JOSIE'S POEMS: POEMS FOR EVERYONE BUT ESPECIALLY CHILDREN

This is where I introduce myself, for the majority of poems that you will find on this website are my own original work and you should not be able to find them on other websites unless I have given my permission.

My name is Josie Whitehead and I live with my husband in Ilkley in West Yorkshire in the north of England, not far from Leeds but also on the doorstep to some of the most beautiful scenery in Britain - The Yorkshire Dales. I am laughingly called a "retired" person, (what do they mean???) - and I am the grandmother of two lovely little children: Jessica is 4 years old and Daniel is 3 years old and since they have been able to understand what poetry is all about, they have been my keen fans. I also have been "adopted" by a dear little girl in my home town who is now 10 years of age, but she has been my constant companion along my poetical career, encouraging me and supporting me, giving me new ideas and if something was wrong she would be the first one to tell me, but luckily all seems well so far!!

I have been a teacher of business studies all my working life, in Colleges of Further Education from Jersey, Vancouver, Edinburgh, many colleges in the West Midlands, and Swindon College. I have also helped overseas students who are learning English.

I only became a poet rather by accident in very recent years - in fact I have mainly only written most of my poems in the last three years (600 of them), encouraged initially by children in my local primary school. I volunteered, as many retired people do, to go into the school and help the children by listening to them reading one hour a week. I mentioned that I had written a few poems for children and was asked to bring one in the following week. I felt very embarrassed about this because I knew nothing about writing poetry and had never learnt how to write it. I only knew that from my childhood, the memories of poets such as Robert Louis Stevenson and Lewis Carroll were very happy memories. I loved the rhythm and the rhyme of their poems, and the fun that I obtained from reading them. I liked the stories also. So, guess what!! I had written my poems in their style.

The first poem I read to these children was "Mickledy-Me" (which was on this website last autumn) and this is a poem about an invisible friend. Just by chance I had hit on a subject which was, so it seemed, a special subject to the six year old pupils in this class. Instead of them telling me that my poem was rubbish, or saying nothing, they asked me to write more and more. One little boy asks me each year if he can recite this poem at the Ilkley Literature Festival's Children's Corner, and he told me last year that he will be reciting it to his children and grandchildren - and this will, I am sure, be years after I am dead and gone. So, whilst I am sure that Robert Louis Stevenson would be pleased to know that his words are still thrilling children today, I am equally thrilled to think that one small boy, at least, will still be enjoying one of my poems in years to come as much as he enjoys the poems about Mickledy-Me today. With these words in my mind, how could I not have been encouraged to write more?

I don't just write for children, although I find that adults also like children's poetry and children become teenagers and they like adult poetry too. I am glad to say that most of my poems make people feel better, and I often now find that I am asked to recite a poem to people away from home, so I have had to learn some of my own poems in order to do this. I have found that so many people enjoy poetry and want to know of this website that I have made it easy to locate it by keeping the name simply "JOSIE'S POEMS", so telling people just to Google this name is simple and I would appreciate it if you might also tell people. I send a big hello to all the kind people, from countries far and wide, who I have spoken to out and about or via the internet, and who, also, have encouraged me to write more. I am sure, they make up the large number of visitors to my website.

ANNOUNCEMENT

When I wrote this introductory page, I was able to tell you that a book will be published this summer with some of my poems, but I am very pleased to tell you that it is not one book but five books. I did say to you that I would let you know about this at a later date. My publisher came to my home yesterday to discuss the five books, so now I can tell you. Before I do I have also to tell you that one of my poems, which is a legend about The Wizard of Alderley Edge, Cheshire, has been made into an animated film, and I have just seen it. It is fantastic. Your children will certainly enjoy this film. This will be available very soon also as a DVD.

There is to be a book of mixed poems - an anthology. I do have an idea which are my most popular poems and I am sure they will be in the books. Thank you very much those of you who have written and told me which poems your children and you have enjoyed.

Now to the other books: The second book will be especially about the world of nature for I live in a most beautiful part of Britain, the Yorkshire Dales, and who cannot be influenced by the world at your doorstep, by the birds who come to your home, the animals around you and the changing seasons when you live in such beauty? One of my most popular poems, "An Autumn Visit" will for certain be in this book.

I have written so many poems about people that the list goes into pages. From watching my own daughter grow up, and now having more time to watch with interest my two little grandchildren grow up, I have much to say about children. As I write for children too, I love children, and I would honestly say that a day without speaking to a child would be unusual for me. I used to go into our local primary school, All Saints Primary School, Ilkley for three years, and it was here that I read to the children and discovered how much they enjoyed my work. I was also a regular visitor to Westville House Preparatory School Ilkley for a year, and went solely to introduce children to my poems and inspire them. It was a wonderful experience. So from children, to adults and with many many poems about retirement to make people smile, this will be a book that I am sure will be very popular.

You can see from my guest book that one little boy enjoyed my nonsense poems, ha ha. Oh yes he did! But I had the children in a primary school in Otley screaming with laughter at The House Full of Smellies. It was a job to settle them down afterwards (fortunately). Even the title got them laughing. But my list of poems to make people laugh is also long, and I think everyone needs to laugh sometimes. So my fourth book is guaranteed to make you laugh.

The last book will make you think. I have written many spiritual, reflective poems also, and poems which teenagers and adults have written and said they have loved and which have helped them. So this is the fifth book. I will tell you more later.