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Age guideline 4-7, 7-11
About the event
Get creative with award-winning children’s author and performance poet Joseph Coelho in a celebration of the power of two small words: Thank you.
Thank You: A story celebrating key workers and the NHS, is a beautiful tale inspired by the coronavirus pandemic which helps to show children how they can celebrate the key workers in their lives and communities. Listen to Joseph tell the story and talk about the themes in the book, and then have a go at creating your own poem to say thank you to someone you know. Who will your poem be for?
If you are able to buy a copy of this book for your class, you will be making a donation of 3% of the retail price to Groundwork, a charity that helps some of the UK's most disadvantaged communities deal with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
“This touching and joyful picture book is a celebration of all the unsung heroes of our lives.” - BookTrust
Buy the book here: Thank you - Joseph Coelho
How to access the event
From 1 January 2022, this event will move to our collection of Past Event Videos where you can access all past festival events for a small one-off fee of £5. Go to the top of the page to view Past Event Videos. Please click here to sign up or log in if you are already a member.
Teacher Resources
This event provides an opportunity to create your own poem using thank you as a theme and connecting it to your senses.
Link this event to exploring writing and reading poetry, and writing for purpose. Here Joseph is inviting us to write a thank you poem to someone who has helped, supported or cared for you or other people.
Explore some of Joseph’s poems in books such as Werewolf Club Rules or A Year of Nature Poems or watch Joseph perform some of his poetry here: https://www.youtube.com/c/JosephCoelho/videos
Link this event to exploring the human body and which senses are associated with which part of the body. Connect labelling body parts and senses, to creating a poem about those senses.
Link this event to PSHE topics around community and shared responsibilities. The event also explores feelings, recognising how others are feeling, and the impact of positive behaviour on others around you.
About the Author
Joseph Coelho is an award winning poet and performer from London, although he now lives by the sea. In 2019 he won the Independent Bookshop Week Picture Book Award for If All the World Were. He has been long-listed for The Carnegie Children's Award with his poetry collection Overheard In A Tower Block, which was also shortlisted for the CLPE CLiPPA Poetry Award and Longlisted for the UKLA Book Awards. He won the 2015 CLPE CLiPPA Poetry Award with his debut poetry collection Werewolf Club Rules. His debut Picture Book, Luna Loves Library Day was voted one of the nations favourite picture books by a survey led by World Book Day. His other poetry books include How To Write Poems and A Year Of Nature Poems.
Twitter: @JosephACoelho
Instagram: josephcoelhoauthor
Website: https://www.thepoetryofjosephcoelho.com
About the festival partner
This event has been programmed by Bath Children’s Literature Festival.
Bath Festivals is a charity that brings you the Bath Children’s Literature Festival, Europe’s largest dedicated children’s literature festival with a vibrant array of talks and activities for children. They are also responsible for The Bath Festival in the summer which bring the city alive with a celebration of music and books in the beautiful venues and spaces of the world heritage city. By creating innovative and diverse programmes, their festivals inspire and provide unique experiences for residents and visitors to Bath and surrounding areas. Their year-round creative learning programme of hands-on music and literature projects gives children and young people opportunities to gain real-world experience, building their inner confidence and improving communication skills through the arts.