Angela Lansbury helping children write poems and books

World Book Day - every year on March 1st. A poster in the library showed that children get a £1 voucher they can spend on half a dozen or so books which are in the scheme. to encourage reading, the library invites local school to bring in classes. This year, 2012, In the North Harrow library I read to three groups of children, from age 3-5 to about 10 years old. Normally I teach O level, A level, and adults.

For the first group, I read two or three short books written in couplets, some of my own limericks, haiku, and other humorous poems. Then I got the children to pick a subject, such as sport, their names, animals, cats and dogs. We looked for rhymes, and wrote poems.

I could not believe how easy it was to hold their attention. (I did have their teachers who escorted them.) And I didn't even have pianos, puppets or props. I just read and acted out the characters. Then I got audience interactions as the children composed couplets. Sports.

I stayed on for the weekly read to toddlers group where 3-5 years old were sitting on or with their mothers. Maybe one or two were grannies - or just tired mothers.

The teachers were brilliant at managing the children. I read a poem about a florist. Their teacher checked that they all knew the word florist. Surprisingly, everybody did. (Just in case, I asked if anybody didn't. In case they were too shy to admit it, I said, 'I'm delighted you all know that a florist sells flowers and flower arrangements.'

At the end, the second teacher said: 'Look at the time. What is the time? Why do we have to pack up now? Because we have to be back at school by four. What do we do before we go? Pack up and leave the room as we found it. What is the last thing we do before we leave? Thank the lady who read to us. How do we leave? Quietly. Find your partner, line up, and leave quietly.'

Whilst I was reading or speaking to the audience all the things I'd learned at Toastmasters came back to me constantly. Look at people on both sides of the audience. Hold the book still so the audience can see the photos. Look at the speaker who is introducing you, not around the audience because that will distract them. When reading about the 'left and right. your right is the audience's left.