Crazy Mad

I'm mad about monkeys,
crazy for cockatoos.
I love cuddly koalas
and jumping kangaroos.

All of these animals
and my own little Ted
leave me no room
when I go to bed.

Do you have a favorite stuffed animal you sleep with?  What do you think your animal dreams about? Can you write a poem about your stuffed animal's dream today? Have fun writing.

I paid the electric bill to read your poem.

KANGAROO

A kangaroo

alone and blue

didn't know

what to do.

So she hopped

to Timbuktu

where she met

a cockatoo

who said

his name

was Stu.

Your challenge for today is to pick an animal.  Name it, and write a poem about the animal's friend.  What makes a friend?  What do you like best about your friends?  Have you ever lost a friend?  How did that feel?  Have fun writing your poem. 

     There are many reasons to write a children's poem.

TOO MANY BABIES

Rebecca has plenty of Beanie Babies®

Her whole collection is something crazy--

      A gorilla,

           An elephant,

                A cockatoo,

     A moose,

          A bunny,

               Or is it two?

She even has a pig

     in a hat of daisies.

And her Dalmatian

     has a tag for rabies.

Altogether Rebecca has 21

     or 19, maybe.

Do you have a collection?   Of rocks, books, baseball cards, or nail polish?  My friend children's poet Amy Ludwig VanDerwater has a collection of buttons she is adding to. You might enjoy visiting her blog by clicking on her name in the line above.  Can you write a poem about collecting things today?  Have fun writing.

Donna over at Mainelywrite is hosting the Poetry Friday Roundup today.  Thanks Donna.  You'll find lots of links to some great children's poems here.

Silly Rhyme

A plumed cockatoo

perched high in bamboo

caused quite a to do

by squawking yoo-hoo, yoo-hoo,

to each gnu and caribou

that she saw pass

below in the grass.

     Do you ever have days when you just feel like being silly?  That's how I feel today.  I don't even know where this poem came from. It probably isn't fair to call this a poem, just the beginnings of one, that I'll probably want to play with more later.   I do know that these words jumbled into my mouth and it felt pretty good to tickle around with them.  They set up a rhythm that had my feet marching and I had a hard time getting out.  So I invite you to be silly today too.  Find some words that you like the feel of in your mouth and see what comes out. Just play with the words and have fun.  You might want to grab a rhyming dictionary and find a random page that appeals to your mouth or eyes and see what happens.  I own 6 different rhyming dictionaries and some days I just like reading these books.  I hope you have a day filled reading, writing and laughter.