The whale
The whale sailed slow beneath the moon,
Its baby by its side,
Crossing oceans three miles deep
And thousands of cold miles wide.
Amazing whales.
Glitter
Glitter on my fingers,
Glitter in my hair,
Glitter on the carpet –
Glitter everywhere!
Young children playing with glitter …
Bath
When I’m in the bath,
I like to play for hours,
Splashing water on the floor,
Building big foam towers.
Children playing in the bath
Racing pigeon
The racing pigeon’s very fast
When chasing after food –
All other birds are pushed aside,
Which is extremely rude.
Pushy pigeon!
Mouse
Here’s a mouse,
Building its house,
A nest in my hair –
Why’s it sleep there?
Little mouse ….
Boo!
Little star,
Shining bright,
Went ‘BOO!!’
Gave Moon a fright!
Spots
The Leopard’s spots
Cannot be caught,
Unlike measles
Which you catch off weasels.
And that’s the truth, now
Echo
I caught an echo on the empty air,
And brought it here for us to share –
‘Hello!’
‘Hello!’
‘Hello!’
Say ‘Hello!’ quieter and quieter
The moon
The moon is washing windows,
Dancing off the glass,
Resting on the praying trees
And painting the sleeping grass.
A still night
Feeding time
A zooful of children,
Eating food,
Mouths wide open –
Oh, so rude!
Feeding children
Little Dragon
If you see a dragon
Sitting in a boat,
Scare that little dragon
By saying her boat won’t float!
Poor dragon.
Colour
Buttercups are yellow,
Grass is a gorgeous green,
The world is bright with colour,
Everything wants to be seen!
Colourful world
Water
Puddles splash!
Waves crash!
Rivers run –
Water’s fun!
Everyone likes playing in water
Snacks
Bread and butter for my tea,
Slugs and worms for snacks –
I know you don’t believe me,
But those are the actual FACTS!
Tall stories
Little kitten
Little kitten rolling around,
Chasing a piece of string,
Fluid in its beauty,
Amazed at everything.
Cute kitty
Mum’s instructions
Brush your teeth, dear,
Blow your nose,
Clean your shoes
And change your clothes!
All Mums …
Monster Poem
‘Fangs! for the meal,’ the monster said,
‘Fangs! for the blood and the gore;
‘Fangs! for the screams,
‘Fangs! for the pain –
What a shame that there isn’t lots more!’
A hungry monster
The Cat with a smile
The cat with a smile
Will wait for a while,
Cleaning its paws
And sharpening its claws,
Though for what I don’t know –
Perhaps it’s just show?
If there’s a mouse nearby
Perhaps it should go ….
Time to get out of there, mousy!
Cyborg
A hot metal stomach,
Glass to help my eyes,
Electric ears,
It’s also a surprise
To find my feet can spin
And I’ve artificial skin!
Who am I?
It’s you and me – we’re cyborgs!
We can’t digest some foods so we have artificial stomachs – saucepans on the stove.
We wear glasses.
We have hearing aids.
We travel in cars and trains.
We wear clothes!
Rainbow
Smile at the rainbow,
Whisper to the sun,
‘It looks like you and the falling rain
Are having a lot of fun!’
Rainbows only happen when sunshine and rain play together
Human
I’m made of stars,
I come from space,
I’m a member
Of the human race!
We’re all made of star dust
Ghost
A ghost came close,
Ruffled my hair,
Then went ‘Woooh’
Just for a dare!
Bad ghost …
The Jo-Jitsa
Don’t take a picture
Of the Jo-Jitsa,
The flash makes it mighty scared,
It’ll scream with surprise,
Then poke out your eyes,
And your eyes, not your picture, are shared!
Eugh!
Cat Song
The cat was proud, its neck was long,
It played a howly, wincy song
That struck the neighbours in the head –
They wished that blasted cat was dead!
Banshee-wailing cats at night
Angels
Angel 1 and Angel 2,
Fast asleep in bed –
Tell me, little angels,
What’s in an angel’s head?
Music
Music makes me dance,
Music makes me sing,
Music gives my life
That extra bit of zing!
Everyone loves music
The Jitter
Daft as the Jitter is,
It’s nothing compared to the Mew
(The Jitter eats its fingers,
Not a clever thing to do!)
No, not clever at all
The Mew
The Mew pokes out its brain with sticks,
Eating it real slow,
Giving it time for another
STUPIDER brain to grow.
Now that is DAFT!
Picture
There’s a picture on the wall,
Of me when I was quite small –
Who would have thought
I was so short ?
Memories
Old cat
If you see an ancient cat
Staring out to sea,
Give it a little tap on the back
And say it was from me.
Hello, Old Cat
Cosy
Cosy mornings,
Warm in bed,
Dreaming
In my cosy head.
Cosy in bed
The Flipperbob
Don’t chase the Flipperbob,
Swimming in the seas,
Its sole defence is lengthy legs
With vicious, bony knees!
Watch out for those vicious knees!
Digging in the garden
Out in the garden,
Playing in the sun,
Pulling up the flowers
Is ever so much fun!
A toddler wrecking the garden
I Spy
I spy, said the little fly,
An insect almost like me –
But it’s big and it’s yellow and likes to taste flowers,
It’s something beginning with BEE!
Fooled you!
Giant spider
A giant spider,
Six feet tall –
And here is me,
Very small.
Scary!
The little seed
Blown on the wind,
Trampled by the rain,
The little seed must find its place
And grow a tree again.
Life
Belinda
Belinda was thinner,
And wiser
And brighter,
Belinda the bestest
Playground fighter –
She said.
Belinda could hopple
And topple
And stopple
Belinda could whipple
And whopple
And flopple –
She said.
Belinda could dance,
Belinda could sing,
Belinda was Bestest
At EVERYTHING –
She said.
But Belinda can cry,
Belinda can howl,
Because Belinda’s having a tantrum now –
I only said I didn’t believe her:
She’s good at her screaming, is my friend Belinda.
May 2002
A boastful girl
Bad cat!
The birds are feeding in the snow,
Pecking at little seeds,
The black cat’s at the window,
Thinking of evil deeds.
Bad cat
Naughty children
Football in the classroom,
Teacher’s just gone out,
Little Billy Nelson
Was told to give a shout –
Oh, she’s coming back!
Oh! We cannot wait!
Little Billy Nelson’s
Been left to his sad fate!
Abandoning the lookout
Genie
‘You can have a wish,’ said the genie,
Appearing from thin air –
‘Then I’d like to have more wishes,
Far more than my fair share!’
Greedy – but clever ….
Fly
This fly
Could be a spy,
Buzzing around
(Annoying sound!)
Hither and thither,
Fast in a flicker
It’s changing direction,
A new location,
Barely in sight,
Incredible flight –
What does it see?
Does it see me?
Annoying things … but I help them escape by opening a door or window …
Cloud and sun
Big dark cloud,
Hid the sun,
Wind came along
And made it run!
Weather
Party
Hands – clap!
Fingers – snap!
Feet – tap!
Mouth – sings!
Laughter wings
Its way round the room.
A children’s party
Lemmings
The lemming travels far and wide
The lemming travels far and wide
To throw itself to death,
Someone must have told the lemming
That lemmings have bad breath.
Poor lemmings
Poem dinner
I ate a poem,
It made me rhyme,
I talk like this now
All the time!
Yummy! Poems!
See-saw
See-saw, Marjorie Daw,
Clickety-bang wallop
Bang bang click –
Looks like this poem needs mending!
Ouch!
Spiders
I couldn’t sleep for spiders,
Spiders climbing everywhere –
I couldn’t sleep for spiders,
Spiders all round me.
I couldn’t sleep for spiders,
Spiders climbing in my hair,
I couldn’t sleep for spiders –
They’re all that I could see.
I couldn’t sleep for spiders
(Someone keep the light on bright!)
I couldn’t sleep for spiders –
Oh! What a terrible night!
Scared kids
Bee
“NOOO!” said the bee,
Hitting a drop of rain –
It had to wait for sunshine
Before flying off again.
Poor bee …
Rhino soup
Rhino soup
Is a bit of a gloop –
If we want good karma
Let them roam the savannah!
How many rhinos are left now … ?
Are we nearly there yet?
‘Are we nearly there, yet?!’
We shouted in the car –
Dad shouted back through gritted teeth,
‘It isn’t very far!’
Long journeys …
Runny egg …
I ate a boiled egg
That wasn’t cooked quite right –
The white was liquid jelly,
My face was quite a sight!
Raw boiled eggs – yeugh!
Mum’s view
Fish fingers for her dinner,
And butter for her tea –
No wonder she is fonder
Of her daddy than of me!
Dad’s spoiling her
My little lord
Sitting on the carpet,
Looking at T.V.,
This is how I like it,
Everything brought to me!
A toddler’s world.
Out on a cold day
Out on a cold day,
Out in the sun,
It doesn’t really matter
When you’re having fun!
Children don’t feel the cold when they’re excited
Granddaughter
Sleeping on my grandma
Like a cosy slug,
Heavy in my stillness
In her gentle hug.
Winter
Winter’s brought its chill,
Mummy’s feeling ill,
Dad’s been wrapped up warm and snug all day;
The frost is on the ground,
There’s silence all around,
And bitter cold and snow is on its way.
Winter’s looming
Children
Two kids,
Two tunes,
Played together
Like two spoons.
Two children fighting and playing. I have to make it work.
Cuthbert
Has anyone seen Cuthbert ?
He hasn’t had his cuthtard.
He is a naughty boy –
He left his saveloy!
Naughty Cuthbert!
Ladybird
‘The ladybird is quite absurd!’
The ant said to the bee,
‘So many legs and a coat of red –
It doesn’t look like me!’
If it doesn’t look like us it’s strange
Cat and hoover
‘Ooooh!’ went the hoover,
‘Sssss!’ went the cat –
I laughed so hard
I fell flat on my back!
Cat’s don’t like hoovers
Migration
Where do birds go
When the ground’s covered in snow?
Far, far away,
Where the wild lions play
And the sun’s always hot,
Elephants flop,
Baboons howl at night,
The moon’s large and bright,
And crickets form choirs
Around evening fires –
That’s where they fly,
Through the dark winter sky,
That’s where they go
When the ground’s covered in snow.
Poetic license – only a few birds migrate to warmer climes in winter
I ate a slug
I ate a slug,
It slithered around,
My feet grew sticky and stuck to the ground,
My face went slimy,
My hair fell out,
Mum screamed with fear,
Dad roared out a shout,
My eyes went up,
Popped out of my head,
I slithered upstairs to my nice warm bed –
The Fire Brigade came with a barrel of salt,
My sister screamed that it wasn’t my fault,
And now I eat weeds in the garden at night,
My thousands of teeth a frightening sight:
I bleed if I’m cut but my blood is all green,
There’s two frogs that would eat me but I’m huge and mean –
Oh, what a mistake, I shouldn’t have dared
To swallow a slug to show I wasn’t scared!
Oh no! Don’t eat slugs!
Bin and gone
The binmen have bin,
The bin has gone –
This is the end
Of my silly song.
Bin means been, silly
The wave
The wave grew tall,
Became a face,
Sucked and roared
And then gave chase –
From the beach,
Across the land,
Down the street,
Became a hand,
Reached out and grabbed me
But as it did –
I jumped into a shop and hid!
A frightening wave
Cold
Chapped lips,
Cold hands,
Freezing toes –
Mum understands!
Mums will give us cuddles when we’re cold
Bogies
Bogies come in different shapes,
In different colours, different weights,
Some are straggly, long and thin,
Some are wet and won’t stay in,
Some are smeared across my face
(Since losing them would be a waste!)
Whilst others must be flicked away
Because they cling and want to stay!
My sister says bogies taste great,
She’d love to eat them off her plate!
But since her nose is now empty
She’ll have to have a proper tea.
A poem all about bogies and snot.
Wasps
Wasps fly
In the sky,
I hope they stay there,
Very high.
Wasps are okay if we leave them alone …
I wash up
I wash up,
You wash up,
He/she washes up,
We wash up,
You wash up,
They wash up.
If only.
Who does all the washing up?
Duck crackers
To walk with a waddle
The duck’s had to swallow
An egg, a meringue and a spoon:
Its beak’s far too thick,
It hasn’t got lipth,
Which is why the duck can’t hold a tune.
Quack!
Duck quackery
Custard
If all the custard in the sea
Was second helpings just for me,
Would I ask for more ?
I’m really not too sure.
Greedy!
Autumn leaves
Autumn leaves upon the ground,
Yellow, brown and red,
Winter’s getting closer,
The trees are going to bed.
Brrr! Winter’s coming soon!
Board Game
Roll a dice,
Move a square,
Mummy’s winning –
It’s not fair!
Not a good idea to win too often, Mum!
In the land of the Dingle
In the land of the Dingle
The trees shake and jingle,
The moon is made of white rice,
The sun’s a green candy,
The seas are all brandy
And everyone’s frightfully nice.
Probably the brandy …
Wet!
Soaking wet,
Soggy clothes,
A funny feeling
In my nose –
Achoo!
Soggy clothes do that …
Dirty
Soap, it’s true, won’t turn me blue,
And water won’t colour me green,
But I’d rather be dirty if you don’t mind
Because dirty’s far better than clean!
Who wants to be clean?
Baby
10 fingers,
10 toes,
2 ears,
1 nose,
2 eyes, a tongue and touch –
Waaah! Complicated, far too much!
A baby learning to take control of its new body
Clean fish
Every fish that’s ever been
Has tried at some stage keeping clean,
Which is quite tough in dirty water
(But Mummies always say you oughta!)
How can a fish stay clean in dirty water?
Bubble
A bubble is a miracle,
Fragile in the air,
A skin of stretched-out water
Floating everywhere.
Amazing when we think about it – how does water hold together in a thin film that floats through air?
Dream
I caught a dream
On the empty air,
And brought it here
For us to share.
Hope you enjoyed them!
The Little Book Of Very Short Poems For Children
A gentle introduction to poetry with nearly 150 short and silly poems for young children. Includes most of the poems above plus roughly 70 previously unpublished poems.
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