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If All The World Were by Joseph Coelho and Allison Colpoys

Joseph Coelho appeared on 鶹Լ Authors Live to read his poetry book If All The World Were. In this guide we will learn about:

  • how to come up with ideas for your own poems and stories

  • words and pictures telling a story

  • how writing can help you deal with difficult events and feelings

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What is the book about?

If All The World Were is a picture book about a little girl who loves her grandad, and what she does to remember him when he dies.

Watch Joseph read the story on 鶹Լ Authors Live.

Joseph Coelho reads 'If All The World Were...'

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How are picture books made?

Some books only have words, and some books also have pictures, which can be drawings or photographs. Drawings in books are called illustrations, and the person who draws them is called an . Allison Colpoys is the artist who drew the illustrations in this book.

Joseph Coelho is a poet, and his stories often use rhymes and rhythms which mean they are great to read aloud. He is the writer who wrote the story in this book.

Spider diagrams

Joseph shared a great way of coming up with ideas for a story called a spider diagram. Watch how he explained this on Authors Live, and have your pencil and paper ready to try it out for yourself!

Joseph Coelho shows how to create a spider diagram, which helps him write his poems

Make your own

Can you create a spider diagram of words? It's a helpful first step in making a poem, or a story, of your own.

You can draw or write the ideas down, but getting them on paper is the main thing!

Think of a starting word, and let your imagination go wild! Let's see where it will take you!

Watch Joseph Coelho lead the Authors Live audience through making a spider diagram

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All about memories

If All The World Were… sees the little girl in the story remembering things she liked to do with her grandad. These memories become even more precious to her after he dies.

She remembers:

  • playing racing cars with her grandad

  • walking with her grandad, holding his hand

  • listening to her grandad's stories

Writing about memories that make us happy can help when we feel sad. In this story, the girl uses her imagination and memory to make a beautiful story, even although something very sad has happened.

Memory poems

If you made a spider diagram using the video above, you could start to build your very own memory poem.

Think about times when you were very happy, or even times when you were very sad, and use the words you've written down to help you.

If you've written words like 'butterfly', you might remember a time when you were in a garden on a summer's day, or you might remember making paper butterflies at school. If you've written words like 'football', you might remember scoring a goal or playing with your friends.

The memories and ideas are all there, waiting for you to play with them and create something new. Why not give it a try!

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Time for a Story: How To Be Harry's Friend. audio

Harry and Isaac had been together since the first day of school. But what do you do if something sad happens to your best friend?

Time for a Story: How To Be Harry's Friend

Listen, read and share this short poem in our Word Waves series

Argument by Joseph Coelho

Understanding Poetry with Joseph Coelho

Joseph Coelho explains how poetry is relatable, fun, and achievable in these clips from 鶹Լ Teach.

Understanding Poetry with Joseph Coelho
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