Minecraft Mike
A Funny Video Game Poem for Kids
From the book My Cat Knows Karate
Hello, my friends. My name is Mike.
I never hike or ride a bike.
You see, the only thing I like
is playing lots of Minecraft.
I never run, or climb a tree,
or sail a ship across the sea.
Why, I don’t even watch TV.
I just play lots of Minecraft.
I don’t play sports of any sorts,
on basketball or tennis courts,
in training shoes and running shorts.
I’m only good at Minecraft.
You’ll never see me pet the cat,
or shop online to buy a hat,
or instant message, text, or chat.
I’m busy playing Minecraft.
In fact, I’m busy as can be,
so if you’d like to talk to me,
there’s just one way, and that, you see,
is multiplayer Minecraft.
— Kenn Nesbitt
Copyright © 2018. All Rights Reserved.
Reading Level: Grade 2
Topics: Game, Poems about Kooky Characters, Science and Technology Poems, Sports
Poetic Techniques: Repetition, Rhyme Schemes
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About This Poem
Minecraft isn't just any videogame. It is now the third most popular video game of all time. I first discovered it a few years ago when my own children started playing it. Unlike other video games that they might play for just a short time, they would play Minecraft for hours on end. I've talked to a lot of kids about Minecraft and discovered that my children's experience was not unusual. Kids everywhere get hooked on Minecraft and never want to stop playing. This is not necessarily a bad thing. A large part of Minecraft involves building things using various types of blocks, much like a digital form of Legos. So, at it's most basic, Minecraft is an outlet for kids' natural creativity. Kids who spend enough time with the game might also want to learn to create "mods" to modify and customize the game itself. Creating mods, for many kids, is the necessary motivation to learn to write computer code. But, best of all, Minecraft can encourage kids to read and write. My own son is a perfect example. When he was in elementary school, he did not like writing at all. Until he discovered Minecraft, that is. He began reading Minecraft discussion forums and writing his own Minecraft "fan fiction." Eventually, he and a group of friends published their own Minecraft magazine online. In other words, a video game gave him a desire to want to write that his school and teachers could not. Even for kids who aren't motivated to write by Minecraft, there are plenty of books about Minecraft hat kids will want to read to learn more about the game. Even this poem itself is an example of Minecraft inspiring kids to read. Kids who otherwise would not be interested in poetry, might be willing to give it a shot if it's about something they care about; in this case, the third most popular video game of all time.
From the book My Cat Knows Karate
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