Transcript
Welcome to Book Chat. This short film, made by The Open University, is designed to support you in sharing books with children, conversationally, enjoyably, and effectively. Book Chat develops children's language, their comprehension, and their pleasure in reading. As you know, there are lots of ways to chat about books. And during this reading of some poems from a collection called The Same Inside, you'll hear our top tips.
One, do involve your child. You'll probably chat before and after reading each poem. Such chat helps us make sense of what we're reading. Two, sometimes you want to pause to let your child think about the meaning or messages in the poem. After all, there's never just one.
Three, do share what you're thinking about too, and wonder aloud about the poem, as this will trigger more chat and help you make connections to your lives. Four, saying how a poem or a specific line makes you feel will encourage your child to respond too. And finally, remember to keep pleasure at the centre of the sharing. Book chat's fun.
Hello, I'm Teresa. Reading novels to older children is really valuable, but actually children love poetry. And sharing the rhythm, and the beat, and the pattern with them can be great fun. And a book chat around poetry might just take five minutes, but will keep you both thinking for a while afterwards. So I'm going to read a few poems from this collection, The Same Inside.
This poetry book's called The Same Inside, Poems about Empathy and Friendship. So let's choose some, shall we? The Same Inside. Oh, more apples, some cut in half. It seems the poets are Liz Brownlee, Matt Goodfellow, and Roger Stevens. I wonder why they call their collection The Same Inside? Insides and outsides of apples on the page. Let's find out more.
I always like poetry anthologies because you get lots of choices and it makes it more interesting. Loads of poems here. I like the sound of "I Don't Care Blues" and "Differences of Opinion." We all have those, don't we? Even with friends, we like different ways of seeing things and different perspectives on the world.
Oh, two more pages of poems to choose from. What are you drawn to? Maybe "My Sister's a Rainbow"? Oh, that makes her sound lovely. I wonder what the poem tells us about her? Or "I'm Sorry," or "Refugee"? Oh look, at the end there's information about the poets, 77 to 81.
Well, let's look at that later and read one of the poems now. Why don't we start with the title poem, OK? Page one, then, I think. Here we go.
"The Same Inside," by Liz Brownlee.
Red perfumed apples and crunchy crisp green, used straight from the tree or in a tasty cuisine, like honey nut charoset and pies with ice cream. Yum, apple pie.
In Fujis from Co-ops and Cox's from Spar, or Java apples from far Zanzibar, look inside any apple, and there is a star. Hm, I like apples. And I suppose the star shape is kind of, well, like the star shape here, right, the core, inside. Whereas the shiny bit of the apples is on the outside, yeah. Your favorite are Golden Delicious, aren't they?
But Liz seems to write about Fujis and Cox's, and Java apples and Zanzibar. That's in Africa, miles away. There's one called Pink Lady too, but they're very expensive. I don't know about Fujis or Javas, but I suppose maybe they're a different size or another colour, so kind of different on the outside.
Shall I read it again as it's only short? OK. "The Same Inside," by Liz Brownlee. Red perfumed apples and crunchy crisp green, used straight from the tree or in a tasty cuisine, like honey nut charoset and pies with ice cream. In Fujis from Co-op and Cox's from Spar or Java apples from far Zanzibar, look inside any apple and there is a star.
I wonder if she's talking about apples only or maybe apples are all the same inside, we're all the same inside.
Anyhow, let's read another. What do you like the sound of? "Prayer," "Get on the Team of Life"? "Listening to Nan," what about that one?
OK, right, you want "Get on the Team (of Life)." That's page 62. Let's find it. Here we go. Oh, look, at the bottom of the pages they've got little apples with the page numbers in. I wonder if they put those in there, like, for just decoration or whether they're hinting at something.
Anyway, "Get on the Team (of Life)" by Matt Goodfellow.
We need leaders, and readers, and help-those-in-needers to join in together and get on the team. Wavers, and savers, and those who amaze us to join in together and get on the team. Healers, believers, and keeping-it-realers to join in together and get on the team.
Did you want to join in with me, actually? It's a kind of chorus, that italic bit down the bottom of the verse. Join in together and get on the team, that bit. OK.
We need carers and sharers and hands-in-the-airers to join in together and get on the team. Grinners, and winners, and want-to-beginners to join in together and get on the team. Frienders, and menders, and stay-till-the-enders, to join in together and get on the team. Dreamers, and schemers, and all-in-betweeners. So what are you waiting for? Get on the team.
Great job, that. "Team of Life," I like it. I like that grinners and winners line too. It reminds me of that time when you got that goal in Medway. You were grinning like a Cheshire cat. What line reminds you of someone? Anyone come to mind?
Yeah, I remember her too. I like the way he changes the last two lines. It's like, maybe he's sort of saying, I don't know, we're all humans on the team of life, so don't hang back. So what are you waiting for, get on the team.
Yeah, how else could we do that? OK, I'll follow you then. So what are you waiting for, waiting for, waiting for, get on the team. Can make it kind of like a rap or another beat. We could do that throughout.
So last one. Should we go for one of Roger Stevens'? Here's one, "Being Sad," OK? "Being Sad," by Roger Stevens.
When I'm meeting Milly in the park and Milly doesn't show, when I ask my best friend for a crisp my best friend says no. When I bite into a juicy plum and the middle's gone bad, yuck, even writing down this poem is making me feel sad.
So I'll try and think of good things, maybe that will cheer me up. When we won the rounders tournament and I went to collect the cup. When we climbed the hill in Wales, and the cloud shadows swept by. When Granny came to tea and she made us apple pie.
When I wrote to my favourite writer and she wrote me back a letter. It helps to think of good things. Already I feel better.
Yeah, it's called "Being Sad," but in fact he's gone cheery, from sad memories on one side of the page to happy on the other. He knows how to cheer himself up. What's the part of it that you like best? A line, maybe.
Yeah, I like that too. Sunshine and clouds often show us that, don't they? Oh look, there's apples again, bottom of the page. I wonder if the poets who put this collection together were thinking about us humans as apples. Not like a kind of bag of Golden Delicious, but a more mixed bag, different kind of apples on the outside, but somehow similar, same inside?
Maybe at the core, the heart of the apple, we are the same in lots of ways. Anyway, I need to get tea now. But thinking of apples, maybe we can make an apple pie on the weekend, if you like. Oh, all right, apple crumble and custard it is.