Author: Kenn Nesbitt

Kenn Nesbitt, former U.S. Children's Poet Laureate, is celebrated for blending humor and heart in his poetry for children. Known for books such as "My Cat Knows Karate" and "Revenge of the Lunch Ladies," he captivates young readers globally.

My Mother Said to Do My Chores

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My Mother Said to Do My Chores

My mother said to do my chores,
to dust the shelves and mop the floors,
and wipe the walls and wind the clocks,
and scoop the kitty’s litter box,
and walk the dog and feed the fishes,
and wash and and dry the dirty dishes,
and clean my room and take a bath,
and read a book and do my math,
and pick up all my Lego blocks,
and put away my shoes and socks,
and hang my shirts and fold my pants,
and water all the potted plants,
and organize my toys and games,
and straighten up the picture frames,
and polish all the silverware,
and brush my teeth and comb my hair,
and rake the leaves and mow the lawn,
and on and on and on and on.

She said I’ll get to have some fun
as soon as all my chores are done.

With all the chores I have to do
until my mother says I’m through,
like study for an hour or two
the names of places in Peru,
and peel potatoes and stir the stew,
and fix a vase with crazy glue,
and practice tuba till I’m blue,
and scrub the tub and toilet too,
and sweep the chimney and the flue,
and wash the dog with pet shampoo,
and pick up piles of puppy poo…

It looks like I’ll be ninety three
before I get to watch TV.

–Kenn Nesbitt

The Teachers Jumped Out of the Windows

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The Teachers Jumped Out of the Windows

The teachers jumped out of the windows.
The principal ran for the door.
The nurse and librarian bolted.
They’re not coming back anymore.

The counselor, hollering madly,
escaped out the door of the gym.
The coach and custodian shouted
and ran out the door after him.

The lunch ladies threw up their ladles,
then fled from the kitchen in haste,
while all of the students looked puzzled
as staff members scurried and raced.

We’d never seen anything like it.
But, still, it was pretty darned cool
to see all the staff so excited
to leave on the last day of school.

–Kenn Nesbitt

Copyright © 2007 Kenn Nesbitt. All Rights Reserved.
From the book Revenge of the Lunch Ladies.

Revenge of the Lunch Ladies

Interview on Bigfoot Reads

“Tuesdays with Morzant” Interview on Bigfoot Reads

Interview with Kenn Nesbitt I had the pleasure of being interviewed by an alien this week. And not just any alien. I was interviewed on the blog Bigfoot Reads by Morzant, an alien who has been studying earth literature, and who is good friends with Bigfoot and a number of other cryptids.

Bigfoot Reads is one of the most fun children’s literature blogs you will ever come across. The blog posts are written by a crazy cast of characters that includes Violet the Telekinetic Puppy, Norman and Beverly the Half-Invisible Turtles, Penny C. Monster, and many others. Each of them has their own unique personality and laundry list of idiosyncrasies, as you can see from this review of MORE BEARS! written in 2011 by Violet the Telekinetic Puppy.

Today’s interview by Morzant the Alien is easily the most fun interview I’ve done. As you read the interview, you may notice that Morzant is a scientist who is particularly interested in studying Earth literature. He is also interested in snails the tensile properties of Rice Krispie Treats. Occasionally, Norman the Half-Invisible Turtle will tell him something outrageous (such as that the Children’s Poet Laureate award is bestowed on the winner of an arm-wrestling contest). Morzant is somewhat gullible, and usually believes Norman.

My photograph for the interview was taken by Bigfoot himself. Bigfoot tries, but he’s not much of a photographer, so his pictures usually end up blurry.

I hope you’ll take the time to read the interview and explore Bigfoot Reads for more fun author interviews and children’s book reviews and recommendations.

List of Rhyming Clothes and Fabrics

If you are writing a poem, especially a list poem, that includes things a person is wearing, you may find it useful to have a list of clothes, fabrics, and clothing accessories that rhyme. Here are a few that I have collected:

  • Angora / fedora
  • Anoraks / packs / slacks
  • Attache / beret
  • Barrettes / hairnets / sweats
  • Bead / tweed
  • Belt / felt / pelt
  • Boot / suit
  • Bows / clothes / hose
  • Braces / cases / laces
  • BVDs / dungarees
  • Camel hair / flare / formal wear / leisure wear / outerwear / pair / underwear
  • Caps / chaps / snaps / straps / wraps
  • Chemise / fleece
  • Chenille / heel
  • Clip / slip
  • Coat / tote
  • Cuff / muff / ruff
  • Dressed / vest
  • Flippers / slippers / zippers
  • Fly / tie
  • Frock / smock / sock
  • Gabardines / jeans
  • Hats / spats
  • Label / sable
  • Locket / pocket
  • Shirt / skirt
  • Shorts / skorts
  • Sleeve / weave
  • Sole / stole

Click here for other lists of rhyming words.

Weekend Children’s Poetry Links

Children's Poetry Links

The Miss Rumphius Effect challenges readers to write a Tanka, a Japanese form of poetry that has been practiced for over 1000 years.

NPR this week published a list of the 100 must-read books for kids aged 9-14. The one poetry book on the list is Thanhha Lai’s Inside Out & Back Again, a novel in verse about a young girl who leaves Vietnam with her mother and brothers at the end of the Vietnam war to resettle in Alabama.

Ted Scheu, “That Poetry Guy” posted a new video of his “cousin” Luigi reading his poem “Nothing Much.”

Children’s writer Elli Woollard posted a few silly nursery rhymes here and here and a wonderful, more serious poem on her blog, Taking Words for a Stroll.

Sylvia Vardell posted a “back to school” poem called “Underwear Scare” by new poet Terry Webb Harshman, along with a list of Poetry Books for Children About School on her blog Poetry for Children.

Renee LaTulippe hosted the Poetry Friday Roundup, including a first draft of her poem “The Boat,” on her blog No Water River.

M.M. Socks posted a new poem called “Gorilla in a Kid Costume” on his blog The Drawer of M.M. Socks.

Amy Ludwig VanDerwater posted a new poem called “Mittens and Friends” on her blog The Poem Farm.

Poet Eric Ode’s newest book The Boy and the Dragon is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com.

Halloween is Nearly Here

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Halloween is Nearly Here

Halloween is nearly here.
I’ve got my costume planned.
It’s sure to be the most horrific
outfit in the land.

If you should see me coming
you may scream and hide your head.
My get-up will, I guarantee,
fill every heart with dread.

My costume may cause nightmares.
Yes, my mask may stop your heart.
You might just shriek and wet yourself,
then squeamishly depart.

And yet, I won’t be dressing as
you might expect me to.
I will not be a vampire
or ghost that hollers “boo!”

I won’t look like a werewolf
or a goblin or a ghoul,
or even like a slimy blob
of deadly, dripping drool.

I will not be a zombie
or some other horrid creature.
No, this year I’ll be much, much worse…
I’m dressing as a teacher.

–Kenn Nesbitt

My Lunch

Here is the brand new animated video for the poem “My Lunch,” from the book Revenge of the Lunch Ladies.

Of course, in real life I like to eat healthy foods, but I know that most kids would rather eat cake than spinach, and might even be willing to sneak a little junk food when mom’s not around. So I thought it would be funny to write a poem about an imaginary lunch that was all sugar and treats. I hope you enjoy “My Lunch.”

Playing With Your Food Poem Lesson

Football

Here’s a quick and easy poetry writing lesson that can be used as early as first grade. I call it a “playing with your food” poem. It’s a list poem about playing your favorite sports with your favorite foods.

Step 1: Create a list of  five of your favorite sports, like this:

  • Basketball
  • Soccer
  • Baseball
  • Volleyball
  • Football

A Dazzling Display of Dogs by Betsy Franco

A Dazzling Display of Dogs, Concrete Poems by Betsy Franco

As Children’s Poet Laureate, one of my jobs is to select a collection of poetry each month to feature on the Poetry Foundation’s website. There you’ll find my monthly book picks, and those of the previous Children’s Poets Laureate.

My pick for August, 2013 is A Dazzling Display of Dogs, concrete poems by Betsy Franco, illustrations by Michael Wertz.

Interview with Children’s Author Betsy Franco

In addition, I interviewed Betsy Franco about her life as a poet and about her new book. Here is what she had to say.

Write a Poem About Your Favorite Things

What's Your Favorite Thing?

It’s famously said about writing that you should “write what you know.” Unfortunately, this can mean a lot of different things, and can be easily misunderstood. For example, you might think it means to only write about things you have actually experienced. But that would be like saying you can’t write about someone driving a car if you’ve never driven a car yourself. Obviously that doesn’t make sense.

So instead of telling kids to “write what you know,” I like to say that “the easiest thing to write about is your favorite thing,” because that is what you know the most about. If you love playing video games, you probably know a lot about them. If your favorite thing happens to be karate, or soccer, or pizza, you probably know a lot about that.

This doesn’t mean that your favorite thing is the only thing you should write about, but if you are ever stuck for an idea, just ask yourself what you like and then write a poem about it.

In fact, if you have a lot of things you like, you can even make a simple list poem of all of your favorite things. Here’s how.