The poems that follow this post were collected together by my colleague Gemma McGirr and myself when we worked with the Primary Curriculum Support Programme. They were collected for teachers to use as stimulus for children's process artwork during Halloween time - as a move away from work dominated by stencils and templates of pumpkins  and witches. Gemma unfortunately passed away last year and I have just published as article, as a tribute to her,  in InTouch , the journal of the Irish Nation Teachers' Organisation, suggesting how this collection might inspire children to produce individual, unique and personal art.

THE PLANET OF MARS by Shel Silverstein

 

On the planet of Mars

They have clothes just like ours

And they have the same shoes and same laces,

And they have the same charms and same graces,

And they have the same heads and same faces....

But not in the

Very same

Places

MY FAVOURITE MONSTERS by Vincent James

When bedtime comes, I’ve heard it said,

Some children check beneath the bed.

They lose their sleep, they lose their hair,

In fear of monsters lying there.

But monsters I have always found

Are lots of fun to have around.

In fact there’s one under my bed

He’s very friendly, his name is Ted.

And Daniel, the dragon, has made his lair

In my toy box, over there.

In my top drawer, among the socks

Lives an eight-eyed squengie, whose name is Jock.

In the wardrobe, where it’s very dim

Lives Colin, but he’s never in.

Outside in our garden shed

Lives a monster I call Spongy Fred.

This monster’s name is Norma Hubbard

She hides inside the airing cupboard.

Jim, with a face like an alligator

Snuggles beside the radiator.

This in Nicola, covered in hair

She lurks in the shadows beneath the stair.

Lastly there’s Roger, I like him a lot

He lives inside our old tea pot.

So monsters, whether big or small

Needn’t frighten us at all.

Just remember to be polite

And don’t forget to say goodnight.

THE BOGEYMAN by Jack Prelutsky

 

In the desolate depths of a perilous place

The bogeyman lurks with a snarl on his face.

Never dare, never dare, to approach his dark lair

For he’s waiting ..... just waiting....to get you.

 

He skulks in the shadows, relentless and wild

In his search for a tender, delectable child.

With his steely sharp claws and his slavering jaws

Oh, he’s waiting....just waiting....to get you.

 

Many have entered his dreary domain

But not even one has been heard from again

They no doubt made a feast for the butchering beast

And he’s waiting....just waiting.....to get you.

 

In that sulphurous, sunless and sinister place

He’ll crumple your bones in his bogey embrace

Never, never go near, if you hold your life dear

For oh...what he’ll do....when he gets you!

CHECK by James Stephens

 

The night was creeping on the ground;

She crept, and did not make a sound.

Until she reached the tree, and then

She covered it, and stole again

Along the grass beside the wall,

I heard the rustle of her shawl

As she threw blackness everywhere

Upon the sky and ground and air,

And in the room where I was hid.

But no matter what she did

To everything that was without

She could not put my candle out

So I stared at the night, and she

Stared back, solemnly, at me.

THERE’S A MONSTER IN THE GARDEN by David Harmer

 

If the water in your fishpond fizzes and foams,

And there’s giant teeth marks in the plastic gnomes,

You’ve found huge claw prints in the flower beds

And just caught sight of a two horned head.

Put a stick in your front lawn, with a piece of card on

Look out everybody – there’s a monster in the garden.

 

You haven’t seen the dustman for several weeks,

Haven’t seen the gasman who was looking for leaks.

Haven’t seen the paper girl, postman or plumber,

Haven’t seen the window cleaner since last Summer.

Don’t mean to be nasty. I do beg your pardon.

Look out everybody – there’s a monster in the garden.

 

One dark night it will move in downstairs,

Start living in the kitchen, take you unawares.

Frighten you, bite on you, with howls and roars,

It will crash about, smash about, push you out of doors.

 

Now listen to me neighbour, all of this is true.

It happened next door, now it’s happening to you.

There’s something nasty on the compost heap

Spends all day there, curled up asleep.

You don’t want your bones crunched or jarred on

LOOK OUT EVERYBODY

THERE’S A MONSTER IN THE GARDEN.

JABBERWOCKY (an extract) by Lewis Carroll

 

‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves

And the mome raths outgrabe.

 

Beware the jabberwock my son

The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the jubjub bird, and shun

The frumious bandersnatch!

BUILDING A DRAGON by Charles Thompson

 

Once I built a dragon, three times the size of you,

I made him out of cardboard and chicken wire and glue.

It took me weeks and weeks and weeks until I got him right.

I hid him in the loft by day and worked on him at night.

The cardboard came from boxes I asked the grocer for.

I borrowed tins of paint from Mr Brown next door.

It took me weeks and weeks and weeks (well, four at least – no five!)

And then I got a nasty shock, the dragon came alive.

It burst out through the roof – so I could see the stars,

Went crashing down the road and damaged several cars.

I’ve looked for him for weeks and weeks. Where did my dragon go?

If anyone has seen him, will they kindly let me know?

THE TOY EATER by Shel Silverstein

 

You don’t have to pick up your toys, okay?

You can leave ‘em right there on the floor.

So tonight when the terrible, toy-eatin’ tookie

Comes tiptoein’ in through the crack in the door,

He’ll crunch all your soldiers, he’ll munch all your trucks,

He’ll chew your poor puppets to shreds,

He’ll swallow your big wheel and slurp up your paints,

And bite off your dear dollies’ heads.

Then he’ll wipe off his lips with the sails of your ship,

And making a burpity noise,

He’ll slither away – but hey, that’s okay,

You don’t have to pick up your toys.

THE CATAPILLOW by Roger McGough

 

A catapillow is a useful pet

To keep upon your bed.

Each night you simply

Fluff him up

Then rest

Your weary head.

THE WHO’Z WHO OF THE HORRIBLE HOUSE by Wes McGee

 

Inside

The

Horrible

House

There is

An awful aquamarine apparition absailing

A bug-eyed beige bogeyman boxing

A crackling crimson cockroach creeping

A disgusting damson Dracula dancing

An eerie emerald elf electrocuting

A floppy flame Frankenstein fencing

A grotty green ghost groaning

A haunting hazel hag hammering

An insane indigo imp ice-screaming

A jittery jade jackal juggling

A kinky khaki king knitting

A loony lime leprechaun lassoing

A monocled maroon madman marching

A nightmarish navy nasty nipping

An outrageous orange ogre oozing

A phoolish purple phantom phoning

A quadruple quicksilver quagga quaking

A revolting red rattlesnake rock n rolling

A spotty scarlet spectre spitting

A terrible turquoise troll trampolining

An ugly umber uncle umpiring

A violent violet vampire vibrating

A whiskery white werewolf windsurfing

An exciting xanthic exoskeleton exploding

A yukky yellow yak yelling

A zitty zinc zombie zapping

Inside

The

Horrible

House !

THE BRUSHBABY by Roger McGough

 

The Brushbaby

Lives under the stairs

On a diet of dust

And old dog hairs.

 

In darkness, dreading

The daily chores,

Of scrubbing steps

And kitchen floors.

 

Dreaming of beauty

Parlours and stardom,

Doomed to a life

Of petty chardom.

THE BUG CHANT by Tony Mitton

 

Red bugs, bed bugs, find them on your head bugs.

Green bugs, mean bugs, lanky, long and lean bugs.

Pink bugs, sink bugs, swimming in your drink bugs.

Yellow bugs, mellow bugs, lazy little fellow bugs.

White bugs, night bugs, buzzing round the light bugs.

Black bugs, slack bugs, climbing up your back bugs.

Blue bugs, goo bugs, find them in your shoe bugs.

Thin bugs, fat bugs, hiding in your hat bugs.

Big bugs, small bugs, crawling on your wall bugs.

Smooth bugs, hairy bugs, flying like a fairy bugs.

Garden bugs, house bugs, lumpy little louse bugs.

Fierce bugs, tame bugs, some without a name bugs.

Far bugs, near bugs, “What’s this over here?” bugs.

Whine bugs, drone bugs, write some of your own bugs.

Bzzzzzzzzzz......

HORRIBLE THINGS by Roy Fuller

“What’s the horriblest thing you’ve ever seen?”

Said Nell to Jean.

“Some grey coloured, trodden on plasticine

Or a plate of left-over cold baked beans.

A cloak-room ticket numbered thirteen.

A slice of meat without any lean.

The smile of a spiteful fairy-tale queen.

A thing in the sea like a brown submarine.

A cheese fur-coated in brilliant green.

A bluebottle perched on a piece of sardine.”

Said Jean.

“What’s the horriblest thing you’ve ever seen?”

Said Jean to Nell

“Your face, as you tell

Of all the horriblest things you’ve seen.”

Said Nell.

 

CAT IN THE DARK by Margaret Mahy

Mother, Mother, What was that?

Hush my darling! Only the cat!

Fighty bitey, ever so mighty

Out in the mooney dark.

 

Mother, Mother, What was that?

Hush my darling! Only the cat!

Prowley, yowley, sleepy, creepy,

Fighty bitey, ever so mighty

Out in the mooney dark.

 

 

Mother, Mother, What was that?

Hush my darling! Only the cat!

Sneaky, peeky, cosy, dozy.

Prowley, yowley, sleepy, creepy,

Fighty bitey, ever so mighty

Out in the mooney dark.

 

Mother, Mother, What was that?

Hush my darling! Only the cat!

Patchy, scratchy, furry, purry,

Sneaky, peeky, cosy, dozy.

Prowley, yowley, sleepy, creepy,

Fighty bitey, ever so mighty

Out in the mooney dark.

THE SEA MONSTER’S SNACK by Charles Thompson

Deep down upon his sandy bed

The monster turned his slimy head,

Grinned and licked his salty lip

And ate another bag of ships.

A YOUNG MAN FROM BERWICK-ON-TWEED by Michael Palin

A Young man from Berwick-On-Tweed

Kept a very strange thing on a lead

He was never once seen

To give it a clean

Or anything else it might need.

THE SLITHERGADEE by Shel Silverstein

The Slithergadee has crawled out of the sea

He may catch all the others, but he won’t catch me.

No you won’t catch ne old Slithergadee;

You may catch all the others, but you wo.......

BEDTIME by Allan Ahlberg

When I go upstairs to bed

I usually give a loud cough

That is to scare the monster off

When I come to my room

I usually slam the door right back

That is to squash the man in black

Who sometimes hides there

Nor do I walk to the bed

But usually run and jump instead

This is to stop the hand

Which is under there all right

From grabbing my ankles.

 

 

NIGHTMARE by Siv Widerberg

I never say his name out loud

and don’t tell anybody

I always close all the drawers

and look behind the door before I go to bed

I cross my toes and count to eight

and turn the pillows over three times

Still he comes sometimes

one two three

like a shot

glaring at me with his eyes

grating with his nails

and sneering his big sneer

the Scratch Man.

Oh-oh now I said his name!

Mama, I can’t sleep

A MONSTER ALPHABET by Gervase Phinn

A is for – ALIEN, arriving by air

B is for – BASILISK, with the deadliest stare

C is for – CYCLOPS , he’s only one eye

D is for - DRAGON, he’ll light up the sky

E is for – EXTRATERRESTRIAL creatures

F is for - FRANKENSTEIN of the frightening features

G is for – GRIFFIN, a lion with a beak

H is for – HYDRA, the many headed freak

I is for – INVISIBLE SPIRITS of the night

J is for – JACK-O-LANTERN, that bright little sprite

K is for – KELPIE, with the great shining teeth

L is for – LOCH NESS, and the monster beneath

M is for – MERMAID, who appears from the deep

N is for – NIGHTMARE, that troubles our sleep

O is for – OPERA PHANTOM, who sings

P is for – PHOENIX, with fiery wings

Q is for – QUASIMODO, who swings from his bell

R is for – ROC, the great bird from hell

S is for – SANDMAN, he’ll steal every dream

T is for – TROLL,’neath the bridge by the stream

U is for – UNICORN, with her long horn of gold

V is for – VAMPIRE, in his tomb dark and cold

W is for – WEREWOLF, who howls ‘neath the sky

X is for – XANTHUS, the horse who can fly

Y is for – YETI, that abominable beast

Z is for – ZOMBIE, the last but not least.

QUESTION TIME by Michaela Morgan

What does a monster look like?

Well ....hairy and scary,

And furry and burly and pimply and dimply and warty and naughty and wrinkled and crinkled....

That’s what a monster looks like.

How does a monster move?

It oozes, it shambles,

It crawls and it ambles, it slouches and shuffles and trudges, it lumbers and toddles, it creeps and it waddles.....

That’s how a monster moves.

Where does a monster live?

In garden sheds, under beds......

In wardrobes, in plugholes, and ditches, beneath city streets, just under your feet......

That’s where a monster lives.

How does a monster eat?

It slurps and it burps,

And gobbles and gulps, and sips and swallows and scoffs, it nibbles and munches

That’s how a monster eats.

What does a monster eat?

Slugs and bats,

And bugs and rats, and stones and mud and bones and blood and squelchy squids.....and nosy kids

YUM!

That’s what a monster eats.