NIGHT & DAY A collection of our writing and ideas for your own
INTRODUCTION N
Cr ight
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Cause
may
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Night mares Day
un like be
hem ant
This book is for you. It’s full of stories, poems, ideas, tips and prompts to get you writing. It includes writing from over 70 children and young people from Brighton & Hove at Little Green Pig and from Grimm & Co in Rotherham in Yorkshire. Flick through it, read it, scribble in it and on it. Get thinking, get writing and have fun.
no thing any
- both by Sophie Ash
NIGHT CONTENT 04 06 08 16 18 20 24 26
My favourite thing about night time is... Night haiku Night stories I am Talismans Night poems Randomised poems Story making
Please turn the booklet over for Day -2-
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…the silence and unknown factors about the night. - Sophie
MY FAVOURITE THING ABOUT NIGHT TIME IS...
…that I don’t have to go to school. - Alastair
…parties. - Ollie …the night casts shadows spiralling high, whose peaks pierce the inky sky above. - Rebecca
…the rare occasions when I get to go out with friends. Or the sound of nothing – silence is the best. - Stephanie
…playing video games without being disturbed. - Courtney
...sleeping on a marshmallow bed. - Ramy
…sneaky reading and dreaming. - Lily
…you get to sleep. - Suzie, Amarah, Kiera, Esmee …watching telly. - Max …having crazy dreams. - Sienna ...seeing shimmering lights below whilst on a plane. - Ashton … cuddling my teddy Princess Cuddles. - Nica
These are some of our favourite things about night time. What are yours? Write a list below... …getting to sleep before one o’clock a.m. - Emma
…the stars. - Ashton
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NIGHT HAIKU Everyone likes night The house is lonely and dark I see stars tonight - Matilda Blaho-Wacira
Silence in the night In silence two pandas sleep Enjoying their peace - Martha Gebremariam
The clowns are watching Holding their rainbow balloons In flickering light Staring towards the dim night
It is time to strike - Johnny Jones
Waking up to school
A haiku is a poem of three lines that don’t rhyme, and originally comes from Japan. Each line is made up of a certain number of syllables, or beats within the word. The syllable pattern looks like this: Line 1: 5 syllables
Try writing a haiku about night – or about whatever you feel like!
Line 2: 7 syllables Line 3: 5 syllables
- Haydn Burrell-Ashbee
A fox wreaks havoc Scavenging in the rubbish Then it runs away - Olive Hole
I don’t like night time It’s discombobulating Warriors come out - Vasilios Takas
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NIGHT STORIES Warning: some of these stories are a bit creepy. You might NOT want to read them at night time!
11th June One of the worst things about sleep is when you watch a horror movie, and then you go to bed. For some weird reason, your brain seems to think that on that night, that night precisely, the night you watched the horror movie, the horror in the movie will come and attack you. You think to yourself that it is just silly, but it just won’t go away. You look at the things in your bedroom, and you imagine they are faces. Just the patterns and shadows make it look like something else. This is the scariest part usually, but not in my story. You hide under your duvet, but then it gets too hot, which means that you can’t sleep, and that means you have to bear that torture all night long. This goes on for about three days, and every time you get less and less spooked. This is exactly what happened on June the 11th, the worst time to be spooked, as it is midsummer, and about the hottest that it can get. I was listening to the noises of the house. I could hear the fridge buzzing, the dog next door barking, and the TV blaring downstairs, my parents watching it. Outside was a warm humid evening, and the sun was slowly sinking into the ground. The last noises of day disappeared into thin air. Silence. Suddenly there was a loud blow of wind. I checked outside. None of the trees were swaying. I got back into bed and listened for any more noises. It came again! That same
whooshing noise! I sat up. This was not a noise that I heard every night. Perhaps it was mum coming upstairs to get something, but I could still hear her laughter downstairs. What was it? I stared around my bedroom. I was alone. It was now ten o’clock, and it was getting late. I lay down trying to forget about the noise. Then it started going constantly. Then it stopped. Suddenly a loud, low groan echoed across my bedroom. The TV had stopped downstairs, and the dog had stopped barking. There was another loud groan, this time, coming from the hallway. I got out of my bed, and turned on my lamp. My feet sank into the carpet, as I tiptoed across the room and peeked outside. A tall man was standing outside my door. He had a mouldy torn brown suit on and his shoes had so many holes in, it didn’t look like he was wearing any. He had two eye sockets, one with an eye, and one without. His tongue was hanging out of his mouth, and he had only a few hairs on his pale head. He was the most terrifying thing that I had ever seen. Then I noticed he only had one arm. His other arm was blurred, coming out of the old tapestry. Then I realized something that shocked me so much, my jaw dropped. This man, was my great-great-great-grandfather.
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My great-great-great- grandfather was on this tapestry. My mum had made it in memory of him. In a low voice he said, “I’ve rotted in there for hundreds of years, and now I’m back. Now I’m hungry.” And he went downstairs in search of food. I panicked. There was a zombie, in my house, looking for food. Suddenly, there was a scream downstairs. Tears rolled down my cheeks, as I knew they had been taken. I started looking in my room for something sharp. I searched high and low, but I could not find anything. Then I looked at the painting on the wall. I grabbed my money box and I threw it at the painting. It shattered and
pieces of glass fell to the floor. I took off my t-shirt and wrapped it around the bottom end of the biggest piece of glass that I could find. I could hear footsteps coming up the stairs. The monster was obviously still hungry. I held my weapon tight in my hand, ready to strike. There was silence. I walked slowly towards the hallway, my weapon in my hand. The monster was gone! A wide smile spread across my face. But it soon disappeared as the large piece of glass was snatched out of my hands and plunged through my chest from behind me. I fell to the ground and closed my eyes, and I never opened them again. - Rosie Merat
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Home sweet home They trudge along one dimly lit street, the air icy cold sending a shiver up their spines. The darkness that manifests around them is isolating as they leave the street. They wish they were more excited to go home. Their mind an endless black hole, for all thoughts would get completely lost and replaced by paranoia. They shoot left and right, their eyes darting, searching nothing. They approach a cardboard box, just slightly underneath, rotting from the restless weather, torn from the previous winds. They crawl in and lie down and try to become oblivious. For once they can be in something that is fair. A dream. What? I never said that this person actually had a proper home? Not everyone does. - Emma Roberts
Mad dream I closed my eyes and a heavy dream swooned over me. My eyes shot open. Bright colours filled my head. I was blinded. Colourless. Everything was black and white. The night, the sky, everything. Suddenly, I flinched and the colours snapped back. Relief clung to me like a tight coat. It may have been my imagination but the colours shone. I reached forward. The world spun around me. Getting faster and faster. I was flung off my feet and off upwards. Not stopping at all. I landed. Looking up, it seemed as if I was on the moon. I laughed to myself – wondering if I was ill or just mad. I lowered my head, stiff on the floor. A small dark shadow loomed above me. An axe was raised… I woke up, clasping for air. I was in my room – in bed. It was only a mad dream! I looked up and an axe swung down… - Ashton Read
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The Midnight Strike Enclosed in the moon’s hand a pride of ferocious T-Rexes sleep in the gleam of the moon. All was silent, no sound could have been heard, nature was death. But soon a twig dropped, the sound was rising slowly then faster. Something was wrong, something was coming. Something was coming quicker than ever. None of the T-Rexes could have heard this, nothing could have heard it, the only evidence was the twigs falling on and on. Soon, there was evidence of the cause, the eye was showing slowly, they were as blue as the ocean. More were coming, one of the T-Rexes, the leader, was starting to come out of the clutches of sleep. Finally, it had risen.
The T-Rex crunched onto the hand before its main weapon arose. This battle was close but this battle needed a winner. Suddenly the T-Rex went for the kill, coming to life like lightning striking the i360. Then the T-Rex flipped the Spinosaurus and gave a killer bite with 70 razor sharp bananasized teeth and sliced the belly in two. He got the heart out and shredded it like 1000 shredding machines. The other T-Rexes were awake. The leader T-Rex was too old be leader any longer so he gave the leadership to his epic son. - Charlie Jones
It was the devil of the river, Spinosaurus. It had a sail like a dead hill getting thinner and thinner. Its hooked claw jabbed fish and dinosaurs that were too weak to fight. Suddenly, the two of the holy fighters stared eagerly at each other. It was the beginning of the greatest battle at night. The T-Rex was getting ready to strike, but the Spinosaurus was going for a jab in the neck. But when it hit it could have been fatal.
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Sandra It was late evening and Sandra (a poor Roman girl) was running from a shopkeeper who she has stolen some food from. She turns a corner and she finds herself at a dead end. She turns around to find the shopkeeper holding a kitchen knife, she charges and rugby tackles him. She climbs a building and runs across the rooftops until she gets to a hut and falls asleep. Two days after palace guards and the shopkeeper come to capture her. She faints and awakes to find the dead bodies of the palace guards and shopkeeper lying around her. She heads to the library and takes a book and starts to read.
This is what it says: “It is a legend that when children of the god of death Pluto become sad, angry or scared, they turn into a vicious beast.” She shuts the book immediately and starts to think “Am I a child of Pluto?” She storms out of the library and goes to the palace where she overhears guards talking about capturing her. She runs out of the palace crying. Then, she goes to the forest and comes up with a plan to kill the guards and the emperor. She charges into the palace entrance and lets loose. She feels the beast’s emotions and bloodlust but then she feels a stab of pain and all her senses shut down.
Hello Reader, I am Sam, the writer of the story you just read. You are probably wondering how I came up with it. Well, I don’t remember- it probably just popped into my head. So, go forth and write your hands off!
Can you write a story that is set at night time? It can be as creepy or uncreepy as you like.
Write your night story...
- Sam MacIntyre
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I AM POEMS I am I am my brother haunting me in the night I am the wind blowing vigorously I am watching the gaps of my black-out blinds with cars passing by, leaving light, then shadows I am the wolf howling in the night I am Mr Potamous, squeaking
Eerie I am the animals coming out of the trees I am the people under my bed I am the uncanny, eerie spooky shadows I am pyjamas that are so comfortable I am a fluffy pink teddy bear I am a white night that is magical I am an owl that hoots and flutters I am a soft and cosy pillow I am shooting luminous stars that glitter in the night. - Nica Francisco
I am dogs barking at passing shadows from the trees swaying. - Kiera Vickers
Now your turn to write a night ‘I am’ poem. Answer these questions, leaving a margin-like blank gap on the left side when you write your answers. 1. What can you hear at night? 2. What can you see at night? 3. What do you feel at night? 4. What can you taste at night? 5. What can you smell at night? Now write ‘I am’ in front of each of the lines and you’ve got yourself a poem! Thanks to Francesca Frediani at La Grande Fabbrica delle Parole for inspiring us.
Fox I am a fox silhouette, lurking in the shadows I am a pest, a scavenger, a dangerous thing
Write your I AM poem here...
One you may have heard of but never seen. I am scavenging at your bin I am a gloved thing Never will you see me till it is too late. - Matilda Blaho-Wacira
I am Night I am night I am dark, black, wild and quiet I have black clouds, dark trees, and twilight stars I do love lurking in the shadows and being scary I am night. - Ulla Birnie
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TALISMANS Midnight fly
Lion Spy
When I am somewhere far away from home and feeling freaked out –
Protects against evil nightmares
the yellow colour in my talisman makes me feel brave. I chose the horse as when it’s trotting I feel really drowsy and I fall on a soft, warm cuddly bed. The blue reminds me of my friends at school and makes me feel happy. To use my talisman you have to say ‘talisman, talisman, I’m really scared.’ - Payton Scrivens
Feathers to give soft protection against attacking monsters A lion to roar loudly to scare away the monsters Bolts are for the defence against the nightmares The pipe cleaner is for electric fence
Can you make a talisman to help people fall asleep?
My lion spy is to fight against nightmares
• First, start by thinking about what helps you sleep
To make it work, you have to trust it. - Amarah Larong
Gorilla
Nightmare Frightener
If you hug the helpful gorilla it gives you bananas,
Keep the animal in the box.
Full of the most powerful sweets in the eternal night. The gorilla opens your mouth and makes you eat it So it helps you sleep peacefully as a serene lizard. I have chosen stripy yellow, red and orange because it reminds me of my granny Because she sometimes has these colours on her jacket. My granny makes fantastic dreams. - Theo Roberts Grinyer
Midnight flight The leopard gives me the courage to fight with a monster. I wear this at night time, it is comfortable.
A talisman is an enchanted magical item with special powers. Often people wear talismans: they might be a necklace, bracelet, or crown.
Cuddle it when you go to bed.
• Make your talisman using anything you find around the house. Pipe cleaners, plastic toy animals, and even wonky paper clips could all be magic… • Combine the powerful elements you have found into your own talisman, thinking carefully about how every part helps you sleep. What makes each element so powerful? • Write instructions for your talisman so that wearers know what it is called, what it’s made out of, and what its magical properties are. Are there any magical words you need to say to make your talisman more effective?
Hold it by the pom-pom so it doesn’t smash It’s made of pipe cleaners and was really hard to make The triceratops daunts the monsters He got back in the box.
Write your TALISMAN poem here...
- Oscar Allgaier
My talisman This necklace represents sleepiness and happiness. The polar bear is for cuddliness and softness. So if you close your mind and imagine, you will get to sleep. - Paula Leathers
- Sienna Cheverton
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NIGHT POEMS Super Night
Unknowingly
I woke up once, but I didn’t. I was half awake. I rolled over ‘THUD!’ but there wasn’t. I was floating in mid-air. Yes. In mid-air. I didn’t know what was happening But I did. It was strange. My eyes. My eyes they were burning up. I closed them. Feeling my way for the window. I slip out the window. Silent. Streetlights glowing in the darkness. ‘THUD!’ And there was no one this time. Lights out.
My body wakes up, Unknowingly I slowly walked into the kitchen I reached into the cupboard Waving my hand around Until I hit my hand on a box Still asleep I grab the box of cupcakes Which sat on the highest shelf Slowly lifting the lid The cupcakes lay in the box After picking them up One by one and Shoving them into my mouth Licking my lips Taking in all the flavours Which had just entered my mouth Slowly I made my way To my bed again Still unknowingly My body was awake Nearing my bed I – “Ow” I screamed Waking myself up I stare At the door that stood in front of me The pain in my toe was unreal Tears lined my eyes However I am stuck wondering “How did I get here?”
- Ramy Elshafie
Don’t leave the window open Don’t leave the window open For phantoms may come Along with owls and vampires To haunt those Who forget to close the window At night time. Don’t leave the window open In case a sea of shadows arrive A storm leaking through the pane Covering that in its path, Echoing around the otherwise Silent room.
Ache Don’t leave the window open The hinges rattling, colliding Leaving the room in uproar Casting silhouettes, steeples spiralling high upon the skyline. Don’t leave the window open Stars will dance in the night sky In the infinite realm, above, beyond Perpetual darkness looming, ready… Would you leave the window open? - Rebecca Bushby
Don’t leave the window open, The nightmare may return The unrivalled atmosphere It brings with it. Whispers hush throughout the home As spirits dance in the moonlight
I walk along the sleeping road Trying to push my way through the darkness The deafening silence rattles in my ears While blinding darkness aches my eyes My eyes scream at my head Begging me to close them I run towards my haunting door Quickly open it and slam it behind me Suddenly realising that everyone is asleep I dash upstairs and throw myself Onto my bed And force my eyes shut Instantly distracted by the booming scream Of two dogs carelessly chatting. - Stephanie Holden
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- Sophie Ash
Write your poem here... 静夜思 Silent Night Thinking 李白 Li Ba 床前明月光 疑是地上霜 举头望明月 低头思故乡
Bright moonlight before my bed. Dare say that frost is aground I raise my head to see the moon Lower my head, I think of my home - Ollie Dean’s own interpretation of Li Ba’s Chinese poem
Midnight Fireworks Bending down, my PJs Eating a midnight feast. Dreadful lightning strikes Down my window Trembling knees in my bed Imagining I’m asleep.
Moon Unicorn Pyjamas look really cute On babies Especially unicorn pyjamas You always eat chocolate chip cookies Before bedtime Especially unicorn cookies Jelly is poisonous For baby unicorns But only ice cream can cure the unicorns
See how different all these poems about night are? Poetry can ignore rules like punctuation, sentences and paragraphs. Let your mind wander and write some night poetry – rhyme if you want, but you don’t have to. Poetry is free.
After day, when it’s midnight, Unicorns need to hide – If they don’t they will turn evil. If you dare cut off a unicorn’s glamorous horn, You’ll have bad luck for eternity.
Narcissists
Narcissists looking at themselves Ice cold midnight Geminis seeking crimes to solve Howling werewolves at midnight Teeming drunks in pubs.
Magic is very precious for unicorns. Adam is a night unicorn. Suzanna is my proper name, But I like the name Moon Unicorn.
- Isabelle Wilson
- Suzie Zak
Moonlight shines Through my window
Night cycle
Never ending darkness In Osiris’ eyes he sees you Golden dreams Hearts denied To the Underworld
I was sleeping on a burning armchair And moved to a bunk bed I saw a half moon moving I felt a killer clown touching me Under my bunk bed Then I heard a snowy owl hooting It was a nightmare within a nightmare Then I got splattered with water and woke up.
I put on my pyjamas As bunnies bounce outside Entering through my door. - Melissa Kuzan
- Jasmine Arnold-Clark
I saw a fox I saw a fox while feeding on my bunk bed a zombie ate a unicorn in my dream the unicorn became a zombie unicorn which flies and flies to the night sky to play with the lovely white fluffy fox
- Alfonzo Larong
- Antoine Larong
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RANDOMISED POEMS Owls by Dylan Bartha
Nightmares by Willow Player
Owls fly in the sky They live and then they die They are cute, they are fluffy
Midnight is still the best time of the year
My mum pops in to say ‘goodnight’
If you’re in lunar, shed a tear
But it is already midnight
Scary monsters under your bed
It is quiet… no sound is around
Owls fly in the sky
The deafening silence will hurt your head
Except the twit-twoo coming from the owl
Dark demons live and die
Ghosts are the ones that snap your spine
Demon babies are not cute
When you’re asleep they mess with your mind
Shooting stars are not fluffy
And make you have nightmares.
When you say goodnight you look like a guppie
The noise is dancing through the darkness Waking up all the demons Making ghosts dance around me They dance into the lunar light I can see With shooting stars all around me
Take some small pieces of paper or you can use post-it notes. On each piece of paper write a word about the nighttime – for example, ‘moon’ or ‘dark’, or anything you think of. Now scrunch these up. Pick one at random, and write a line with that word in it. Do this a second, third, fourth time – however long you want your poem to be. This is fun if you do it with a group of people as you can see the different sentences made coming from just one word.
I don’t want to sleep The nightmares wait for me When I get to sleep The nightmares will take over me
Write your poem here...
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STORY MAKING Our Monday Club have come up with some elements of a story and have written the beginning of the story. Can you write an ending? Character 1: Zack Darkender. Zack is a nice 23 year old monster, but everyone is scared of him. He looks like a dragon and has eyeballs that look like brains.
Plot summary: the Birthday Queen has a sugar rush, falls into dark side toxic waste, gets scared and then finds Zack in the bin.
She mixed the sparkly dust in the saucepan on her desk with ten tons of sugar. The potion looked like a rolledup spiky hedgehog. She drank it and turned into a horned-like creature with arms like spikes and scaly skin. She smelt like a skunk.
She went out of her room. Everybody looked at her like she was a freak. When she went angry she turned bigger. The people all ran away. She decided to go into the toxic wasteland. She planned to use the hot rocks to make a minion army. She made a minion that had wings, so it could turn the sky into acid. The toxic potion was spreading inside her and made her heart start turning black and evil. The minion army was growing bigger and stronger to build a death castle for the Queen and kill all the candy people. The Queen flew through the air and sprayed her skunk smell on them. She won the battle because all the people she killed came back looking different and evil. She went back to her castle and her heart turned fully evil and she ruled all the planets forever.
Character 2: Laser Monster Queen of Birthdays. She is rainbow coloured with blue wings and a unicorn horn. She pukes out rainbow waterfall and poops out candy. She has laser eyes that change colour depending on her mood.
Setting: A gummy-bear shaped edible world. One side is sour candy, the other side is dark with toxic waste and meletric acid. There are cotton candy trees, chocolate waterfall and animals made of candy.
Here are some other endings written by our Monday club:
- Max Newman
Story beginning: The Birthday Queen was making her own secret candy. She was in her special magic room, opening all her birthday presents, like she did every day. One of the best presents was some sparkly dust. She mixed the sparkly dust in the saucepan on her desk with ten tons of sugar…
She mixed the sparkly dust in the saucepan on her desk with ten tons of sugar and she added laser blades and two wooden sticks on fire! Suddenly someone banged on the window. She was freaked out. She whispered, “Who is there?” There was no reply. They knocked again but ten times louder. She screamed. They jumped through the window… - Missie Kree Deadman
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Chapter 1 One of the best presents was some glitzy dust that lit up the room like a disco ball. She mixed it with ten tons of sugar. LMQoB (Laser Monster Queen of Birthdays) loves sugar. She loves it so much her whole body is made of sugar. After eating ten tons of sugar, she danced her way to the sugar sewers, which are usually full of sugar but today LMQoB might have eaten too much. All that was left were chocolate mice. She fell back in an ultimate shock and bumped her head. Slowly walking to the dark side, she lasered the ground by mistake making it crumble and crumble until only an inch of it was left.
Chapter Two The village of gummy bears were furious. If they weren’t stuck together their fists would be clenched! It was all Laser Monster Queen of Birthday’s fault…
Ulla’s top tips for writing a story • Never give up! • Always think of new ideas • Plan it out your way • Make it have a theme • Make your character interesting There are my top tips so now, go on and be awesome! I made my story out of my imagination and I thought it was cool that I put an anagram in it. I would like to say that you might not have an idea but there is always an idea at the back of your head! Also, I recommend the Warrior Cats books by Erin Hunter. - Johnny Jones
Write your story here...
- Lily Hatton One of the best presents was some spicy dust, so she mixed it in the saucepan on her desk with ten tons of sugar and edible silly string, unicorn puke, gummy bears, strawberry lasers, and sugar powder. There was a smell of Lush bath bombs as rainbow smoke started to smell, red for strawberry, orange for oranges, yellow from pineapple, green for lime, blue for blueberries, pink for raspberry, purple from grape and a hint of unicorn puke. She tried it and felt like she had five thousand bottles of cola. She shook like mad and her eyes turned all white so she cannot see anything. She flew out and saw a bird but the bird took her and tried to eat her. The bird did not like the taste of her and dropped her in a candy floss tree. She fell into the bin and saw Zack and liked him. But did he like her? Zack thought the Laser Queen of Birthdays was crazy and ran away. He was never seen again. The Queen was so upset she made some new candy and felt happy again. - Esmee Ajose - 28 -
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