balance between entertaining and educating children. You've got the imagination going of all the adults on here, goodness knows what they do with children!
Great Josie. These poems should be read in every nursery and school in Britain. |
Written by Josie (2538 comments posted) 18th May 2008 |
| Thanks Mr Soul. Inside all of us is a child still I think, for adults like the children's poems as much as the children do. I think John is getting a lot of fun out of the mini-beasts as you can see, and now we have Ian jumped on the bandwagon with a really lovely story. It is great to see people working together and having fun on this website. It beats all the arguing over nothing doesn't it? Fledermaus, how I laughed at what you said. It is really a funny name and I wonder why the Dutch say this? Goodness me, the next thing we'll know is that you will be doing a mini-beast poem. There are lots left you know. I think Mr Soul and Fledermaus should be challenged to try one. |
Written by 1211kellie (95 comments posted) 18th May 2008 |
Josie - I love these minibeast poems they appeal to my love of nature, and even though I haven't read all of them yet, this one seems to stand out. The humour, rhythm and factual content is brilliant.
I would love to see one done with ants or has this been done already.  |
Written by rui (150 comments posted) 19th May 2008 |
Josie, I very much enjoyed this bug poem. I'd heard of woodlice as being related to shrimp, which doesn't put me off tiger prawns in any way 
As children we used to like finding them, making them roll up into a ball then using them as marbles. Probably cruel, but kids are like that. At least we didn't have magnifying glassses.
I'm starting to see how the format and line indents work - thanks for your note explaining it.
Just to continue FM's translation idea, woodlouse in Chinese is tu3 bie1, literally "soil turtle". |
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