Writing Poetry For Children

I'm going to attempt writing a poetry book for children!
The books I have out for children rhyme, so I'm hoping to apply this to a book full of nonsense!

I once made a plan to create a book called 'Nursery NERRORtives' - which was a mashup of well known nursery rhymes, that weren't typically how they ended. In all honesty, they were utter nonsense, but they worked. Children learn nursery rhymes, and can join in - but the idea was that it was unexpected - which was apparently hilarious.. I am hoping to go through the rhymes again and see if they could be improved, ie. changing them into something silly.

I was inspired by Michael Rosen, I follow him on Twitter, and he is so passionate about exposing children to poetry and rhymes. I already write rhyming stories for my children's books, so this new project will be interesting. I'm not slapping a deadline on this, as I already have loads written, it just needs perfecting. I am excited to go through these notes again, hopefully creating more twist endings.

I will be needing littlies to be my beta readers, so when I've made some progress, I'll be needing little readers to give me some feedback. If you're interested, when I put the call out, please contact me on the form below.

Charlie Cheese Book Giveaway!

I'm going to have my daughter soon, so as a lovely treat, I'm doing a book giveaway!
It's a mini bundle of Charlie Cheese goodies!
( Including the new book, Charlie Cheese And The Food Dance! )
To enter, all you have to do is:

Follow Charlie Cheese Books on Twitter AND Retweet the pinned tweet!
OR
Like Charlie Cheese Books on Facebook AND Like/Share/Comment on the pinned post!

- You can do both if you want to increase your chances, though!
I will be putting names in a hat and informing the winner on May 18th - a month before my due date. I am opening the giveaway so everyone in the world can enter, so share it far and wide - I want to use some stamps!
Best of luck!

The Macroodelzig - Out Now!

The book is finally out in the world, and I cannot be happier! I've spent a lot of time and energy getting feedback, making promotional posts, and attempting to advertise the book as much as possible this month.

The Macroodelzig is only available from two websites at the moment, but I will make a seperate post of all of the online bookstores in the near future.

Please follow the hashtag, #TheMacroodelzig, on social media and give some feedback on Amazon as and when you can - that would be amazing!

Where to grab the book early:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

My Books.. So Far.

It's weird to think I have FIVE books knocking about! They're all completely different! I thought I'd put a post together where they can all be in one place at once.

For The Best was taken from notes my father made of his childhood growing up in Gipton, Leeds. I've not changed the order of the stories and memories, as that's not how you remember things, there's always tangents and finding something else to talk about. So it's written very organically - which means a lot of explicit language - not for little ones!
You can ONLY grab a copy here:
FOR THE BEST - MEMORIES OF A FIFTIES CHILD.

My poetry book is fairly angry, it's mainly politically focused and it's a collection of my first poems. I used my friend Jo's artwork for the cover (support indie!) - and again, the poems can contain explicit language - but not all of them do!
You can ONLY purchase a copy of my poetry here: MIND THE GAP.

The Charlie Cheese books series are cute, rhyming, indie books about a slice of brie! The illustrator is my friend Tommings - he is beyond talented! Give him a look up and check out his other work, too!
Where you'll find..
Don't Eat Charlie Cheese: Amazon / Waterstones / Barnes and Noble / Booktopia.

Charlie Cheese Travels The World: Amazon / Waterstones / Barnes and Noble / Booktopia.

Charlie Cheese And The Food Dance: Amazon / Barnes and Noble.

UPDATE MARCH 2019:
My brand new children's book, The Macroodelzig: Amazon / Barnes and Noble

Sticky Note Haiku Procrastinator

I feel the title could be my superhero name / be on my headstone without it being questioned.

If you follow me on Instagram - my handle is @thebeffyparkin - you'll know I was supposed to be doing paperwork today, something I've been putting off since the dawn of time. Obviously, I shuffled three pieces of paper then began writing..

My brain has rewired itself. I used to enjoy organising paperwork.
Now, I'm happy writing all day and making a massive desk mess. Shocking.

I'm attempting to use this to my advantage, somehow. I am hoping to create rhymes and haikus WHILST ticking things off my to-do list - and when some jobs are done, "as a treat" I can begin making notes. What an exciting life!

It has to be sticky notes - or I'm just going to create more paperwork that I'll never finish. Smart.
Here's the result of this morning's procrastination:

Say No To Clickbait!

Just a little thing I created this morning whilst running on less than 5 hours sleep. It's also to remind myself why I should get other people to do my art work for me!
Say NO to clickbait, kids!

Poetry Plug

As you may know, I often dabble in poetry. It's either political or angry. There does not seem to be an inbetween. I haven't wrote anything lately, but I'll be working on it a lot more this year!

Last year I created a little book for my poems - Mind The Gap - and I used my friend Joanna's artwork for the cover. (Support indie, like I always say!)

I rarely plug the book as I'm one of those people who look/read at their work over and over and start to hate it - and this happens more often with my poetry, as I seem to get imposter syndrome when it comes to this kind of creative writing.

Anyway, if you are interested in the book, Mind The Gap is only available by link >> HERE <<

Where To Find Charlie Cheese And The Food Dance

Some links to the book have been a little iffy - due to the book being brand new and being processed through the Global Retail Network. Luckily, this issue has been resolved!

So here's a little list of where you can grab a copy:

AMAZON BOOKS

BARNES AND NOBLE

BOOK DEPOSITORY

When the book appears in more online bookshops, I'll update this post! Happy shopping! x

Charlie Cheese - MERCH

Did you know I have a Charlie Cheese shop?

I created a Redbubble account for CC a while ago, but I have recently updated the merch this month in time for Christmas. I have added new, unseen artwork from the latest book, too!
Obviously, the shop includes products with art work from the other books in the series.

The shop includes: Clocks, Stationary, Household goods, Phone cases, Stickers, and moooore!

Find the merch  > > HERE < <

Happy shopping! x

Happy World Book Day!

It's World Book Day! The best day of the year!

I'd just like to suggest that today should be spent reading with little ones, taking a trip to the library, buying more books and visiting independent bookshops - I know it's super snowy and cold today, but that won't stand in the way of little readers!

I have had a bit of bookcase envy today seeing so many people posting creative ways to store and display their wonderful books, and I love all the photos of people dressing up as their favourite book characters! Share your outfits if you dressed up on our Charlie Facebook page: HERE.
You'll also find me dressed like Charlie!

Find the Charlie Cheese Books here: 'Don't Eat Charlie Cheese' and 'Charlie Cheese Travels The World'.
Happy reading!

My First Poem - Aged 5

This is my first ever poem, 12th June 1998, I was five years old and the task at school was to make a poem about a nursery rhyme character.
I love this, I'm so glad my mother hoarded any piece of paper I scribbled on as a child.
My handwriting is still cartoon-y like this, so if you're finding it difficult here is what it says..

Humpty Dumpty went to the moon.

Humpty Dumpty went to the moon,
On a supersonic spoon,
He took some porridge and a tent,
But when he landed the spoon got bent,
Humpty said he did not care,
And for all I know he is still up there.

Fantastic.

The Camper - Beffy Parkin

I am hoping to have this short poem featured in a Vanlife / Travel / Camper related publication. It's part of my writing challenges and I am just jumping head first -- if anyone can help me out with this I would be forever grateful.

I am also using this opportunity to plug my travel blog: Hit The Road Macs. Forgive me.

Challenge Complete - Poetry

As part of one of my Writing Challenges for 2018, I set out to have my poetry featured somewhere...
I can now tick that off the list!

One of my poems, 'Home Sweet Homeless' from my book Mind The Gap can be found on the back cover of the first issue of No Borders.
I am delighted with this, as the 'zine sports lots of amazing comics, artwork, articles (and so much more) which address very, very important issues.

I am ecstatic that some of my work could be a part of this, thank you No Borders!

Charlie Cheese Books - Waterstones!

I recently searched 'Charlie Cheese Books' to see if there's any posts about it or any reviews and found a link to WATERSTONES.

Both of the books are on Waterstones!
I can't express how delighted I am seeing them on such a well established bookshop! I am over the moon.

Find them here:
- DON'T EAT CHARLIE CHEESE

- CHARLIE CHEESE TRAVELS THE WORLD

The third book 'Charlie Cheese And The Food Dance' is coming soon!

Charlie Cheese Books

There are currently two books in the Charlie Cheese book series. They are rhyming children's books aimed at 2-6 year olds. The stories are not too complex and assist children into understanding poetry. The vibrant, unreal artwork is illustrated by my good friend, Tommings.
The books are available on several platforms, but mainly on Blurb.

Don't Eat Charlie Cheese is the first book in the series. It follows Charlie trying out many different jobs in order find the perfect job for him. A happy little story about a quirky character.


Charlie Cheese Travels The World sees Charlie on an exciting adventure holiday. He encounters very different places but can decide which destination was his favourite.




The third book, Charlie Cheese And The Food Dance will be set for release at the end of the year, it will be solely available for purchase on my Blurb bookstore.