It's Mental Health Awareness Week 2023, and this year's theme is 'Anxiety'. Here's a guest blog post I wrote for the Children's Poetry Summit. It includes an extract from a free resource on using poems as a 'way in' to help young people talk about mental health issues. In this example, I explore social anxiety. …
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My new collection of poems for young people is launching this week, just in time for Children’s Mental Health Week 2023 (6-12 February). The book, called You Are Not Alone, is aimed at teen and young adult readers and it’s all about young people’s mental health and emotional wellbeing. The 70+ poems in this collection …
Roger Stevens is, as well as a much-loved children's poet,  a songwriter and musician who brings to his work a combination of thoughtful lyrics, good melodies and more than a dash of humour. Roger performs and records his songs and has a number of albums out on CD, the latest of which I'm delighted to have …
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This November, The Charles Causley Trust is featuring a series of poems written for children on its blog 'The Maker'. The month kicked off with an article on the man himself, and his ability to write accessible but unpatronising poetry for younger audiences: Rhythm, Rhyme and Form: How Causley Changed Poetry Writing for Kids I popped up …
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The Big Amazing Poetry Book is beautiful door-stopper of a book edited by Gaby Morgan, introduced by Roger McGough and illustrated by Chris Riddell. Â It's a warm, funny collection that's packed with all different styles of poetry - ballads, riddles, tongue-twisters, shape poems, haikus, sonnets and raps - about seasons, festivals, animals, birds, love, war, …
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“The best moments in reading are when you come across something — a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things — that you’d thought special, particular to you. And here it is, set down by someone else, a person you’ve never met, maybe even someone long dead. And it’s as if a hand …
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I'm really excited about my second collection of poems for young people, which will be published by Troika in October. It's called 'You Are Not Alone', it's aimed at teen and young adult readers,  and it's all about exploring mental health and wellbeing. Young people’s mental health has never been so high on the public …
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Not one, but two fantastic new anthologies have just been published by the folks at Macmillan. Poems for 7 Year Olds is edited by A. F. Harrold and in it you'll find songs, funny poems, nonsense rhymes, word magic and poems about animals, adventure, fairy tales, food, friends, school and ghosts. Poems for 8 Year …
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I'm happy to have a handful of poems in Elizabeth’s Poetry of Hope, a new anthology of poems that tells the story of the charity Elizabeth’s Legacy of Hope (ELoH) in poetry and prose. ELoH provides vital support for children who have lost their limbs through war, accidents and lack of access to medical care. Thousands of …
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National Poetry Day 2021 is almost here (7 October) and I'm excited to share with you some fun, creative and educational children’s resources that a bunch of poets at publisher Troika have been working on! Ten of us have collaborated on creating poems based around this year’s theme of ‘choice’. The poems are accompanied by a great …
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Shauna Darling Robertson 