Words by: Florence Page Jacques
Music by: Kevin Stannard
Florence Page Jaques, the author of Puffin, was an active wildlife researcher and a puffin enthusiast. Her fondness for the tangerine-footed bird is clearly evident in this poem: the expressive lyrics conjure up a cute puffin image, and even the toughest ten year old should respond to them. However, anyone who has seen the rafts of noisy puffins on cliff-tops on Puffin Island might question the notion that puffins are ever lonely!
Oh there once was a puffin just the shape of a muffin
And he lived on an island in the bright blue sea!
He ate little fishes that were most delicious
And he had them for supper and he ate them for tea.
But this poor little puffin, he couldn't play nothin'
For he had got no-one to play with at all.
Oh there once was a puffin just the shape of a muffin
And he lived on an island in the bright blue sea!
He ate little fishes that were most delicious
And he had them for supper and he ate them for tea.
Sp he sat on his island and cried for a while
And he felt very lonely and felt very small.
Then along came the fishes and they said, 'if you wishes
You can have us for playmates instead of for tea!'
So they now play together in all sorts of weather
And the puffin eats pancakes like you and like me.
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Kevin has an MA from the University of Cambridge, where he was Organ Scholar at Downing College (1980-83). He trained as a teacher at Middlesex Polytechnic and taught across the age-range in Oxfordshire schools for ten years before joining the Music Department at the University of Wolverhampton in 1995. He currently manages the BA and MA Music courses and directs the University Choir and Chamber Choir. His interests in music performance range from Eighteenth Century performance practice – he produced a CD, Defiance to Cupid: the songs of Pixell and Gunn in 2004 with the Oxford Holywell Ensemble - to contemporary children's song; he is the author of two songbooks in the Oxford University Press Voiceworks series.
Kevin is currently director of the National Association of Primary Education annual Festival of Voices. He is also a mentor for the MusicLeader KS2 programme.
Oxford University Press
Voiceworks is a magnificent resource for promoting good singing in pre-schools, schools, community choirs, adult choirs and everywhere that people sing. The Voiceworks books (complete with CDs) are packed with songs and ideas which are practical, motivating, and accessible.
Junior Voiceworks 2 is a second dazzling collection of songs for choirs at or around KS2 level. Spanning a great range of styles and moods, the songs are presented in the highly practical Voiceworks format, with accessible music pages and notes for the teacher or leader. With two CDs, containing performances and backings, this wonderful resource will motivate and inspire young choirs.
Audio information
The audio tracks were recorded specially for the Sing Up programme by New London Children's Choir, mixed and mastered by Nic Rowley at Vandborg Studios. The backing track was created specially for the Sing Up programme by Ben Thompsett.
Copyright information
All copyright music in the Sing Up programme is used by permission. The songwriters and/or copyright holders have been remunerated under due licensing arrangements. Find out more about copyright by visiting the UK Music and Sound Rights websites.
