Congratulations and thank you to everyone who took part in this year's poetry competition. In the international learners' categories there were 753 entries, from 31 different countries!

You can read all the winning poems on the Children's Poetry Bookshelf website, and we are very happy and proud to publish the winning poems from the international competition here. The quality and level of the poems is amazing, so well done to you all! 

Winners in 7-8 age group, International Learners of English

Home

By Ishu Gupta, aged 8, from India (first prize)

My sweet home! My sweet home!
I love my home! I love my home!

If wind comes who will protect me?
If winter comes who will protect me?

My home, my home nice for me.
My home, my home a temple for me.

If summer comes who will protect me?
If rain comes who will protect me?

My home, my home best for me.
My home, my home a mosque for me.

If night comes who will shelter me?
If storm comes who will shelter me?

My home, my home is good for me.
A majestic creation of Thee.

There is no place like house, home

By Melanie Duarte Sanchez, aged 8, from Mexico (second prize)

There are many things we call a house,
Like small dark holes in the walls for the noisy mouse.

Tall windy nests in the trees are what flying birds like the most,
But dirty deep holes in the ground are cosy for rabbits and moles.

Dogs and kittens sleep in soft pillows,
And little spiders make webs in the corners of some windows.

Crocodiles and snakes enjoy muddy swamps,
But beavers prefer to build their own dams.

Fish and whales live in the wet blue sea,
And wood or brick buildings are houses for you and me.
But what really matters is:
To have a home where you can feel safe and free.

Different Home

By Tong Ho Kan Kenny, aged 8 from Hong Kong (third prize)

One man,
he has a home.
It is a bus,
because he is a bus driver.

One old man,
He has no home,
because he is a ghost.

One super man,
he has a home.
It is the space!

My Darling Home

By Ada Ciontu, aged 7, from Romania (highly commended)

When I go home,
I eat, I sleep,
I colour, I bother
And no-one minds.

I watch TV
And get a treat,
Even I trick.

I take a shower,
Put on a flower,
Pull out my baby teeth
And smile a bit.

When I feel blue,
Mom and Dad “moo”,
And you can see my smile,
Out from a mile.

Oh, I love my darling home,
Where everybody loves me
Just the way I am.

Home for Everyone

By Bohdan Meleshko, aged 7, from the Ukraine (highly commended)

My home’s a country house,
my teacher’s home’s a flat
a hole’s a home for a mouse,
a snail’s home’s on its back.
All beings have their own homes.
Homes can be big or small.
I am so sorry for all those
who have no home at all.
The world will be more fun
if there’s a home for everyone!

 Winners in 9-11 age group, International Learners of English

A house we built together

By Cristina Vrincianu, aged 11, from Romania (first prize)

Our house is a house.
We built it together.
We have laid every brick one by one.
We have nailed every board, one blow at a time.
Our house is a house.
We built it together.

Not every board is perfect, some are not even straight.
Some walls are built in the wrong place.
We must carefully remove those boards
We must carefully remove those walls.

We must rebuild them in the right place.
We must replace each board one by one
Until the holes are all filled
Until all the walls are in the right place.

When we have finished
We can stand back and say
“This is our house,
A house we built together!” 

“Home – my friend”

By Mikolaj Marsy, aged 11, from Poland (second prize)

My walls are yellow like sunrays in the morning
My roof is red like maple leaves in Autumn
My door is brown like sweet chocolate boiling
My windows – limping like lakes in the mountains.

I’m as old as your grandpa who’s collecting stamps
I’m as safe as the money in Swiss banks
I’m as happy as your best friends
I’m as warm as flames in the fireplace.

I don’t want to leave you
I like when you are in
I hate when you go out
I love when we are near.

Home?

By Anastasi Panagiotopoulou, aged 9, from Greece (third prize) 

For a fox, it’s its den,
For a snail, it’s its shell,
For a bird, it’s the sky,
For me, it’s my school.
You’re probably wondering why.
Am I a fool?
I come from a broken family.
My school makes me feel like a baby kangaroo
in its pouch.
Safe, warm and wanted.
School, sweet school...

Moon in the Sky

By Pablo Vincent, aged 11, from France (highly commended) 

Flowers in the sitting room,
Rain in the garden
lights off
I’m in bed

 I dream a house

By Lorenzo Di Biagio and Luca Oleari, aged 10, from Italy

I go to the supermarket and I write a list.
I buy a golden wall,
an ice door
and seven floors.
A diamond chair,
a collection of Montblanc pens.
A fire disc,
a metal chimney
a silver roof.
An orange fridge
an LED 4D TV.
A rock window.
A chocolate table,
a water armchair, a pair of pears
A crystal bed and a good dad.