Yellow-Bill Duck (Monday Poem)

by Jack Prelutsky


I'm a yellow-bill duck
With a black feather back,
I waddle waddle waddle,
and I quack quack quack!

I dabble for my dinner
With a swish swish swish,
and I gobble gobble gobble
all I wish wish wish.



from Ride a Purple Pelican
by Jack Prelutsky
1986, Greenwillow

The Great Frog Race (Monday Poem)

by Kristine O'Connell George


We used flashlights one night
to find them in the damp and secret
places in the garden.

We put the frogs in a cardboard box
and wet down the driveway.
The garden hose was the finish line.

One by one, we lined up the frogs,
(It wasn't easy.)
We yelled: Ready-- Set-- Go!

Seventeen frogs leaped in all directions,
croaking.  Blurk. Blurk. Blurk.
The Great Frog Race was over quickly.

One by one,
all contestants hopped off
into the moonlight.


from The Great Frog Race and Other Poems
by Kristine O'Connell George
1997, Clarion

Missing (Monday Poem)

by Cynthia Cotton


My brother is a soldier
in a hot, dry,
sandy place.
He's missing--
missing things like
baseball, barbeques,
fishing, French fries,
chocolate sodas,
flame-red maple trees,
blue jays,
and snow.

I'm missing too--
missing
his read-out-loud voice,
his super special
banana pancakes
his scuffed up shoes
by the back door,
his big-bear
good night
hugs.

There are people
with guns
in that land of sand
who want to shoot
my brother.

I hope
they miss him
too.

From America At War: Poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins

2008, Simon & Schuster

In Honor of Fathers and Grandfathers (FAMILY magazine reviews)

From tender to funny, dads and grandads can provide their children and grandchildren with the support and nurture that is so important in the family setting as well as in the wider world. Choose some of these grand books to share as only one of many ways to honor these family members you care about.

My Father’s Hands 

by Joanne Ryder

illustrated by Mark Graham

A blonde child and her dad share nature’s wonders in their garden, delicately examining a pink worm, a gold beetle, a sliding snail, and a leaf-green praying mantis. Full color oil paintings in soft-focus create a Monet-type setting, with lushly flowering plants in the background. Graham uses pastel coloring to enhance intimate close-ups of both daughter’s and father’s hands and faces.

The story is in the memory, with evidence of gentle touching in the melding of text and illustrations throughout. The restrained investigations established by the father, are imitated by the child. The daughter knows “nothing within my father’s hands will harm me.”

This tender picture book demonstrates mindful attention in the natural world. By example, readers will want to look for similar opportunities to care for and sustain our earth and its occupants.

Morrow, $17.99

Interest Level: Junior Kindergarten – Grade 2

Alma and How She Got Her Name 

by Juana Martinez-Neal

            Alma Sofia Esperanza Jose Pura Candela has a “too long” name, she tells her Daddy, “It never fits.” He responds by telling stories about the family members she’s been named after: a grandmother who is a book lover, an artist grandfather, and a deeply spiritual great-aunt, among others.

            The pictures, by award winning illustrator Martinez-Neal, use print transfers with graphite and colored pencils to complement the text. She crafts her delightful illustrations in grays and blacks with touches of color that help to define both Alma herself, and the ancestors whose names she shares.

            Alma’s candy stripe pants pop against sepia tones which suggest old family photos. Affectionately curved shapes connect the individual family members to the rounded images of Alma herself. Adults who share this lively story book will want to be prepared for conversations with young children about their own names.

This charming tale ends with her daddy’s explanation that Alma is “the first and only Alma.” And she will make her own story. Her name “fits me just right!” says Alma, “and I have a story to tell.”

Candlewick Press, $15.99

Interest Level: Pre-Kindergarten – Grade 2

Grandpa Toad’s Secrets 

by Keiko Kasza

            During their walk in the forest, Grandpa Toad cautions his grandson, “Our world is full of hungry enemies.” As he begins to tell Little Toad his survival secrets - the first is to, “Be brave” when you meet danger - a snake shows up. Little Toad runs away. Not Grandpa, whose bravery sends the snake on his way.

            Grandpa’s second secret, “Be smart!” works when a hungry snapping turtle arrives for a snack. Little Toad takes off again. But Grandpa whispers a tip to the turtle. However, before Grandpa can tell his third secret, a monster - so “humongous” that he only fits on the double page spread sideways – appears, and both Little Toad and Grandpa run.

Except --- Grandpa is caught by the monster! Little Toad hides in the bushes, shaking with fear as Grandpa is becoming a toad sandwich. Still, as he thinks about the two secrets he’s just learned, and sees berries nearby, Little Toad decides on a plan to trick the monster, rescuing his grandfather!

Repeated phrases, expressive animal characters, plus plenty of white space around the comical watercolor illustrations surprisingly supply emotional distance, reducing the “scare” for young children. A clever tale, told in spare but jaunty language, this a winner for adult readers as well as their listeners.

Candlewick Press, $15.99

Interest Level: Pre-Kindergarten – Grade 2

More Terrific Tales:

Things to do with Dad 

by Sam Zuppardi

Candlewick Press, $16.99

Interest Level: Pre-Kindergarten – Grade 2

With Dad, It’s Like That 

by Nadine Brun-Cosme

Illustrated by Magali Le Huche

Albert Whitman, $16.99

Interest Level: Pre-Kindergarten – Grade1

Man Eating (Monday Poem)

by Jane Kenyon


The man at the table across from mine
is eating yoghurt. His eyes, following
the progress of the spoon, cross briefly
each time it nears his face. Time,

and the world with all its principalities,
might come to an end as prophesied
by the Apostle John, but what about
this man, so completely present

to the little carton with its cool,
sweet food, which has caused no animal
to suffer, and which he is  eating
with a pearl-white plastic spoon.




from Otherwise, by Jane Kenyon
1996, Graywolf Press