Holiday poems
7 poems
Birthday
When he asked for the moon
they laughed
and said
that his birthday wish
was wrong
and the little boy cried
and went
outside
and he looked at the moon
so long
that it floated to where
his eyes
looked up
and it shimmered him
in its light
and little boy knew
as his wish came true
that a birthday wish
is right.
-Myra Cohn Livingston
Winter Morning
Winter is the king of showmen,
Turning tree stumps into snow men
And houses into birthday cakes
And spreading sugar over lakes.
Smooth and clean and frosty white,
The world looks good enough to bite.
That’s the season to be young,
Catching snowflakes on your tongue.
Snow is snowy when it’s snowing,
I’m sorry it’s slushy when it’s going.
- Ogden Nash
Funky Snowman
Funky Snowman loves to dance.
You’d think he wouldn’t
Have much chance
Without two legs
Or even pants.
Does that stop
Funky Snowman?
NO!!
Turn up the music
With the disco beat,
When you’re in the groove,
You don’t need feet.
Crowds come out
And fill the street.
Kick, it
Funky Snowman!!
- Nikki Giovanni
City Summer
It is so hot.
So hot.
So very hot
Even
The fiery
Orange-red
Sun
Wears
A
Sweatband
On
This
Sultry
Heat-filled
Summer
Day.
-Lee Bennett Hopkin
Snow City
Snow glides quietly
D-O-W-N
Filling air
With a magical
HushBut tomorrow the snow
Will make everyone frown
For streets will be filled
With a magical
MUSH.
- Lee Bennett Hopkins
I Can’t Wait
May is here!
Almost June!
Summer! Summer!
Coming soon!
Four-leaf clover,
Make a wish!
Bounce a beach ball,
Catch a fish.
May is here!
Almost June!
Summer! Summer!
Coming soon!
Ride a skateboard,
Ride a bike,
Throw that baseball,
It’s a strike!
May is here!
Almost June!
Summer! Summer!
Coming soon!
How much longer?
What’s the date?
Summer! Summer!
I CAN’T WAIT!
- Brod Bagert
Spring
I’m shouting
I’m singing
I’m swinging through trees
I’m winging sky high
With the buzzing black bees.
I’m the sun
I’m the moon
I’m the dew on the rose.
I’m a rabbit
Whose habit
Is twitching his nose.
I’m lively
I’m lovely
I’m kicking my heels.
I’m crying “Come Dance”
To the fresh water eels.
I’m racing through meadows
Without any coat
I’m a gamboling lamb
I’m a light leaping goat
I’m a bud
I’m a bloom
I’m a dove on the wing.
I’m running on rooftops
And welcoming spring!
Karla Kuskin
Do Rabbits Have Christmas?
Do rabbits have Christmas,
I wonder, I wonder?
They have little spruces
to celebrate under,
where snow has made pompons
with silvery handles,
and frost has made tinsel
and icicles candles.
Do rabbits have presents,
I wonder, I wonder?
They have little fir trees
to celebrate under.
But do they have secrets
and smile on their faces?
Let’s go put some carrots
in rabbit-y places!
Alieen Fisher
Family
Poems
6 poems
When Tonya’s Friends Come to Spend the Night
When Tonya’s friends come to spend the night
Her mama’s more than just polite
She says she’s glad they came to call
Tells them that she loves them all
Listens to what they can do
Tells them what she’s good at, too
Plays her horn and lets them sing
(Do they make that music swing!)
Feeds them sweet banana bread
Hugs them when it’s time for bed
Tonya sure would have a gripe
If she were the jealous type
But she isn’t just a guest
She knows her mama loves her best
- Eloise Greenfield
The Drum
Daddy says the world is
A drum tight and hard
And I told him
I’m gonna beat
Out my own rhythm
-Nikki Giovanni
Dreadful
Someone ate the baby.
It’s rather sad to say.
Someone ate the baby
So she won’t be out to play.
We’ll never hear her whiney cry
Or have to feel if she is dry.
We’ll never hear her asking “why?”
Someone ate the baby.
Someone ate the baby.
It’s absolutely clear
Someone ate the baby
‘cause the baby isn’t here.
We’ll give away her toys and clothes.
We’ll never have to wipe her nose.
Dad says, “That’s the way it goes.”
Someone ate the baby.
Someone ate the baby.
What a frightful thing to eat!
Someone ate the baby
Thought she wasn’t very sweet.
It was a heartless thing to do
The policemen haven’t got a clue.
I simply can’t imagine who
Would go and (burp) eat the baby.
-Shel Silverstein
Smart
My dad gave me one dollar bill
‘Cause I’m his smartest son,
And I swapped it for two shiny quarters
‘Cause two is more than one!
And then I took the quarters
And traded them to Lou
For three dimes - guess he didn’t know
That three is more than two!
Just then, along came old blind Bates
And just ‘cause he can’t see
He gave me four nickels for my three dimes,
And four is more than three!
And I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs
Down at the seed-feed store,
And the fool gave me five pennies for them,
And five is more than four!
And then I went and showed my dad,
And he got red in the cheeks
And closed his eyes and shook his headToo proud of me to speak!
- Shel Silverstein
Mother’s Plea
Silence sirens.
Hush all horns.
Quiet rumbling
Traffic roars.
Please
City
Have
Some
Pity.
Promise me
Not
One
More
Beep?
My newborn
Pigeons
Need
Their
Sleep.
- Lee Bennett Hopkins
Brother
I had a little brother
And I brought him to my mother
And I said I want another
Little brother for a change.
But she said don’t be a bother
So I took him to my father
And I said this little bother
Of a brother’s very strange.
But he said one little brother
Is exactly like another
And every little brother
Misbehaves a bit he said.
So I took the little bother
From my mother and my father
And I put the little bother
Of a brother back to bed.
-Mary Ann Hoberman
animals
7 poems
Mayfly and June Bug
Once I saw a Mayfly
Fluttering in the sun,
As if to say,
This must be May!
But April’d just begun.
And when I met a June Bug
Clicketing in the clover,
He gave a nod,
And that was odd,
July was almost over.
- J. Patrick Lewis
Moo
No matter the time,
The place, or season,
With no excuse,
For no known reason,
In the middle of the meadow
A cow says “Moo!”
Then all
The other cows
Say it, too.
What does
Moo mean,
Anyway?
What,
Exactly,
Are they trying to say?
No matter what else
They’re thinking of doing,
If they’re cows
They’re probably
Thinking of mooing.
- Alice Schertle
The Adventures of Isabel
Isabel met an enormous bear,
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t care.
The bear was hungary, the bear ravenous,
The bear’s big mouth was cruel and cavernous.
The bear said, Isabel, glad to meet you,
How do Isabel, now I’ll ear you!
Isabel, Isabel didn’t worry;
Isabel didn’t scream or scurry.
She washed her hands and strained her hair up,
Then Isabel quietly ate the bear up.
- Ogden Nash
Seal at the Zoo
I like to
Watch
Look at
See
That big
Old lazy
Black-as-silk
Seal
Hoping
Maybe
Just
One day
I can
Touch
And pet
And feel.
- Lee Bennett Hopkins
About the Teeth of Sharks
The thing about a shark is—teeth,
One row above, one row beneath.
Now take a close look. Do you find
It has another row behind?
Still closer—here, I’ll hold your hat:
Has it a third row behind that?
Now look in and...Look out! Oh my,
I’ll never know now! Well, goodbye.
- John Ciardi
A Wolf Is at the Laundromat
A wolf is at the Laundromat,
it's not a wary stare-wolf,
it's short and fat, it tips its hat,
unlike a scary glare-wolf.
It combs its hair, it clips its toes,
it is a fairly rare wolf,
that's only there to clean its clothes—
it is a wash-and-wear-wolf.
- Jack Prelutsky
The Animal Store
If I had a hundred dollars to spend,
Or maybe a little more,
I’d hurry as fast as my legs would go
Straight to the animal store.
I wouldn’t say, “How much for this or that?”
“What kind of a dog is he?”
I’d buy as many as rolled an eye,
Or wagged a tail at me!
I’d take the hound with the drooping ears
That sits by himself alone;
Cockers and Cairns and wobbly pups
For to be my very own.
I might buy a parrot all red and green,
And the monkey I saw before,
If I had a hundred dollars to spend,
Or maybe a little more.
- Rachel Field
School days
6 poems
Kids Rule!
Write your lettersSo much fun!
Off to gym classRun! Run! Run!
Time for numbersOne and two!
Now it’s lunchtimeChew! Chew! Chew!
Out for recessKid stampede!
In for storiesRead! Read! Read!
Work and play all day at schoolKids learn!
Kids rule!
- Brod Bagert
Play Time
We play with books, we play with clay,
We play with colors, red and gray.
We run to school, we don’t delay,
Because at school we get to play.
PLAY! PLAY! PLAY! PLAY!
HOW WE CHILDREN LOVE TO PLAY!
We children really need to play,
We cannot live the grown-up way.
Someday we’ll have to work all day,
But now its time for us to play/
PLAY! PLAY! PLAY! PLAY!
HOW WE CHILDREN LOVE TO PLAY!
We play with colors, red and gray,
We play with books, we play with clay.
Our favorite part of every day,
Is when we go outside to play.
PLAY! PLAY! PLAY! PLAY!
PLAY! PLAY! PLAY! PLAY!
PLAY! PLAY! PLAY! PLAY!
HOW WE CHILDREN LOVE TO PLAY!
YEAH…
- Brod Bagert
The Girl Who Makes the Cymbals Bang
Im the girl who makes the cymbals bangIt used to be a boy
That got to play them in the past
Which always would annoy
Me quite a bit. Though I complained,
Our teacher Mister Cash
Said, “Sorry, girls don’t have the strength
To come up with a crash.”
“Oh yeah?” said I. “Please give them here!”
And there and then, I slammed
Together those brass plates so hard
His eardrums traffic-jammed.
He gulped and gaped, and I could tell
His old ideas were bending –
So now me and my cymbals give
Each song a real smash ending.
- X. J Kennedy
Books
I’ve got
Books on the bunk bed
Books on the chair
Books on the couch
And every old where
But I want more books
Just can’t get enough
Want more books about
All kinds of stuff, like
Jackie’s troubles, Raymond’s joys
Rabbits, kangaroos, girls and boys
Mountains, valleys, winter, Spring
Campfires, vampires
Every old thing
I want to
Lie down on my bunk bed
Lean back in
My chair
Curl up on the
Couch
And every old
Where
And
Read
More
Books!
- Eloise Greenfield
The Creature in the Classroom
It appeared inside our classroom
at a quarter after ten,
it gobbled up the blackboard,
three erasers and a pen.
It gobbled teacher's apple
and it bopped her with the core.
“How dare you!” she responded.
“You must leave us . . . there's the door.”
The Creature didn't listen
but described an arabesque
as it gobbled all her pencils,
seven notebooks and her desk.
Teacher stated very calmly,
“Sir! You simply cannot stay,
I'll report you to the principal
unless you go away!”
But the thing continued eating,
it ate paper, swallowed ink,
as it gobbled up our homework
I believe I saw it wink.
Teacher finally lost her temper.
“OUT!” she shouted at the creature.
The creature hopped beside her
and GLOPP . . . it gobbled teacher.
- Jack Prelutsky
pirates!
5 poems
Making Ready
Eager to get under the sail they are.
Spoiling for a fight.
Counting their booty before
we lift anchor. Har!
Let ‘em count.
Let ‘em dream
that plunder falls from the sky like gentle rain,
enemy cannonballs land
soft as a baby’s bottom. Har!
When they cut their way
aboard a ship,
I trust they’ll bow and
remember their manners!
“Please” and “Thank you”
and “By-your-leave”
and “Beg your pardon.”
Har!
“You there!
Easy with those chickens!”
They’ll prize eggs over
doubloons when their bellies
crave more than gold.
The wind’s swinging around.
‘tis nearly time.
They’ll learn soon enough to be pirates.
For now let ‘em count and dream
- David L. Harrison
SHIP’S RULES
You’ve joined the Pirate Brotherhood,
let no man here forget it.
If you do, I promise you
you’ll live-if you live-to regret it.
The penalty for stealing, mates,
is flogging with a whip.
Keep a secret behind our backs,
we’ll put you off the ship.
Don’t even think of mutiny,
I promise you’ll be shot
and thrown to feed the hungry sharksstill breathing, like as not.
Lose an arm, we’ll pay you well
for suffering you’ll endure.
We share our loot in equal parts
but mine is two of yours.
Mates, you must obey these rules,
let no man here forget it.
If you do, I promise you
you’ll live-if you live-to regret it.
- David L. Harrison
GENTLEMEN ON THE BEACH
Tempers, tempers, gentlemen!
Every man will get his share.
Put away your knives and swords.
Every pirate here is fair.
Are we not a brotherhood?
We swore an oath to make that clear.
We’ll split the booty fair and square.
No one needs a pistol here.
When we’re done I’ll hide my share
and draw a map to mark the spot.
If you think to follow me, gentlemenI recommend you not.
-
David L. Harrison
MAROONED
There go me mates,
gone for good.
I’ll never leave this
speck of sand,
this hump no bigger
than a whale at sea.
I’ll never see another soul,
never sail another ship.
Break the rules,
you pay the pricemarooned for life,
however long
or short
your life may be.
- David L. Harrison
Piracy Runs Aground
A week beyond the Charleston blockade,
The crafty Edward Teach devised a stunning
Deception worthy of a kind of cunning.
He and a few trustworthy mates betrayed
So many hearties who’d been Blackbeard-true.
In what appeared an accident, he planned
To run his famous flagship on the sand.
Until shock of his intrigue, no on knew
He’d steal away with all the jewels and gold.
Later, he hoped to wrangle a King’s pardon
For piracy. But adversaries hardenThings fall apart, the center does not hold.
Months later, he would leave one thought behind:
The Pirate King, swashbuckling in our mind.
- J. Patrick Lewis
A Pirate’s Colors
Though often running up a flag
Meant mercy would be shown,
For some a pirate’s colors cried,
Leave well enough alone.
Now a famous Jolly Roger that
Could capture Blackbeard’s art
Was that skull-and-crossbones death’s head
That could stop a human heart.
But what’s a rumor worth at sea
That passes for suspense?
Of scores of men they say he killed,
There is no evidence.
- J. Patrick Lewis