The Magic Box is Wright’s best-known poem for children. It is often read in schools, and Wright himself often does readings of the poem. His poems for children are much beloved, by turns comic, silly, sad, and magical. The Magic Box’ is probably Kit Wright’s best known poem. Just like the magic box, his poetry contains an extraordinary collection of contrasts.

You can put anything in the box – a snowman, dragon’s fire, even the first smile of a baby. The box can be made of anything you want – stars, secrets, or dinosaur toes. In the box, you can do anything – even surf! – no matter how strange or impossible it might seem. The imaginative poem ‘The Magic Box’ by Kit Weight provides a wonderful opportunity to appreciate, perform and compose a fantasy poem. These resources are presented beautifully to also evoke an individual written response from the learners. There are plenty of jokes and things to smile about. In Kit’s books you’ll meet a cast of crazy characters, including the dreadful Dave Dirt. And like Dave, the poems are never afraid of a bit of slobber or snot.Kit’s other poem ‘Watch Your French’ is very amusing and I am sure children would love it. The structure of the poem is clever starting with the narrator’s mother pouring fat on her foot and the using direct speech saying what she didn’t say in quite a sarcastic manner. Children could explore using speech marks in their poem and look at the position of the author and how that impacts the poem. Children could think of similar incidents and attempt to make their own poems with humor. This poem could be used for KS1 and early KS2 as the language is less complicated. The poem could be read as a whole class focusing on syllables or expression. Presentation B provides an opportunity to concentrate on the final 3 verses of the model poem - the ‘impossible things’ verse, what their box is made of and where they will travel in their box.

Wright’s reading voice is an example of what “well-spoken” refers to. He is clearly aware of the assumptions this can lead to, teasing himself for it in ‘How the Wild South-East Was Lost’, which he introduces as an attempt “to describe my upbringing as though it had been other than soft.” Other introductions include explanations of references, inspirations, and allusions to other poems – or songs. One of the high points, ‘The Orbison Consolations’, suggests to the singer of ‘Only the Lonely’ that he should restrain his hyperbole, giving a list of other types of people who, right up to “lastly the ghastly / Know the way you feel tonight.” The fate of the Supermarket Market Manager; I thought this was a fun description of an overly generous Shop Manager that ends up getting fired because of his good nature, it encompasses very good examples of rhyming prose for students learning the nature of poems. Following this you could get students to write a poem about their own quirky character in a similar style to this example. I have looked at three poems from Kit Wright to explore his style: 'The Sea in the Trees, Watch your French', Heads or TailsKit Wright (b. 1944) is the author of more than twenty-five books, for both adults and children, and the winner of awards including an Arts Council Writers’ Award, the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize, the Hawthornden Prize, the Alice Hunt Bartlett Award and (jointly) the Heinemann Award. After a scholarship to Oxford, he worked as a lecturer in Canada, then returned to England and a position in the Poetry Society. He is currently a full-time writer. The Poem “Sea in the Trees” describes an old man sitting in the shade of a large ash tree, dreaming of the sea. I enjoyed reading this poem because of its strong connection to nature making it very soothing and relaxing. There are some good uses of rhyme with ‘made’ and ‘shade’, and ‘tree’ and ‘sea’. The poem very cleverly links the tree to the sea, harbor and a ship through various literary devices such as imagery and personification. This poem is suitable for KS2, not so much KS1. Children could be asked try and identify any literary devices, they can perform the poem themselves or make their own poem based on the main theme from Wright’s poem. Rhyming words can be analyzed, words that may be unknown could be explored. Children can review the poem saying why they liked it or not. The meaning of the poem: what the poet is trying to do, can be explored. Kit Wright (b.1944) is an award-winning English author, who writes for both children and adults. Following a scholarship to Oxford, Wright became a lecturer in Canada, before returning the England to work as a full-time writer with a position in the Poetry Society. Prior to writing The Magic Box he had already won many awards, including the Faber Memorial Prize (1978), the Arts Council Writers Award (1985), the Heinemann Award (1990) and the Hawthornden Prize (1991). I have also provided a simple comprehension task which can be used to aid comprehension of the model poem if required. There are many opportunities for incidental learning e.g. grammar and word choice particularly adjectives, powerful verbs, similes and alliteration.

Additional tip : Print off nets of cubes and cuboids ( photocopiable card ) and ask children to decorate their magic boxes then assemble them. A great poem to read aloud and perfect for children to use as a starting point for their own poetry. This book has a vast collection of poems, in a variety of shapes, sizes and styles, rhyming and non-rhyming suitable for different age groups. The book would be an excellent addition to support the subjects across the National Curriculum, particularly to stimulate the children’s imagination and also boost literacy and children’s comprehension of abstract words and settings.It leads the learners through each verse and encourages them to appreciate the rich language of the poet. A web link is provided for learners to see and hear the original poet perform the poem. The initial written task is to compose 3 verses based on the model - learners concentrate on feelings, creatures, the natural world - What would they put in their box? I have provided opportunities for children to work with their talking partners to support their composition.