In the previous post, I wrote about how to spark an interest in reading. In this post, you will find some a great idea to spark the interest in writing. A tips that was used by the Book Company Puffin to temp the author of the Gruffalo series and many other books for children, Julia Donaldson, to write a sequence to the best loved British children’s poem – The Owl and the Pussy-cat by Edward Lear. They sent her a box of treasures from the land of the Bong Trees – honey, five-pound note, runcible spoons, and a ring.
The items in the treasure box sparked Julia’s imagination and she created a wonderful lyrical poem about what happened after the wedding. The ring is stolen and the Owl and the Pussy-cat must travel far from the safety of the Bong-tree glade to search for the thief. They travel across the Sea, to the Chankly Bore and beyond. . . The book has been illustrated by Charlotte Voake, and her light colours perfectly capture the magical adventure.
Edward Lear created wonderful imaginative world and loved mad-up words. His books are filled with bottles of Ring-bo-Ree, characters such as the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò and the Quangle Wangle, and places such as the Chankly Bore and the Great Gromboolian Plain. My daughter and I love to look at his funny Nonsense Botany with plant names liked Manypeeplia Upsidownia and Piggiawiggia Pyramidalis.
So why not select a poem or rhyme and make a little box with treasures. Use the items to think dive into the poem and explore new ideas to write a sequel. You can make a little treasure box out of cardboard. Look for things in the house, in the garden or local park that are mentioned in the poem. You can make a drawing or search for images to illustrate something in the poem or rhyme.
Go here to read about Poems.
The Owl and the Pussy-Cat
By Edward Lear
I
The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea-green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five-pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
“O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!”
II
Pussy said to the Owl, “You elegant fowl!
How charmingly sweet you sing!
O let us be married! too long we have tarried:
But what shall we do for a ring?”
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the Bong-Tree grows
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.
III
“Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?” Said the Piggy, “I will.”
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.
Source: The Random House Book of Poetry for Children (1983)
