15th November Dragon’s Den
Welcome to The Dragon’s Den
*Please ensure all cameras are off and mics are switched off or muted.*
Special Guest – Paul Cookson
Paul lives in Retford with his wife, two children, a dog and several ukuleles. He has worked as poet since 1989 and since then has visited thousands of schools and performed to hundreds of thousands of pupils and staff. Paul is also/ has been:
- the official Poet In Residence for the National Football Museum;
- Poetry Ambassador for United Learning;
- Poet Laureate for Slade;
- Poet for Everton Collection at Liverpool Library;
- poet in residence for the magazine Literacy Time Plus and wrote specific poems and teachers’ resources.
As part of the National Year of Reading Paul was nominated a National Reading Hero and received his award at 10 Downing Street. His work has taken him all over the world – including visits to Argentina, Uganda, Malaysia, Singapore, Beijing, Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland.
His work has appeared on Match of The Day, Radio 5 Live, Radio 2, The World Service, CBBC, Sky Sports, Talksport Radio, The Everton match day programme. He has written poems celebrating a variety of footballers – including Brian Labone, Dixie Dean, Howard Kendall, Neville Southall, Alex Young, Joe Royle and Graeme Sharp and performed them at official Everton events. His poem about Brian Labone was read by Ian Callaghan at his funeral and has appeared in the Everton Match day programme. Bill Kenwright read his poem about Dave Hickson at the memorial service Former Everton, Leeds and Nottingham Forest player Duncan McKenzie used a poem by Paul in his autobiography – The Last Fancy Dan. He co-ordinated a poetry exhibition for the National Football Museum. As part of this he wrote a set of commemorative poems for the England team of 1966. He has since met six of the team and they now have the poems written about and for them.
His poem “Let no-one steal your dreams” has been adopted by numerous schools as their mission statement, school motto etc. and become a Year six leaver’s poem. He was once a subsititute for John Cooper Clarke at the Sheffield Off The Shelf Festival and also stood in for Andrew Motion at the Warwick University Arts Centre with European Chamber Orchestra.
His performances are always memorable, lively and extremely funny. Audience participation is non negotiable! WARNING : may contain ukuleles.
He has a vast experience of leading workshops with all age groups and abilities and firmly believes that everyone can write poems. With over sixty titles to his name, Paul has sold well over three quarters of a million books and his poems appear in over two hundred other books. Best known collections include The Poetry Store, Pants on Fire, The Truth About Teachers, I’d Rather Be A Footballer, Give Us A Goal , Spill The Beans, The Truth About Parents, The World At Our Feet and It’s Behind You! As well as a tenth anniversary edition of perennial best seller – The Works ( now sold over 200,000 copies ).
Website http://paulcooksonpoet.co.uk
Bluenoses https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCKPjkvqDSo
Some Poems Paul will read for us.
WHEN MY LITTLE SISTER SINGS
When my little sister sings
I’d like to think of lovely things
Morning birdsong, angel wings
A nightingale, a bell that rings
Music fit for queens and kings
When my little sister sings
But these are not the sounds she brings
More like boingy rusty springs
The noises caused by nettle stings
Or cats that scratch on violins
Then scrape their claws on broken strings
Creaking chains on squeaking swings
I’d rather hear anything
Than listen to my sister sing
WHEN MY BROTHER PLAYS HIS TRUMPET
We don’t like but have to lump it
When my brother plays his trumpet
He huffs and puffs and hoots and honks
Squeaks and parps and toots and squonks
The baby cries, the puppy howls
The budgie shrieks, the kitten yowls
Dad puts socks into his ears
Mummy’s eyes are full of tears
We all wish he’d go and dump it
When my brother plays his trumpet
Full of Surprises
This poem is full of surprises
Each line holds something new
This poem is full of surprises
Especially for you…
It’s full of tigers roaring
It’s full of loud guitars
It’s full of comets soaring
It’s full of shooting stars
It’s full of pirates fighting
It’s full of winning goals
It’s full of alien sightings
It’s full of rock and roll
It’s full of rainbows beaming
It’s full of eagles flying
It’s full of dreamers dreaming
It’s full of teardrops drying
It’s full of magic spells
It’s full of wizards’ pointy hats
It’s full of fairy elves
It’s full of witches and black cats
It’s full of dragons breathing fire
It’s full of dinosaurs
It’s full of mountains reaching higher
It’s full of warm applause
It’s full of everything you need
It’s full of more besides
It’s full of food, the world to feed
It’s full of fairground rides
It’s full of love and happiness
It’s full of dreams come true
It’s full of things that are the best
Especially for you
It’s jammed and crammed and packed and stacked
With things both old and new
This poem is full of surprises
Especially for you.
Paul Cookson
CRAZY AT THE ZOO
There’s a penguin eating pizza
A lion in the loo
A bear that wears pink underwear
It’s crazy at the zoo
A rock and rolling rhino
A kung-fu kangaroo
A hip hop hippopotamus
It’s crazy at the zoo
A ballet dancing buffalo
In a tiny tutu too
An elephant in spotty pants
It’s crazy at the zoo
The zebra’s stripes are painted
Orange, red and blue
The tiger’s pink and purple
It’s crazy at the zoo
A gecko with an echo
Is g-nagging the gnu
A giggling gorilla
It’s crazy at the zoo
A parrot that is potty
Sings **** a doodle doo
A crocodile with a toothless smile
It’s crazy at the zoo
Monkeys wearing lipstick
Bonkers but it’s true
Snakes in socks are tied in knots
It’s crazy at the zoo
An orang utan that tangoes
With a cockatoo
A sloth that coughs and races off
It’s crazy at the zoo
All the clever keepers
Know just what to do
They’re selling lots of tickets
Lots and lots of tickets
Selling lots more tickets
Because …
It’s crazy – at – the zoo !
Paul Cookson
Paul Cookson – Response Padlet
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