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Kaitlyn Smith
Anthology Introduction


There are many childrens poems that I enjoy, so narrowing them down and
trying to find poems to fit a certain theme was definitely challenging. The two
themes I chose, the four seasons and silly poems, are two of my favorite kinds of
poems. In my search for poems about the four seasons, I discovered that I simply
could not leave out some of the entertaining, funny poems that I enjoy so much.
The first theme, the four seasons, can be used in the classroom in many ways.
These poems could simply be read for a daily poem in the classroom depending on
the season and weather, or could be used to introduce units about these topics.
There are countless poems about every season and every type of weather. I chose
many of the poems in my anthology due to their rhythmic charm and rhyme
schemes, including those about the four seasons.
The second theme I chose was simply silly poems. I think that poems that are
funny and interesting to children keep their interest well. Although there isnt
necessarily a use for these poems when introducing a unit or concept, these poems
are great for daily poetry use and introducing children to poetry. These poems are
light-hearted and entertaining, and will easily capture childrens attention. There
are tons of silly poems for children about many various topics. The characteristics
that drew me to the poems I chose were their overall charm, as well as the fact that
they all rhyme.
There are many features that qualify a poem as a good one. A trait of poetry
that I find very appealing is rhyme. In general, I dont usually like poems that dont
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rhyme as much as I enjoy those that do. Rhyming poems seem to be more poetic in a
sense, involving more work and knowledge to create lines that rhyme. Another
quality of a poem that is especially attracts me is rhythm. I am not fond of
unpredictable rhythms or poems that dont have one at all. The rhythm of a poem
adds character and creates a certain tone, as well as unifying the lines of poems.
A third quality that I thoroughly enjoy, quite obviously, is humor. I do enjoy
poetry that is not humorous, but I do find that a funny poem has more appeal to me
than a serious one. Funny poems capture the attention of young children and keep
them more interested than a serious one would. The tone and mood are also very
important characteristics that make poems appealing. This goes along with humor,
bringing happy, light-hearted ideas and concepts to poetry that make it fun. Poems
with a serious mood can be intimidating to children, and dont keep their interest as
well. Happy, silly poems are more likely to make children enjoy poetry and want to
read it.
The use of language in a poem is an important aspect of poetry that is
understood and sometimes overlooked. Using figurative language and colorful
language adds to poetry that could potentially be boring. Descriptive language adds
to the imagery created a poem. A characteristic of poetry that is also very important
is its form. Some poems are written in couplets, some in much longer stanzas. The
shape and order that poems take is often vital to its rhyme or rhythm and the
understanding of the poem in general. The structure of the poem plays a role in the
message it sends and the mood it creates.
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The final characteristic of poetry that I feel makes it good is the message it
sends. Some poems are written to send a specific moral message, while others are
written simply for enjoyment. Some poems send a message of inspiration, while
others just seek to entertain. In general, all poems obviously send specific messages
to the reader, some intended and others not.
The poem Back-to-School Blues by Bobbi Katz is listed in my anthology as
the fifth poem. This is one of my favorite poems in the anthology for many reasons.
This poem specifically meets many of the requirements that I believe a good poem
should have. The rhyme scheme follows an XAXA, XBXB, XCXC, etc. rhyme scheme
that keeps the poem interesting. The rhythm of this poem is a unique one, as it
follows the form of a blues poem. Blues poems are intended to have specific
rhythms in order to capture the essence of blues music. This poem is also
entertaining and even a little humorous. Many children would enjoy and relate to
this poem due to its subject and the feelings many children have about going back to
school. The tone and mood of Back-to-School Blues is light-hearted and funny,
another characteristic I find important in poetry.














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Table of Contents

Anthology Introduction
The Four Seasons
1. Endless Cycles (p. 7)
2. February Twilight (p. 8)
3. Snowball (p. 9)
4. When All the World is Full of Snow (p. 10)
5. Back to School Blues (p. 11)
6. Fall (p. 12)
7. Something Told the Wild Geese (p. 13)
8. Weather (p. 14)

Silly Poems
9. The Folk Who Live in Backward Town (p. 16)
10. Nonsense! Nonsense! (p. 17)
11. Dentist and the Crocodile (p. 18)
12. All Mixed Up (p. 19)
13. Wiggly Giggles (p. 20)
14. Eat-it-all Elaine (p. 21)
15. Dont Tell Me That I Talk Too Much (p. 23)
16. The Creature in the Classroom (p. 24)
17. John (p. 25)
18. Ice Cream (p. 26)
Bibliography (p. 27)








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The Four Seasons















7
Endless Cycles"
by Jaymie Gerard


Springtime is a new day
That starts in early morn
Full of possibility
The time when life is born.

Summer is the afternoon
Under the beaming sun
The time that we are working hard
When baby days are done.

Autumn is the evening
Time to reap what has been sewn
Grateful for our harvest
Enjoying how weve grown.

Winter is the darkness
Of night, it is the cold
A time for dreams and wisdom
For sleep and growing old.

And from these endless cycles
The lessons that we find
Will shape us like the seasons
And change us like the time





8
February Twilight
by Sara Teasdale

I stood beside a hill
Smooth with new laid-snow,
A single star looked out
From the evening glow.

There was no other creature
That saw what I could see-
I stood and watched the evening star
As long as it watched me.





























9
Snowball
by Shell Silverstein

I made myself a snowball
As perfect as can be.
I thought Id keep it as a pet
And let it sleep with me.
I made it some pajamas
And a pillow for its head.
Then last night it ran away
But first it wet the bed!






























10
When All the World Is Full of Snow
by N. M Bodecker

I never know
Just where to go,
When all the world
Is full of snow.
I do not want
To make a track.
Not even
To the shed and back.

I only want
To watch and wait,
While snow moths settle
On the gate,

And swarming frost flakes
Fill the trees
With billions
Of albino bees.

I only want
Myself to be
As silent as
A winter tree

To hear the swirling
Stillness grow,
When all the world
Is full of snow.

11
Back to School Blues
by Bobbi Katz


Just wiggling my toes
In my brand new shoes.
Guess Ive got a case
Of the back-to-school blues.
Shiny new notebook
With nothing inside it.
Feeling kind of scared-
Trying to hide it.
Whats waiting for me
Behind a classroom door?
A brand new teacher
Ive never seen before.
Maybe shes a good one.
Maybe shes bad news.
Im just a-wiggling
Just a-giggling-
Got those back-to-school blues.
















12
Fall
by Lois Duncan

up from the meadow a wind is blowing,
the wind we longed for the summer through.
The sky, which was gold and hot and glowing,
Is high above us and strangely blue.

There, where the apple tree was budding
Ready to bloom, we hear a sound
And turn to find its an apple thudding
Heavy and hard to the sunbaked ground.

A line of geese sweeps up from the river,
Dry leaves crunch on the browning lawn.
We look at each other, surprised, and shiver
And suddenlyswiftlysummer is gone.






















13
Something Told the Wild Geese
by Rachel Field

Something told the wild geese
It was time to go.
Through the fields lay golden
Something whispered- Snow.
Leaves were green and stirring,
Berries luster-glossed,
But beneath warm feathers
Something cautioned- Frost.
All the sagging orchards
Steamed with amber spice
But each wild breast stiffened
at remembered ice.
Something told the wild geese
It was time to fly-
Summer sun was on their wings,
Winter in their cry.



















14
Weather
by anonymous

Whether the weather be fine
Or whether the weather be not,
Whether the weather be cold
Or whether the weather be hot,
Well weather the weather
Whatever the weather,
Whether we like it or not.






















15

Silly Poems


















16
The Folk Who Live in Backward Town
by Mary Ann Hoberman

The folks who live in Backward Town
Are inside out and upside down.
They wear their hats inside their heads
And go to sleep beneath their beds.
They only eat the apple peeling
And take their walks across the ceiling.






















17
Nonsense! Nonsense!
By Jack Prelutsky

Nonsense? Thats what makes no sense;
A walrus waltzing on a fence,
Cats in vats of cheese and chowder,
Weasels sniffing sneezing powder,
Elephants with bright umbrellas
Dancing sprightly tarantellas,
Tigers dressed in spotted sweaters
Playing chess and writing letters.

Nonsense? Lizards clanging cymbals,
Flying eggs and weeping thimbles,
Sleeping prunes and crooning poodles,
Hopping spoons and creeping noodles,
Schools of fish that moo like cattle,
Bloomers marching into battle,
Pigs with wigs and purple wings,
Nonsense! All these silly things.











18
Dentist and the Crocodile
by Roald Dahl

The crocodile, with cunning smile, sat in the dentist's chair.
He said, "Right here and everywhere my teeth require repair."
The dentist's face was turning white. He quivered, quaked and shook.
He muttered, "I suppose I'm going to have to take a look."
"I want you," Crocodile declared, "to do the back ones first.
The molars at the very back are easily the worst."
He opened wide his massive jaws. It was a fearsome sight
At least three hundred pointed teeth, all sharp and shining white.
The dentist kept himself well clear. He stood two yards away.
He chose the longest probe he had to search out the decay.
"I said to do the back ones first!" the Crocodile called out.
"You're much too far away, dear sir, to see what you're about.
To do the back ones properly you've got to put your head
Deep down inside my great big mouth," the grinning Crocky said.
The poor old dentist wrung his hands and, weeping in despair,
He cried, "No no! I see them all extremely well from here!"
Just then, in burst a lady, in her hands a golden chain.
She cried, "Oh Croc, you naughty boy, you're playing tricks again!"
"Watch out!" the dentist shrieked and started climbing up the wall.
"He's after me! He's after you! He's going to eat us all!"
"Don't be a twit," the lady said, and flashed a gorgeous smile.
"He's harmless. He's my little pet, my lovely crocodile."

19
All Mixed Up
by Shane D. Williams

While I was on a field trip
At the candy factory,
I fell into the mixer
And the mixer mixed up me!
My mouth is on my elbow now.
My eyes are on my cheeks.
Itll take some getting used to, yes
Ill need some new techniques.
My left arm now comes out my head.
My foot comes out my ear.
And where my nose is really stinks!
Thats right its on my rear!












20
Wiggly Giggles
by Stacy Jo Crossen and Natalie Anne Covell

Ive got the wiggly-wiggles today,
And I just cant sit still.
My teacher says shell have to find
A stop-me-wiggle pill.

Ive got the giggly-giggles today;
I couldnt tell you why.
But if Mary hiccups one more time
Ill giggle till I cry.

Ive got to stamp my wiggles out
And hold my giggles in,
Cause wiggling makes me giggle
And gigglers never win.














21
Eat-it-all Elaine
by Kate Starbird

I went away last august
To summer camp in Maine,
And there I met a camper
Called Eat-it-all Elaine.
Although Elaine was quiet,
She liked to cause a stir
By acting out the nickname
Her camp-mates gave to her.

The day of our arrival
At Cabin Number Three
When girls kept coming over
To greet Elaine and me,
She took a piece of Kleenex
And calmly chewed it up,
Then strolled outside the cabin
And ate a buttercup.

Elaine, form that day forward,
Was always in command.
On hikes, shed eat some birch-bark.
On swims, shed eat some sand.
At meals, shed swallow prune-pits
And never have a pain,
While everyone around her
Would giggle, Oh, Elaine!

One morning, berry-picking,
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A bug was in her pail,
And though we thought for certain
Her appetite would fail,
Elaine said Hmm, a stinkbug.
And while we murmured, Ooh,
She ate her pail of berries
And ate the stinkbug, too.

The night of Final Banquet
When counselors were handing
Awards to different children
Whom they believed outstanding
To every thinking person
At summer camp in Maine
The Most Outstanding Camper
Was Eat-it-all Elaine.















23
Dont Tell Me That I Talk Too Much
by Arnold Spilka

Dont tell me that I talk too much!
Dont say it!
Dont you dare!
I only say important things
Like why its raining where.
Or when or how or what or what
Might happen here or there.
And why a thing is this or that
And who is bound to care
So dont tell me that I talk too much!
Dont say it!
Dont you dare!
















24
The Creature in the Classroom
by Jack Prelutsky

It appeared inside our classroom
At a quarter after ten,
It gobbled up the blackboard,
Three erasers and a pen.
It gobbled teachers apple
And it bopped her with the core.
How dare you! she responded.
You must leave us theres the door.

The Creature didnt listen
But described an arabesque
As it gobbled all her pencils,
Seven notebooks and her desk.
Teacher stated very calmly,
Sir! You simply cannot stay,
Ill report you to the principal
Unless you go away!

But the thing continued eating,
It ate paper, swallowed ink,
As it gobbled up our homework
I believe I saw it wink.
Teacher finally lost her temper.
OUT! she shouted at the creature.
The creature hopped beside her
And GLOPP it swallowed the teacher.


25
John
by N.M. Bodecker

John could take is clothes off
But could not put them on.

His patient mother dressed him,
And said to little John,

Now, John! You keep your things on.
But John had long since gone-

And left a trail of sneakers
And small things in the sun,

So she would know to find him
Wherever he might run.

And at the end of every train
Stood Mrs. Jones & Son,

She with all his little clothes,
And little John- with none!

For john could take is clothes off
But could not put them on.
His patient mother dressed him
And on went little John-
And on-
And on-
And on-
26
Ice Cream
by Jaymie Gerard

Last Tuesday something happened that had not happened before
My mother gave me ice cream, then my father gave me more.
They kept on filling up my bowl- Why? Im not quite sure.
I ate and ate and ate until I fell down to the floor.

A feeling awfully strange came on so sudden and so quick,
My stomach did some somersaults, a mean and nasty trick.
My favorite food in the whole world was making me quite sick,
I just couldnt believe it as I took a final lick.

And now I cant stand ice cream, I cant stand to see its sight.
I dont ask for it for breakfast, dont want it late at night.
In fact, the thought of ice cream now really gives me a fight.
He kiddo, you want some ice cream?
Well maybe just one bite!













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Bibliography

"A Children's Poem a Day." A Childrens Poem a Day. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.
<https://achildrenspoemaday.wordpress.com/>.

Janeczko, Paul B., and Christopher Raschka. A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to
Poetic Forms. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick, 2005. Print.

Prelutsky, Jack, and Arnold Lobel. The Random House Book of Poetry for Children.
New York, NY: Random House, 1983. Print.