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  • from The Book of Why?
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from The Book of Why?

Alec Finlay

Why doesn’t a chair fly?
Why do we have tongues?
Why are the stars so silver?
Why do girls wear bobbles?
Why do boys try and do handstands?
Why are there earrings in the world?
Why is sherbet so tickly on your tongue?
Why can you hear the wind, but not see it?
Why have old people got see-through skin?
Why can’t you choose what you were born like?
Why do our voices sound different to each other?
Why do people breathe a lot when they are excited?
Why is the sky blue, when the surface of the air is clear?


Alec Finlay

from The Thing that Mattered Most: Scottish poems for children edited by Julie Johnstone (SPL/B&W, 2006)

In a collaboration with Creative Partnerships, artist and poet Alec Finlay sent out an invitation for questions asked by 3-5 year olds.  This poem, and other work, was made from a selection of the children’s questions, posed at the stage when a child is beginning to make sense of the world in which he or she lives.

Reproduced by permission of the author.

Tags:

National Poetry Day 2017 questions suitable for children

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scottishpoetrylibrary · From 'The Book Of Why' read by Alec Finlay

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Finlay's face is photographed in front of an obstacle coarse

Alec Finlayb.1966

Alec Finlay is an artist and poet whose work crosses over a range of media and forms.
More about Alec Finlay

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