The Owl and the Puss-Cat (Monday Poem)

by Edward Lear


The Owl and the Pussy-Cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea-green boat:
They took some honey and plenty of money
Wrapped up in a five-pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
"O lovely Pussy, O Pussy, my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!"

Pussy said to the Owl, "You elegant fowl,
How charmingly sweet you sing!
Oh! Let us be married; too long we have tarried:
But what shall we do for a ring?"
They sailed away for a year and a day,
To the land where the bong-tree grows;
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood,
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.

Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?" Said the Piggy, "I will."
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.



from A Family of Poems: My Favorite Poetry for Children
Selected by Caroline Kennedy
Hyperion, 2005 

The Pasture (Monday Poem)

by Robert Frost


I'm going out to clean the pasture spring;
I'll only stop to rake the leaves away
(And wait to watch the water clear, I may):
I sha'n't be gone long. -- You come too.

I'm going out to fetch the little calf
That's standing by the mother. It's so young,
It totters when she licks it with her tongue.
I sha'n't be gone long.-- You come too.



from A Family of Poems: My Favorite Poetry for Children
Selected by Caroline Kennedy
Hyperion, 2005 

The Crocodile (Monday Poem)

by Lewis Carroll


How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!

How cheerfully he seems to grin,
How neatly spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in,
With gently smiling jaws!



 from A Family of Poems: My Favorite Poetry for Children
Selected by Caroline Kennedy
Hyperion, 2005 

Farewell! LIke a Bee (Monday Poem)

by Basho


Farewell! Like a bee
reluctant to leave the deeps
of a peony.


from A Family of Poems: My Favorite Poetry for Children
Selected by Caroline Kennedy
Hyperion, 2005 
 

recipe for memories (Monday Poem)

by Marilyn Singer


Sometimes it's just a sharp whiff of mustard,
and you recall being at the ball park.
The sight of a cone dripping custard,
and you're there at the fair after dark.

The sound of corn popping -- movies with Dad.
The buzz of the mixer when Grandma bakes pies.
The soup that Mom serves the day you're feeling bad.
The birthday surprise of your grandpa's french fries.

The too much red pepper that caused you to sneeze.
The store where you thought you'd bite into a lime.
The slushy your drank till it made your brain freeze.
The stories that start, "And then there was that time . . ."

Today becomes last week, June, July, December.
Food has the power to help you remember.




from Follow the Recipe: Poems About Imagination, Celebration & Cake
by Marilyn Singer, illustrated by Marjorie Priceman
Dial, 2020

recipe for fairy tales (Monday Poem)

by Marilyn Singer


Take three bowls of porridge (too hot, too cold, just right)
a gingerbread house
an apple Snow White shouldn't eat
a basket of goodies for Grandma
a handful of magical beans
a gathering of ramps (whatever that means)
a single pea.

Put in several witches
princesses, giants
a boy with a lamp
an ugly duckling
a cat that can talk
a humongous bean stalk
a juniper tree.

They don't have to be fancy.
They don't have to rhyme.
But you'll implore,
you'll ask for more
     "once upon a time."




from Follow the Recipe: Poems About Imagination, Celebration & Cake
by Marilyn Singer, illustrated by Marjorie Priceman
Dial, 2020

recipe for science (Monday Poem)

by Marilyn Singer


This kitchen
is
your laboratory:
combining
molecules,
forming
crystals,
growing
good microbes.
Pickling
cucumbers.
Cool!
Assembling
rock candy.
Sweet!
Scrambling
eggs.
Fresh!
What's cooking?
Science!

Science,
what's cooking?
Fresh
eggs
scrambling.
Sweeet
rock candy
assembling.
Cool
cucumbers
pickling.
Good microbes
growing.
Crystals
forming.
Molecules
combining.
Your laboratory
is
this kitchen!




from Follow the Recipe: Poems About Imagination, Celebration & Cake
by Marilyn Singer, illustrated by Marjorie Priceman
Dial, 2020