Children's poetry competition

Infant/Junior Winners

• Phoebe Taylor of St Bede, Winchester who wrote 'How to Cook a Book'
• Harry Walker of Liphook Junior School who wrote 'A German Sentry' inspired by Wilfred Owen

Highly Commended, who were each presented with a certificate

• Maria Labagnara of Rucstall Primary
• Yentl Love (entered independently)
• Abigail Booley of Bordon Junior School
• Ellen Bradley of Hyde Primary
• Charlotte Bond of Westfields Junior

Secondary Winner

• Laura Tootill of The Wavell School

Highly Commended, who were each presented with a certificate:

• Katy Easthill of The Wavell School
• Tim Foster of Quilley School of Engineering
• Brandon Atkinson of Quilley School of Engineering

How To Cook a Book!

by Phoebe Taylor, St Bede School, Winchester.

When you open a book you’ll be amazed what you see,
But writing it is different – it’s a hard recipe

Dahl chose a snozzcucumber for the BFG,
Carroll, for Alice, a cup of hot tea!

Blyton, some ginger pop for those inquisitive five,
Milne, for Pooh, honey fresh from the hive.

Bond, marmalade sndwiches for Paddington Bear,
Barklem, bramble brandy, for all the mice to share.

Dickens, for Oliver, plain old grey gruel,
Grahame, for Ratty, cress sandwiches, fresh and cool.

Lewis gave Edmond sweet Turkish delight,
Crompton, for William, a pocket-sized bite.

Now you might think they were having a ball,
But Carle’s Hungry Caterpillar could out-eat them all!

The German Sentry inspired by Wildfred Owen

by Harry Walker, Liphook Junior School

A black silhouette on the line of the dark trench.
A form of a man his eyes sharp and alert, his rifle at the ready.
The rain plinking down softly off his rough helmet and running
Off the bottom in great torrents like a waterfall.
His once grey uniform caked with mud
and his feet drowning in water, coming in through the ragged holes in his boots.
He lights a cigarette and his face glows.
The face was cold and dead like the dead on the wire on the other side of the trench.
A little flash from the British lines, the cigarette drops, the gloved hand becomes cold.
The sentry topples; his broken body is washed by the water.
His face is clean in death.
A smear of blood is washed away and the dark trench is quiet once more.

Secondary School Winner

by Laura Tootill, The Wavell School

The library is very quiet
Ssshhh!
Sorry.
The books are lined up on the shelves.  Don’t fold the pages over! Use a bookmark!
Um…yeah.
The computer screen flickers
No food or drink near the keyboard!
OK.
There are toddlers in the children’s corner
Singing along to nursery rhymes
The children’s corner is reserved for story time on a Tuesday!
Right…
Big fat Children’s Britannicas standing in a row
Those books are for reference only!
Yep.
At the counter the books are scanned
They’re made yours
For three whole weeks
Right!  That’s it!  Out!
All right…Tune in next week
For my poem about the shopping centre.