Yesterday, Monday 19 July 2021, as part of Poetry By Heart’s vibrant award ceremony at The Globe, the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) announced the 2021 shortlist for the CLiPPA (CLPE Children’s Poetry Award).
Five poets made the shortlist, including Michael Rosen and Jane Newberry. Jane lives in Stoke Climsland, near Launceston.
Established in 2003, the CLiPPA is the UK’s only award for published poetry for children. Past winners include Roger McGough, Carol Ann Duffy, John Agard and Jackie Kay.
Its hugely popular Shadowing Scheme prompts poetry performances of the shortlisted collections in hundreds of primary schools across the UK.
The 2021 shortlist announcement was made onstage at The Globe in London and featured live poetry readings from shortlisted poets including Michael Rosen, Manjeet Mann and Matt Goodfellow. Jane Newberry, accompanied of course by a big green crocodile, was star of the show with an exuberant performance that had everyone in the audience joining in.
With an audience of over 400, it was the UK’s biggest poetry event of the last 18 months.
Jane’s book Big Green Crocodile Rhymes to Say and Play, illustrated by Carolina Rabei, and published by Otter-Barry Books, is a collection of new nursery rhymes. Chair of the judges, Allie Esiri, a passionate promoter of poetry, describes Jane’s collection as ‘a perfect post-lockdown book, that allows adults and small children to connect and share poems. Beautifully presented and perfectly illustrated, it’s a book to spark a lifelong love of poetry in children.