Watcher of the Skies: Poems about Space and Aliens

By Rachel Piercey and Emma Dai'an Wright

How big is the universe? Are there dogs in space? What if your friend – or your granddad – was an alien? Join the poets in wondering in Watcher of the Skies, a sparkling collection of poems about the outermost possibilities of space, life and our imaginations. Fully illustrated by Emma Wright and accompanied with helpful facts from space scientist Rachel Cochrane (Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh) and ideas for writing poems from Rachel Piercey, this is the perfect companion for any budding stargazer or astronaut.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Emma Press
• Release date: Aug 10, 2018
• ISBN: 9781910139448

Emma Dai'an Wright

Emma Dai'an Wright (1986) is a British-Chinese-Vietnamese publisher and illustrator. She worked in ebook production at Orion Publishing Group before leaving in 2012 to set up The Emma Press with the support of the Prince's Trust. She has since published over 500 writers across more than 70 books, including poetry anthologies for adults and children, short stories, and translations. In 2016 The Emma Press won the Michael Marks Award for Poetry Pamphlet Publishers. She lives in Birmingham.

Book preview

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Watcher of the Skies

Poems about Space and Aliens

* * *

Edited by Rachel Piercey and Emma Wright

With poems from Sohini Basak, John Canfield, Mary Anne Clark, Mandy Coe, Rebecca Colby, Dom Conlon, Dharmavadana, Julie Anna Douglas, Sarah Doyle, Inua Ellams, David Harmer, Philip Monks, Cheryl Moskowitz, Dale Neal, Rachael M Nicholas, Richard O’Brien, Suzanne Olivante, Abigail Parry, Rachel Piercey, Gita Ralleigh, Robert Schechter, Lawrence Schimel, Mike Sims, Camellia Stafford, Jon Stone, Kate Wakeling, Rob Walton and Kate Wise

Illustrated by Emma Wright

With notes from Rachel Cochrane (Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh)

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The Emma Press

Children’s Books

Contents

Cover

Title page

Introduction, by Rachel Piercey

*

How to Brush Your Teeth in Space, by Sohini Basak

Comet, by Kate Wakeling

Stars? Dust? Us? by Inua Ellams

Art 101 for Aliens, by Rebecca Colby

But how big is the universe? by Rachael M Nicholas

Recipe for Cosmic Cup Cakes, by Julie Anna Douglas

My granddad Burt’s an alien, by Dale Neal

Milky Way Disco, by Camellia Stafford

The Starry Messenger, by John Canfield

Compared to What? by Robert Schechter

Message for Rosetta, by Rachel Piercey

High Frontier, by Richard O’Brien

A Dog in Space, by Mary Anne Clark

Letters, by Rob Walton

Many Moons Ago, by Lawrence Schimel

The Way Planets Talk, by Dom Conlon

Alien Boy, by Mike Sims

Up Above, by Mandy Coe

The Algonquin Calendar of Changing Moons, by Cheryl Moskowitz

Poets in Space! by Abigail Parry and Jon Stone

* Emily Dickinson in Space

* Shakespeare in Space

* Ted Hughes in Space

* Ono no Komachi in Space

* Lord Byron in Space

Solar System Candy, by Gita Ralleigh

The Alien Restaurant, by David Harmer

Countdown, by Philip Monks

Uranus: Roll Up, Roll Up, by Sarah Doyle

The Hungry Galactic Plug Hole, by Suzanne Olivante

Stars, by Kate Wise

How to get to Zagnaraputta, by Dharmavadana

*

Watcher of the Skies Bonus Bits

Interview with a space scientist

Write your own poem!

About the editors

About the poets

About the Emma Press

More children’s poetry books from the Emma Press

Acknowledgements

Copyright

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Introduction

Thinking about space makes me truly understand the phrase ‘mind-blowing’. When I try to get my head around the distances, ages and sizes involved, my brain starts to fizz, bubble and sometimes pop. The light we can see from the galaxy Andromeda has been travelling for 2.5 million years to reach us! You could fit more than a billion of our Suns into the star Mu Cephei! All of this makes me want to write a poem, to try and capture that almost-overwhelming feeling of wonder – and it seems I’m not alone, because all the poets in this anthology have written poems full of awe and adventure, inspired by the possibilities of space.

Poets like to question things. They deal in wonder, fear and excitement; they are interested in both drama and serenity. They love to say ‘what if?’ and ‘imagine this!’ and invent characters to live in their made-up worlds. They also like fascinating facts. So it’s not really surprising that the subject of space – filled with fireballs, black holes, vivid colours, swirling movement, potential alien life, unanswered questions and vast stretches of nooooothing – turns out to be perfect for poets. In fact, the book’s title is based on a poem by the nineteenth-century