I was talking to some of the children in the Wheatsheaf Library and told them that we were starting to make plans for the library that will be part of the new Rochdale town centre development.
A little later one of them came back to me with their three-year old brother, Hamad, in tow. He'd drawn a picture of the play room for the new library:
It's lovely to see the happy smiling faces!
I had some money left in the pot from the Boys Into Books project and was able to book Craig Bradley, performance poet, for two days. 
To call Craig a performance poet is like calling Caviar lumpy fish paste or calling a diamond a piece of coal. You really do need to see him in performance to catch what
it’s all about; he’s a PERFORMANCE poet.
I booked him for Alkrington and Heywood libraries for Monday 11th May and The Wheatsheaf Library for Wednesday 13th May before I realised that was SATS week! It’s an interesting insight into stress, overworked staff and how people cope with added pressure (no, not me this time, the teachers) that the reaction at some schools was “NO it’s SATs, we can’t possibly come” or “It’s SATs, the children will need a break, we are definitely coming.” I can understand both those views.
We had St. Thomas More, St. Michael’s, Deeplish, Greenbank and Heybrook schools participating and without exception they all had a great time – staff and pupils. All went back to school with a new mantra “POETRY IS NOT PANTS!”
To give you a little insight to the fun and frolics of the day, try this tongue twister“One smart fellow, he felt smart;
Two smart fellows, they felt smart;
Three smart fellows, they felt smart;
They all felt smart together!”
As for the big bag of leeks, one of Craig’s poems is called “56 ways of looking at a leek.” In rhyming couplets and with a couple of helpers wielding leeks to join in with the actions, Craig shows us how to look at everyday objects with a poet’s eye.
As a by-product of the poetry gig, I was left with a big bag of slightly dog-eared leeks. Or, with my poet’s eye, I had a consignment of poet tenderised fresh vegetables for a gourmet delight.
I made a huge pan of leek and potato soup and there were still enough leeks for a Parmesan cheese and leek loaf to accompany it. I would highly recommend Craig, so much soup comes from a Craig Bradley gig you can feed yourself for a weekend and still have enough left to satisfy five members of staff on a late night Monday.
The verdict? Delicious!
I love poetry – especially poetry you can eat!
Book Ahead is a national initiative providing books for loan to early years groups such as nurseries and playgroups.
To launch Book Ahead we asked Neil Griffiths, The Storysack Man, to join us in an evening workshop for early years workers at Touchstones, Rochdale on Tuesday, 10 February 2009. This was an opportunity to find out more about Book Ahead and the range of other services we provide for early years groups.
Many thanks to everybody who attended a very successful evening. The feedback we have received is overwhelmingly positive. Thanks also to those people who could not attend but are still interested in the Book Ahead scheme. We will be keeping in contact with you.
If you are involved in an early years group and want to know more about Book Ahead in the Rochdale area, please ring our Children's Services Manager, Ray Stearn, on 01706 924972.
