The CLPE Poetry Award is the only UK prize which celebrates children’s poetry and is an excellent place to start if you’re looking for quality poetry books to add to your collection. The award was developed to ensure that poetry gets the recognition it deserves in the wider realm of children’s literature. Previous winners include Rachel Rooney, John Agard, Roger McGough, Carol Ann Duffy and Tony Mitton. This year a shadowing scheme for schools will run alongside the award and includes a competition where children from winning schools will be invited to perform onstage at the awards ceremony. For more details on the shadowing scheme visit the Poetryline website.

2015 shortlist (from the press release):

Let in the Stars: New poetry for children edited by Mandy Coe and illustrated by The Manchester School of Art (The Manchester Writing School, Manchester Metropolitan University)

An anthology in which a wide range of themes is combined with the unconventional unfolding of individual poems. Unexpected points of view abound and contemporary language is considered in several poems.

 

Werewolf Club Rules by Joseph Coelho and illustrated by John O’Leary (Frances Lincoln)

A fresh collection of poems from a new voice which celebrates the joys of everyday life and beyond and displays a delight in language.

 

Give the Ball to the Poet: A new anthology of Caribbean poetry edited by Georgie Horrell, Aisha Spencer and Morag Styles and illustrated by Jane Ray (Commonwealth Education Trust)

A celebration of Caribbean culture and environment is threaded throughout this vibrant anthology alongside the anger and sorrow begotten of the interdependent history of migration, slavery and exploitation between the Caribbean and Britain.

 

Blue Balloons and Rabbit Ears by Hilda Offen (Troika Books)

An appealing collection for young children, illustrated by the poet. Full of fun and rhyme and rhythm and a variety of verse forms, it includes thoughtful themes about nature and history too.

 

My Life as a Goldfish and Other Poems by Rachel Rooney and illustrated by Ellie Jenkins (Frances Lincoln)

These succinct poems, sometimes darkly humorous and incorporating delicious wordplay, are lessons in how economy of words can lead the imagination to soar.

 

The winner will be announced at a ceremony at the National Theatre in London on July 16th