hotTEAs of Children’s Poetry: Kenn Nesbitt

April 11, 2016September 25, 2017 ~ jama ~ 10 Comments

Former Children’s Poet Laureate (2013-15) Kenn Nesbitt is the author of many books for kids, including “Kiss, Kiss Good Night,” “My Hippo Has the Hiccups,” “Revenge of the Lunch Ladies,” and many others. Kenn travels the country, visiting more than 60 schools each year, sharing his wacky brand of poetry with kids nationwide, and helping to create a new generation of poetry lovers. His website, poetry4kids.com, is the most visited children’s poetry website on the Internet. (pictured here with his favorite mug, given to him by the Guam Chapter of the International Reading Association)

☕ CUPPA OF CHOICE: I am a huge coffee fan. I love the taste of a nice dark roast, and I appreciate all of the good news lately about the health benefits of coffee. My go-to coffee is San Francisco Bay Organic Rainforest Blend. My wife and I make a pot of it every morning, and I like it with a couple of tablespoons of heavy whipping cream.

☕ HOT OFF THE PRESSES: My most recent book is Believe it or Not, My Brother Has a Monster, illustrated by David Slonim, published by Scholastic in 2015. My next book is an anthology of over 140 poems entitled One Minute Till Bedtime, with brand new poems from more than 130 children’s poets from around the world. It will be published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers in November 2016.

☕ FAVE FOODIE CHILDREN’S BOOK: Easily my favorite food-related children’s book is William Cole’s hilarious anthology, Poem Stew. It’s a collection of humorous poems about food that is now, sadly, out of print, though used copies are easy to find online.

☕ Find Kenn Nesbitt online at Poetry4kids.com, on Twitter: @poetry4kids, and at his FB Page.

☕☕ JUST ONE MORE SIP: Enjoy one of Ken’s poems!

Our Teacher’s Not a Zombie

Our teacher’s not a zombie.
He’s not the living dead,
although he’s looking ragged
and his eyes are rather red.

He shuffles to the classroom.
He slowly drags his feet.
He shambles to the whiteboard
looking broken-down and beat.

We listen to his plaintive moans.
We see the way he strains.
We hear him mumble mournfully
about the students’ brains.

But we know not to worry.
We never get upset.
He’s always like this when he
hasn’t had his coffee yet.

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friday feast: a disturbing new fashion trend, or, i’ve finally gone totally bananas

September 10, 2010January 9, 2018 ~ jama

“Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.” ~ Groucho Marx

Marieamifin/flickr

Blame it on Lisa Schroeder. While working on her pub day post this week, I was accosted by banana heads.
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friday feast: the great peanut butter smackdown

November 6, 2009January 14, 2018 ~ jama ~ 62 Comments

photo by enzo & lulu.

Hey, you’re just in time! Would you like an apple slice with peanut butter? It’s my favorite snack. (Don’t worry about peanut butter breath. We’re all friends here.)

Besides, there’s very good reason to indulge: November is National Peanut Butter Lovers Month (not to be confused with National Peanut Month, which is in March). No, today it’s all about creamy goodness and spreading it on thick, with the help of Shel Silverstein and Kenn Nesbitt. What? You’ve polished off all the apple slices already? Not to worry.

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