This book is part of Wordsmith, the complete programme for all your Primary English teaching needs.

Books make good pets and don't need going to the vet. You don't have to keep them on a lead or throw them a stick. They'll wag their words whenever you flick their dog-eared pages. Even howl an ancient tale for the inward-listening ear. Did you know that a book can take you anywhere? You only need to turn the pages of a story, and in a moment, you and your book could be crossing the waves in a pirate ship... or diving with mermaids... or even snoozing with a dragon. Books really DO make good pets! Why don't you peep inside this one, and take your mind on an adventure? This delightful original picture book poem is the perfect gift for anyone who delights in the magic of a good book. Agard's evocative, lyrical style is perfectly complemented with illustrations by Momoko Abe, whose colourful visuals add character, transporting the reader into an enchanting world of imagination.

John Agard has been broadening the canvas of British poetry for the past 40 years with his mischievous, satirical fables which overturn all our expectations. In this new collection, he puts on the mask of Moses Maimonides (aka the Rambam), the Medieval Jewish rabbi and physician who wrote his Guide of the Perplexed in Arabic at a time when Judaism, Islam and Christianity cross-fertilised each other in Moorish Spain. Now the ghost of Maimonides returns to the contemporary world, no less perplexed, and trailed by the figure of the Jester, whose wise fool musings shadow Maimonides' discourses on a range of subjects from sectarian fanaticism to God's incorporeal lack of taste buds. In Playing the Ghost of Maimonides, the rabbinical, the parabolical, the nonsensical, are symphonically interwoven in a thought-provoking romp of metaphysical shapeshifting that resonates with the current climate of extremism.

A powerful picture book about communicating emotions and relating to fellow creatures, from an award-winning duo. Creature-of-No-Words lives a happy life on his own, but one day he gets a feeling like 'the chill touch of ice' and nothing can lift his sadness. Just then Creature-of-Words arrives and senses his despair. How can she help him communicate and become happy again? Age range 3 to 6 Of 'The Young Inferno' by the same author and artist: 'The words are from the extraordinary John Agard whose inventive verse is a constant wonder. Add the delights of artwork by Satoshi Kitamura and the whole book is inspired and tremendous; a total triumph.' School Librarian

John Agard has been broadening the canvas of British poetry for the past 40 years with his mischievous, satirical fables which overturn all our expectations. His ninth Bloodaxe collection, Border Zone, explores a far-reaching canvas of British/Caribbean transatlantic connections, sweeping across centuries and continents. His border territory ranges from Love in a Sceptred Isle, a novella-like narrative poem of a romance between Barbados-born photographer, Victor, and Welsh librarian, Rhiannon, told with lyrical tenderness and thought-provoking wit, to Casanova the Philosopher, a sequence of sonnets in the voice of the legendary Venetian philosophically observing 18th-century English ways in a tongue-in-cheek memoir and travelogue. This is a diverse collection where the thought-provokingly mischievous, bawdy and elegiac rub shoulders alongside the sequence The Plants Are Staying Put - with the poet turning overnight lockdown gardener - as well as calypso poems, where the Guyana-born winner of the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry puts on his hat as 'poetsonian', a term he coined in the 80s in tribute to the inventive lyrics of the calypsonian, a crucial strand of Agard's varied, innovative, and often satirical poetic output.

In the title story, Inspector Dreadlock Holmes and his sidekick Rudeyard Fly are sent for by the Criminal Investigation Department of Middleham-by-Sea - a little town known for tea shops, pet shops, and florists - in short, a rustic retreat for naughty weekends. Keen to kick-start their diversity policy, the Department sends for two Black cops who see this as a chance to prove their cross-cultural mettle and solve the brutal attack on Lord Montagu, a controversial political figure found unconscious with a courgette by his side. In other stories, an Anansi spider stows away on the Windrush, Cod and Chips are usurped by Chicken Tikka Marsala, and a white landscape gardener who admires Capability Brown has a mixed-race child, Cosmopolitan Brown, who is dispossessed by voices from history, including that of Martin Luther King. Surreal and playful, John Agard's stories reveal hidden truths that subtly change our view of who we are and where we come from.

“A beautiful poetic and visual delight” Joseph Coelho A BEAUTIFULLY EVOCATIVE STORY OF A CHILD'S JOURNEY TO ENGLAND ON BOARD EMPIRE WINDRUSH, FROM AN INTERNATIONALLY CELEBRATED, MULTI-AWARD-WINNING POET AND AN EXTRAORDINARY DEBUT ILLUSTRATOR. "you're stepping into history bringing your Caribbean eye to another horizon" With one last hug, Windrush chid waves goodbye to his Caribbean home and sets sail across the ocean to Britain. In this powerful picture book, full of hope and promise, celebrated poet John Agard and illustrator Sophie Bass movingly evoke the journey made by children and their families as part of the Windrush Generation. PRAISE FOR JOHN AGARD'S WINDRUSH CHILD: Longlisted for the Jhalak Children's & YA Prize 2023 Longlisted for the 2023 Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration Shortlisted for the Spark! School Book Award 2023 Longlisted for the Children’s Literature Festivals Book Awards 2023 "A poetic story brought to life by Sophie Bass’s colour-popping illustrations." Daily Mail "A beautiful picture book with gorgeous illustrations ... I couldn't think of a better way for young children to learn about history and understand the world." David Walliams “John Agard’s hopeful poem commemorates a child’s Windrush journey from the Caribbean, and bold and vivid illustrations sing of palm trees and mangos left behind, and new experiences, including pigeons and terraced houses and snow.” ‘One to Watch’, Sunday Times (Culture) "Debut illustrator Bass’s intricate, colourful, arresting pictures bring out all the resonances of Agard’s spare text in this story of a child, a ship, a journey, and a new life enriched by the loves and memories of the old." Guardian "A stunning picture book ... with the distinctive, vibrant art of Sophie Bass.” The Bookseller "A gorgeous bedtime read that will reward repeat readings, deceptively simple, emotionally deep." Joseph Coelho

From above earth, from above sky,from below earth, from under water,come all you little personscome exactly as you are.Come little bird person, come little bee person, come little tree person - little persons from all over the world join together to celebrate the dance of life and love in this stunning poem from John Agard. Stunningly illustrated by Jessica Courtney-Tickle, this is a book that both little persons and big persons will treasure and pore over for a lifetime, and is a true poem of our time.

John Agard has been broadening the canvas of British poetry for the past 40 years with his mischievous, satirical fables which overturn all our expectations. "Alternative Anthem" is a live album of poems from books published over three decades, including "John Agard Live!", a DVD of filmed highlights from recent performances made by filmmaker Pamela Robertson-Pearce. It includes poetry from "We Brits" in which the Guyanese-born word magician gives an outsider-insider view of British life in poems which both challenge and cherish our peculiar culture and hallowed institutions; "Weblines" that contains three powerful Caribbean myths of transformation: the steeldrum, the limbo dancer, and Anansi, the spider trickster god; and, "From the Devil's Pulpit" that is a Devil's eye view of the world, sweeping from Genesis across time; and, other collections including "Mangoes and Bullets" and "Lovelines for a Goat-Born Lady", as well his children's books, featuring some of Agard's best-known poems - "Listen Mr Oxford don", "Palm Tree King", "Half-Caste", and "English Girl Eats Her First Mango".

"My name is Book and I'll tell you the story of my life." Non-fiction like you've never read it before! Quirky and humorous, part poetry, part reflection, this is the story of the book told by none other than ... BOOK! This extraordinary character begins by reminding us of his origins in oral story and clay tablets, then ponders on papyrus, parchment and paper, and on being a scroll who finally gets a spine. We see Book lovingly illuminated by monks in medieval monasteries, then witness the massive changes brought about by the invention of the printing press, and the coming of paperbacks and eBooks in the 20th century. But Book's not the straightforwardly chronological sort, and can't help musing - and those musings, whether they're on the evolution of the alphabet, libraries, book-burning or blurbs, are delightful and thought-provoking. Sixteen years of reflection and observation have gone into this charming title.

John Agard has been broadening the canvas of British poetry for the past 35 years with his mischievous, satirical fables which overturn all our expectations. In this new symphonic collection, Travel Light Travel Dark, Agard casts his unique spin on the intermingling strands of British history, and leads us into metaphysical and political waters. Cross-cultural connections are played out in a variety of voices and cadences. Prospero and Caliban have a cricket match encounter, recounted in calypso-inspired rhythms, and in the long poem, Water Music of a Different Kind, the incantatory orchestration of the Atlantic's middle passage becomes a moving counterpoint to Handel's Water Music. Travel Light Travel Dark brings a mythic dimension to the contemporary and opens with a meditation on the enigma of colour. Water often appears as a metaphoric riff within the fabric of the collection, as sugar cane tells its own story in 'Sugar Cane's Saga' and water speaks for itself in a witty debate with wine, inspired by the satirical tradition of the goliards, wandering clerics of the Middle Ages.

Excitement spreads like bush through the jungle. Earth-goddesses are planning a conference! From Australia to Antarctica, the Amazon to Africa, goddesses will debate the burning environmental issues of our times...and bushy-tailed, smooth-talking Coyote wants in on the action! Can this infamous trickster come up with a plan to infiltrate the conference and leave a lasting legacy for our planet? A rip-roaring poem by a master poet in celebration of Earth Day.

Funny, thought-provoking and bursting with curiosity, Wise Up! Wise Down! is a lively conversation between two internationally renowned poets, illustrated by treasured artist Satoshi Kitamura. How can laughter be more powerful than a sword? Why do days have names but not weeks? And do pigeons ever get a craving for cake? Two friends, internationally acclaimed poets John Agard and JonArno Lawson, take us on an inspiring, hilarious and wonderous journey through poetry, asking questions and attempting answers as they discover that life really is a forever and ever adventure.

Build your child’s reading confidence at home with books at the right level Learn all about the strange goings on in Cotton Tree Village with these four traditional tales from the Caribbean, beautifully told here by award-winning authors, John Agard and Grace Nichols. Emerald/Band 15 books provide a widening range of genres including science fiction and biography, prompting more ways to respond to texts. Text type: Traditional tales from another culture Curriculum links: English: fairy stories, myths and legends; books from other cultures and traditions This book has been quizzed for Accelerated Reader.

John Agard has been broadening the canvas of British poetry for the past 40 years with his mischievous, satirical fables. In "Clever Backbone", the Guyanese-born word magician plays havoc with biology and makes a monkey out of Darwinian evolution - on the occasion of the bicentenary of Charles Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his "Origin of Species". His "Alternative Anthem: Selected Poems" (with DVD) is published at the same time.

Shona likes most creatures in the world but for some reason she's terrified of bats, and so she's a bit concerned when her new teacher announces they're about to begin a bat project. But that's nothing to how she feels when a colony of the pesky flappers turn up in her own attic! Luckily Miss Bates turns out to be a bat expert and she's soon on the case. Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant and dyslexic readers aged 7+

Build your child's reading confidence at home with books at the right level In these two animal stories from the Caribbean, find out in the first why Tiger wanted to get rid of all the other animals and keep the jungle for himself and what clever Anansi did about it, and in the second how shy Owl nearly lost everything because he didn't have the courage to show his face. Topaz/Band 13 books offer longer and more demanding reads for children to investigate and evaluate. Text type: Two stories from another culture. The feelings roller coaster for Owl on pages 30-31 help children to discuss the different emotions addressed in the story. Curriculum links: Geography: Passport to the world; Citizenship: Living in a diverse world; ICT: Combining text and graphics. This book has been quizzed for Accelerated Reader.

Shona has always loved words. She even has her very own strange word thesaurus! When her and her classmates learn that some languages are dying out, Miss Bates tasks them with becoming top-class word detectives, proving to themselves and their families that there are many beautiful languages still thriving, even within their own classroom. Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers aged 7+

Comedy and charm abound in this quirky story about different personalities. Shona and her dad are just returning from a trip to the Natural History Museum when - oh no! - their train comes to a halt. What can Shona do to pass the time except study the passengers in her carriage? Fun, light-hearted comedy. Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant and dyslexic readers aged 7+

A wonderful anthology of poetry by award winning poets John Agard and Grace Nichols, brought to life with beautiful illustrations by Satoshi Kitamura. Purple/Band 8 books offer developing readers literary language, with some challenging vocabulary. Text type: A poetry book. An illustration on pages 22 and 23 encourages children to recap the poems they have read in the anthology. Curriculum links: Art and Design: Portraying relationships; Music: Play it again - exploring rhythmic patterns; Citizenship: Living in a diverse world

John Agard has been broadening the canvas of British poetry for the past 40 years with his mischievous, satirical fables which overturn all our expectations. In The Coming of the Little Green Man, his eighth Bloodaxe collection, we enter a world of play and parable - in which the little green man stands for all pesky outsiders - in provocative poems charged with contemporary resonance. Which box should the little green man tick on the question of identity? Will the little green man survive as a minority of one in a multiracial London? What if the little green man volunteers to give blood to 21st-century humankind? Winner of the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry, he brings to bear his trademark trickster wit that bridges the metaphysical and the political, the comic and the poignant, the oral and the literary. His Alternative Anthem: Selected Poems (2009) was followed by Travel Light Travel Dark (2013) and Playing the Ghost of Maimonides (2016).

From water-vapour to robots and outer-space to water, this highly original collection from John Agard, winner of the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry, explores everything exciting about science. Delighting in the wonder and oddities physics, biology and chemistry have to offer, these poems will bring out the scientist in you!