Benjamin Zephaniah

Acclaimed performance poet and novelist Benjamin Zephaniah''s honest, wry and poignant story of a young refugee left in London is of even more power and pertinence today than when it was first published.Life is not safe for Alem. His father is Ethopian, his mother Eritrean. Their countries are at war, and Alem is welcome in neither place.So Alem is excited to spend a holiday in London with his father until he wakes up to find him gone. What seems like a betrayal is in fact an act of love, but now Alem is alone in a strange country, and he must forge his own path ...

A joy to read with small children - IndependentAn uplifting celebration of nature and the wonder of the world around us by legendary poet and performer Benjamin Zephaniah, one of The Times' top 50 British post-war writers.At the bottom of my garden, there's a hedgehog and a frog,And a lot of creepy-crawlies living underneath a log . . .All around us, from parks to gardens and flowerpots to pavements, there's a world of wonder just waiting to be discovered. Why not look a little closer and see what you find?This joyful celebration of nature reminds us all to take a closer look at the world around us, and enjoy the wonder of nature wherever we find it. Packed with animals and minibeasts galore, this imaginative rhyming text is perfect for reading aloud.

A timely and uplifting picture book poem about the power of people and the importance of connecting with others By legendary poet and performer Benjamin Zephaniah beautifully illustrated by Nila Aye

A fairytale of hip hop success teens will enjoy the thrilling music fantasy while many will identify with the smart talented boys who grow up quickly and rescue themselves BooklistAn electrifying novel from hugely popular performance poet and novelist Benjamin Zephaniah exploring the rap music scene inequality and three boys caught up in itJust what do you do with talent from the wrong side of town Benjamin Zephaniah draws on his own experiences with school and the music business to create a novel that speaks with passion and immediacy about the rap scene Ray has trouble at home and he has trouble at school until he s permanently excluded and ends up sleeping on the floor of a record shop What happens to a boy like Ray If he s lucky maybe he gets a chance to shine The story of three boys who aren t easy They don t fit in They seem to attract trouble But they know what they want and they ve got the talent to back it up Brilliantly written and with a real ear for dialogue fans of Angie Thomas and Malorie Blackman will love Benjamin Zephaniah s novels for young adult readers Refugee BoyFaceGangsta RapTeacher s Dead

Build your childs reading confidence at home with books at the right level Find out what its like to be a famous poet, author and performer in this autobiography by Benjamin Zephaniah. Learn what it was like growing up in a house of seven children, meeting Nelson Mandela and how he sets about writing poetry, all told through his own voice and accompanied by artwork from Kate Greenaway winning illustrator Victor Ambrus. Diamond/Band 17 books offer more complex, underlying themes to give opportunities for children to understand causes and points of view. An autobiography A timeline on pages 54 and 55 presents the key events in Benjamin Zephaniahs life chronologically, allowing plenty of recapping and further discussion. Curriculum Links: Citizenship: Living in a diverse world This book has been quizzed for Accelerated Reader.

Welcome to the wild and wicked words of Benjamin Zephaniah! You'll find loads of the cool people who make up our world in this rapping, happening, hot and hip collection. So come and meet Benjamin's friends and you'll soon make lots of new ones of your own!

Winner of The Queens Knickers Award 2024To walk toTo talk toTo cry and rely on,People will always need people . . .From the creators of Nature Trail comes an uplifting picture book about the power of people, and the importance of connecting with others. This timely poem reminds us all to be kind to one another.Written by legendary poet, Benjamin Zephaniah, one of The Timestop 50 British post-war writers. Beautifully illustrated by Nila Aye.Praise for Nature Trail:A joy to read with small children - Independent

A joy to read with small children - Independent An uplifting celebration of nature and the wonder of the world around us. By legendary poet and performer Benjamin Zephaniah, one of The Times top 50 British post-war writers, and beautifully illustrated by the award-winning Nila Aye. At the bottom of my garden, theres a hedgehog and a frog,And a lot of creepy-crawlies living underneath a log . . .All around us, from parks to gardens and flowerpots to pavements, theres a world of wonder just waiting to be discovered. Why not look a little closer and see what you find?This joyful celebration of nature reminds us all to take a closer look at the world around us, and enjoy the wonder of nature wherever we find it. Packed with animals and minibeasts galore, this imaginative rhyming text is perfect for reading aloud.Be sure not to miss People Need People, winner of The Queens Knickers Award 2024.

*A BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week* Benjamin Zephaniah, who travelled the world for his art and his humanitarianism, tells the one story that encompasses it all: the story of his life. In the early 1980s when punks and Rastas were on the streets protesting about unemployment, homelessness and the National Front, Benjamins poetry could be heard at demonstrations, outside police stations and on the dance floor. His mission was to take poetry everywhere, and to popularise it by reaching people who didnt read books. His poetry was political, musical, radical and relevant. By the early 1990s, Benjamin had performed on every continent in the world (a feat which he achieved in only one year) and he hasnt stopped performing and touring since. Nelson Mandela, after hearing Benjamins tribute to him while he was in prison, requested an introduction to the poet that grew into a lifelong relationship, inspiring Benjamins work with children in South Africa. Benjamin would also go on to be the first artist to record with The Wailers after the death of Bob Marley in a musical tribute to Nelson Mandela.The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah is a truly extraordinary life story which celebrates the power of poetry and the importance of pushing boundaries with the arts.

In this heart-stopping adventure, Benjamin Zephaniah shows us what it was like to be a child of the Windrush generation.Leonard is shocked when he arrives with his mother in the port of Southampton. His father is a stranger to him, its cold and even the Jamaican food doesnt taste the same as it did back home in Maroon Town. But his parents have brought him here to try to make a better life, so Leonard does his best not to complain, to make new friends, to do well at school even when people hurt him with their words and with their fists.

The stunning autobiography of the poet writer lyricist and activist Benjamin Zephaniah

A ground-breaking poem on the legacy of Stephen Lawrence from national treasure Benjamin Zephaniah."The death of Stephen LawrenceHas taught us to love each other..."With extra information provided alongside Benjamins powerful words and Joelle Avelinos striking illustration, this book is an indispensable tool for helping children aged 9+ to understand identity, diversity, justice, respect and racism.

Enter the crazy world of rap poet Benjamin Zephaniah!A reissue of the wonderfully irreverent collection of poetry for young people, touching on anything from vegetables to the Queen and from sewage to the sun. Theres plenty of humour as well as poems on racism, pollution and the murder of a cat.

A playful, funny and thought-provoking collection from the iconic Benjamin Zephaniah. Poems packed with wisdom and laughter, poems that cherish and challenge our world, poems that delight in our differences and similarities.Deres a SonnetUnder me bonnetDeres a EpicIn me earDeres a NovelIn me navelDeres a ClassicHere somewhereFrom veggies and vocabulary to pollution and revolution, this new anthology brings together Benjamin Zephaniahs greatest rhymes, along with a previously unpublished poem and a brand-new foreword by George the Poet.Timeless and essential, Let Dem Know is the perfect introduction to a true original and inspiration for the young writers, speakers and thinkers of the future.

A reissue of TALKING TURKEYS by street poet Benjamin Zephaniah. Talking Turkeys is an unconventional collection of straight-talking poems about heroes, revolutions, racism, love and animal rights, among other subjects, that will entice many new readers to poetry. It is his very first ground-breaking childrens poetry collection - playful, clever and provocative - this is performance poetry on the page at its very best.Benjamin Zephaniah was born in Birmingham and then spent some of his early years in Jamaica. He came to London when he was 22 and his first book of poetry for adults was published soon after. He appears regularly on radio and TV including a Desert Island Discs appearance, literary festivals, and has also taken part in plays and films. He is most well-known for his performance poetry with a political edge for both children and adults and gritty teenage fiction. His collections Talking Turkeys,Wicked World and Funky Chickens broke new ground in childrens poetry. He is the only Rastafarian poet to be short-listed for the Chairs of Poetry for both Oxford and Cambridge University and has been listed in The Times list of 50 greatest postwar writers. Benjamin now lives in Lincolnshire.

Welcome to the wild and wicked words of Benjamin Zephaniah. Youll find loads of cool people who make up our world in this rapping, happening hip-hop collection. From the South Pole to Mongolia and the Himalayas, this is a real world tour of poems about people and places, cultures and nationalities across our planet.Includes poems about Inuits, Celts, the history of Britain, Maories, the Dalai Lama, the North and South Poles, and much more - a rhyming round-the-world trip.Poems that bounce up from the page and demand to be read, rapped, sung and hip-hopped aloud - Independent on Sunday