[Poetry Friday] Animal Poetry That Squeak, Soar, and Roar!

Fats here.

I am excited to share with you some amazing animal poems taken from National Geographic’s Book of Animal Poetry. This poetry collection is edited by U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate, J. Patrick Lewis. I discovered this book while discharging materials at work. Included in this book are 200 animal poems written by favorite poets including Jack Prelutsky, Janet S. Wong, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Marilyn Singer, and, of course, J. Patrick Lewis, among others.

The Book of Animal Poetry is divided into sections represented by different types of animals. There are poems for the big ones, the little ones, the winged ones, the water ones, the strange ones, the noisy ones, and the quiet ones. Some poems are long, while some are short. Every single one of them is great for read-aloud. J. Patrick Lewis encourages parents and children to pick the book up anytime, flipping through pages, and choosing favorites. I have included sample pages from the book that capture stunning photographs of these animals.

Head over to Katya’s page – Write. Sketch. Repeat. – to read more Poetry Friday offerings!

ELETELEPHONY

Once there was an elephant,
Who tried to use the telephant —
No! No! I mean an elephone
Who tried to use the telephone —
(Dear me! I am not certain quite
That even now I’ve got it right.)
Howe’er it was, he got his trunk
Entangled in the telephunk;
The more he tried to get it free,
The louder buzzed the telephee —
(I fear I’d better drop the song
Of elephop and telephong!)

— Laura E. Richards

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

ABOUT THE TEETH OF SHARKS

The thing about shark teeth 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

HOW TO PAINT A ZEBRA

To paint a zebra, mix the Moon
And Midnight in a can.
Roll it over and under
Shoulder to flank,
Belly to shank —
Midnight & Moon . . .

To zebriate the afternoon.

— Anonymous

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Hope you had fun reading poems today! Have a wonderful weekend!