Meg’s Egg
Meg
Likes
A regular egg
Not a poached
Or a fried
But a regular egg
Not a deviled
Or coddled
Or scrambled
Or boiled
But an eggular
Megular
Regular Egg!
Wiggly Giggles
I’ve got the wiggly-wiggles today,
And I just can’t sit still.
My teacher says she’ll have to find
A stop me wiggle-pill.
I’ve got the giggly-giggles today;
I couldn’t tell you why.
But it Mary hiccups one more time
I’ll giggle till I cry.
I’ve got to stamp my wiggles out
And hold my giggles in
Cause wiggling makes me giggle
And gigglers never win.
~Mary Ann Hoberman
~Stacy Jo Crossen/Natalie Anne Covell
Celery
Hug O’War
Celery, raw
Develops the jaw,
But celery, stewed,
Is more quietly chewed.
~Ogden Nash
My Little Sister
My little sister
Likes to eat.
But when she does
She’s not too neat.
The trouble is
She doesn’t know
Exactly where
The food should go!
~William Wise
Polar Bear
The secret of the polar bear
Is that he wears long underwear.
I will not play at tug o’ war.
I’d rather play at hug o’ war.
Where everyone hugs
Instead of tugs,
Where everyone giggles
And rolls on the rug,
Where everyone kisses
And everyone grins,
And everyone cuddles,
And everybody wins.
~Shel Silverstein
The Joke
The joke you just told isn’t funny one
bit.
It was pointless and dull, wholly lacking
in wit.
It’s so old and stale, it’s beginning to
smell!
Besides, it’s the one I was going to tell.
~Anonymous
~Gail Kredenser
The Pig
The pig is not a nervous beast;
He never worries in the least.
He lives his tranquil life unshaken,
And when he dies brings home the
bacon.
~Roland Young
January
The days are short,
The sun a spark
Hung thin between
The dark and dark.
Fat snowy footsteps
Track the floor.
Milk bottles burst
Outside the door.
Martin Luther King
Got me a special place
For Martin Luther King.
His picture on the wall
Makes me sing.
I look at it for a long time
And think of some
Real good ways
We will overcome.
~Myra Cohn Livingston
Always be Kind to Animals
Always be kind to animals
Morning, noon and night.
For animals have feelings too,
And furthermore, they bite!
~John Gardner
The river is
A frozen place
Held still beneath
The trees of lace.
The sky is low.
The wind is gray.
The radiator
Purrs all day.
~John Updike
Beyond Winter
Over the winter glaciers
I see the summer glow,
And through the wild-piled snowdrift
The warm rosebuds below.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Young King Cole
Young King Cole was a terrible troll:
He washed his feet in the toilet bowl,
Brushed his teeth with turpentine,
And combed his hair with a porcupine.
~Judy Sierra
Vice Versa
Do you wonder in the winter
When the leaves are on the ground,
If the trees have turned in somersaults
And flipped themselves around
Until the tops are tucked in tight
Till springtime comes again
And all the raveled roots are reaching
Upward in the rain?
~Joy N. Hulme
Emperor Penguins
Huddled close together
Against the snow and sleet,
Penguins at the pole
Pool their body heat.
They gather in a circle,
Steadfast, disciplined,
Turning toward the center,
Fighting off the wind.
Sharing warmth and comfort
On cold and icy floes,
Balancing their future
Gently on their toes.
~Barry Louis Polisar
My Parents Are Pretending
I’m pretty sure my parents are
pretending they are sick.
I know because I taught them both
to do that little trick.
You blow your nose and hold your head
and claim your brain is breaking.
And so, a pro like me would know
my folks are clearly faking.
A little thing I learned in school
convinced me I am right.
My parents are supposed to meet
my principal tonight.
~by Ted Scheu
Hi-Bear-Nation
Chipmunks, woodchucks
All sleep late.
Do brown bears really hi-bear-nate?
Moles and voles in burrows crawl.
Do brown bears slum-bear when it’s
fall?
~Douglas Florian
Manners
We say
“Thank you.”
We say “Please,”
and “Excuse me,”
When we sneeze.
That’s the way
we do what’s right.
We have Manners.
We’re polite.
~Helen H. Moore
My Daddy Forgets My Name
My daddy calls me sweetie pie.
He calls me honey bunny.
He also calls me poopsie,
which I think is kind of funny.
My daddy calls me sugarplum,
and also sleepyhead.
My silly dad forgets my name
when he tucks me into bed.
~ by Bruce Lansky
My Nose
It doesn’t breath;
It doesn’t smell;
It doesn’t feel
So very well.
I am discouraged
With my nose:
The only thing it
Does is blows.
~Dorothy Aldis
A Carrot Nose
Dora Diller
A chubby little snowman
Had a carrot nose.
Along came a bunny…
And what do you suppose?
"My stomach's full of butterflies!"
lamented Dora Diller.
Her mother sighed. "That's no surprise,
you ate a caterpillar!"
That hungry little bunny,
Looking for his lunch,
Ate that little snowman’s nose…
Nibble, nibble crunch!
~Jack Prelutsky
~Author Unknown
My Goldfish Took up Tennis
My goldfish took up tennis.
They installed a little net
at the bottom of their fishtank
for their first official set.
They got tennis balls and racquets.
They got tennis shoes and shorts,
for my fish are fond of tennis
more than any other sports.
It's a funny thing to watch them.
when they practice every day,
as the tennis balls they serve each other
always float away.
~Kenn Nesbitt
I’m Bold, I’m Brave
Where the Sidewalk ends
There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his
flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke
blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers
grow
We shall walk with a walk that is
measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows
go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.
Yes we'll walk with a walk that is
measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows
go,
For the children, they mark, and the
children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.
~Shel Silverstein
I’m bold, I’m brave, I know no fear.
I’m gallant as a buccaneer.
Is that a hornet by my ear?
Gangway! I’m getting out of here!
~Jack Prelutsky