My Ice Cream Is Melting
My ice cream is melting
this hot sunny day.
I’m licking it quick but
it’s dribbling away.
My ice cream is melting.
It’s starting to drip
all over my fingers,
my chin, and my lip.
My ice cream is melting.
I can’t make it stop.
It’s hitting the ground with
a splash and a plop.
My ice cream has melted
and turned into ooze.
It was on a cone but
it’s now on my shoes.
I Went out Exploring
I went out exploring
for treasure today.
I wasn’t successful
I’m sorry to say.
Instead of some treasure
I found a few rocks.
I found a dead bug and
some stinky old socks.
I found a small string
from a party balloon,
a bubblegum wrapper,
and half of a spoon.
I found a flat can and
the cap from a pen.
I don’t think that I’ll go
exploring again.
Tiny Todd the Turtle
My turtle’s name is Tiny Todd.
He’s Tiny Todd the turtle.
And Tiny Todd the turtle’s favorite
game to play is Wordle.
He has to guess a random word
by typing on his phone.
He’s never lost a single game.
His record stands alone.
He starts it every morning
and he plays till late at night.
It always takes him all day long
to get the answer right.
He tries to play it fast, and yet
his pace is just a crawl,
since Tiny Todd the turtle’s
still a turtle after all.
My Sloth Is Supersonic
My sloth is supersonic
as she sprints around my room.
She flies so fast you’ll often hear her
cause a sonic boom.
My snail is also speedy.
He’s the fastest snail alive.
I’ve seen him flash right past me
when I’m going for a drive.
My turtle hurtles faster than
the record-breaking pace.
So, naturally, my sloth and snail
and turtle love to race.
A week ago, my pets were slow,
which leads me to conclude
they got this way the day
I started feeding them fast food.
Saturday’s My Lazy Day
Saturday’s my lazy day.
I sleep until it’s noon,
then stay in bed and play a game
or watch a new cartoon.
And then I like to read a book
or maybe take a nap,
or snuggle with my kitten when
she cuddles on my lap.
I’ll search around the internet.
I’ll fiddle with my phone.
It’s nice to have a lazy day
to goof off on my own.
There’s truly nothing better.
It’s what Saturdays are for.
I only wish my children would
stop banging on my door.
The First Day of School
Today is the day that we go back to school.
My family’s excited! We all think it’s cool.
We know we’ll have homework and study like crazy.
We won’t have a chance to relax and be lazy.
We’ll wake up each morning. We’ll fill up our packs
and hoist them and haul them to school on our backs.
We’ll work from the morning till late every night.
We’ll practice our math, and we’ll read and we’ll write.
For month after month we’ll have so much to do.
I’m sure that this might sound unpleasant to you.
So, why are we having this grand celebration?
Today we start planning next summer’s vacation.
I Went to the Movies
One night I was bored, so, at 7:15,
I went to the movies and climbed in the screen.
I instantly found I was part of a scene
where aliens landed their flying machine.
They caught me and took me to meet with their queen.
Her teeth were enormous. Her face was all green.
Her head was the shape of a garbanzo bean.
She said they were going to cut out my spleen.
I never knew alien queens were so mean!
I let out a yell like a crazed wolverine,
and jumped out the window and got away clean
by taking command of a spy submarine,
and sailing away underwater, unseen.
The audience cheered as I climbed from the screen.
This film was like nothing that they’d ever seen.
I got to ride home in a long limousine.
My picture appeared on a film magazine
that said I was now the world’s most famous teen.
I thought this was awesome, and so I was keen
to do it again. It became my routine.
And now every evening, at 7:15,
I go to the movies and climb in the screen.
Throughout the school year, I visit many, many schools around the world virtually through Zoom, Meet, Teams, Skype, etc. In other words, I can visit your class or your school online whenever it’s convenient for you, for a fee.
However, if your class or school would like to visit with me, but you don’t have a budget for virtual field trips, I also provide webinars in conjunction with Streamable Learning, the leading provider of interactive livestreams in the K-12 market in the US and Canada. Through quality educational content and an easy-to-use platform, Streamable Learning aims to in introduce interactive livestreams as a valuable supplemental tool for classrooms and families seeking to inspire and educate their K-12 students.
During the 2021-22 school year, I will be doing more than a dozen online webinars, including interactive poetry-writing lessons, holiday poetry sessions, and programs on famous children’s poets from Dr. Seuss to Shel Silverstein. Schools are invited to join any of these sessions for free as my guest.
Streamable Learning offers a convenient, cost-effective, and comprehensive calendar of interactive livestreams delivered by subject matter experts and designed to supplement your existing and future lesson plans. To discover hundreds of engaging, educational programs, have a look a their Livestream Calendar.
I have been offering interactive poetry livestreams through Streamable Learning for several years now, and I hope you’ll be able to join me this year. You can register and participate in as many of these upcoming sessions as you like.
If you would like to attend one of my programs, please see the list of registration links shown below. When you click on the link, you will need to fill out just a few items and once you have finished the form, you will then receive an email with the livestream link. If you do not, please check your spam folder. It is possible that the livestream link will end up there. To join the program, you will need to download the Zoom app. You can download this free app at www.zoom.us/download and click on “Zoom Client for Meetings.” If you have any difficulty, contact efriedman@streamablelearning.com.
September 24, 2021
January 19, 2022
February 14, 2022
March 2, 2022
March 15, 2022
April 4, 2022
If you would prefer to arrange a private interactive videoconference for your class or school only, simply click here to schedule an online author visit. I look forward to seeing your students online!
AstroCow
Hello, my name is AstroCow.
I’m deep in outer space right now.
I’m off to visit distant stars.
I’ve seen the moon. I’ve been to Mars.
I’ve done the most amazing things.
I soared through Saturn’s massive rings.
I checked out Neptune. Pluto too.
Then out among the stars I flew.
I built this awesome rocket ship
to take an interstellar trip,
and travel through the galaxy
to find a home for cows like me.
You see, I used to live on Earth.
It was my home, my place of birth.
But now I search for somewhere new;
somewhere they don’t serve barbecue.
My Brother Might Be Bigfoot
My brother might be bigfoot.
I’ve seen a bunch of clues.
He’s very hairy, super tall,
and wears enormous shoes.
Whenever I say hi to him
my brother starts to growl.
He walks like a gorilla
and his stink is awfully foul.
He never takes a shower so
he’s slovenly and sweaty.
He claims to have a girlfriend too;
he says her name is Yeti.
He’s not a myth. From what I’ve seen
I think we can assume
that bigfoot lives among us…
He’s in my brother’s room.