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Funny and sweet, these are poems for children who are anything but angels!
Citation preview
LITTLE POEMS FOR CHILDREN
GRACE ANDREACCHI
ILLUSTRATED BY VIKTORIA SAMOILOVA
The right of Grace Andreacchi to be identified as author
of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This is a work of fiction. Any similarity of persons, places
or events depicted herein to actual persons, places or
events is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2010 by Grace Andreacchi
Illustrations copyright © 2010 by Viktoria Samoilova
All rights reserved
LITTLE POEMS FOR
CHILDREN
GRACE ANDREACCHI
WITH ILLLUSTRATIONS BY VIKTORIA
SAMOILOVA
Andromache Books
For my daughter, Sarah, when she was a little girl.
MOTHER'S ROSES 1
GOD 2
PAPA 4
THE PARK 5
THE WEDDING DOLL 6
MY BEST FRIEND'S MOTHER 8
NOT ME 11
WHEN I GROW UP 12
MIDDY BLOUSE 14
GRANDMOTHER'S FISH 15
JELLY BEANS 16
SAINT MICHAEL 18
MY BROTHER JOHN 19
BAD BOYS 22
GOOD BOYS 23
SWEETHEART 25
HALLOWEEN 26
SPAGHETTI AND CAKE 28
THREE PENGUINS 31
BOOKS 32
THE ANTS 35
TEACHERS 17
MISTER MOON 36
BARBIE 38
GRASSHOPPER 39
IF 41
THE DAWDLES 43
BULLDOG 45
RED SNEAKERS 46
NEW SHOES 47
CRAZY DAISY 48
IF I WERE GOD 50
1
MOTHER'S ROSES
A red rose
A white rose
A red rose
A white rose
A red rose
A white rose
That's all!
2
GOD
God is very great and strong
He listens to us all day long
And teaches us to do what's right
But nobody knows what He does at night.
3
4
PAPA
Papa also is strong and tall
And when I hear his step in the hall
I hide in the curtain - I know what he'll say!
'Where is my little Miss Mousie today?'
Then I come prancing out just like a mouse
And he takes me and hugs me all over the house
I give him six kisses, or seven, or ten
And tell him I'm going to marry him When.
5
THE PARK
The park is very great and green
And full of many things unseen
Swings that come swinging and knock off your head
Germs in the fountain that kill you quite dead
And lots of wild children who like to throw sand
And sometimes there's even a musical band!
6
THE WEDDING DOLL
The Wedding Doll is very grand
She has her own white wedding stand
And stands very straight in the dining hall
In her dress and her veil and her gloves and all.
7
But though she's been standing there summer and fall
The bridegroom seems never to turn up at all
And sometimes I wonder - What sort of life?
Always the wedding but never the wife.
8
MY BEST FRIEND'S MOTHER
My best friend's mother is very strict
And when I come over to play
I know she's going to send us out
On even the coldest day.
She never once gave us cookies or cake
She says that it makes such a mess
And she had a fit when my friend spilled coke
All over her second-best dress.
9
My friend's not allowed to wear jewelry or lace
Her mother says it's not proper,
The time we wore lipstick and powdered our face
She screamed and nobody could stop 'er.
If she were my mother I'd run away fast
I'd sail away over the water,
From China I'd send her a postcard at last -
'With love, from your runaway daughter!'
10
11
NOT ME
I wouldn't like to be a nun
They never seem to have much fun
But always go to church or school
And wear black dresses as a rule.
12
WHEN I GROW UP
I'd like to be a fireman
And put the fires out
And ride the big red engine round the town.
Up and down! Up and down!
The big light going round and round!
And the big siren screaming.
I'd like to be a Ringmaster
And wear a coat and hat.
I'd crack my whip and just like that!
Lions and tigers at my command
Clowns and elephants under my hand
The big lights beaming out of the stand
And the big crowd screaming.
13
I'd like to be the daring girl
Who rides the high trapeze.
I'd swing from my toes, I'd hang from my knees
In my glorious sparkles like stars in the breeze
The big light shining so everyone sees
Me up there gleaming.
14
MIDDY BLOUSE
My middy blouse is very white
It has a collar like a kite
And when I button it up tight
I look just like a sailor.
15
GRANDMOTHER'S FISH
Gold fish, red fish
Swimming all around
Gold fish, red fish
Never make a sound.
16
JELLY BEANS
Black jelly beans are best
I let my brother have the rest.
17
TEACHERS
Some are nice, and some are mean
But most are somewhere in-between.
18
SAINT MICHAEL
Saint Michael killed a dragon
Saint Michael is a saint
Saint Michael is an angel
And mother says, I ain't!
19
20
MY BROTHER JOHN
My brother John is very small
My brother John knows nothing at all.
He doesn't know Go-Fish or nursery rhymes
Nor how many seven by seven is times.
He can't tell the hour by the clock on the wall -
Oh my brother John is so dreadfully small!
21
He can't zip his coat, nor tie his own shoe
He thinks all that stuff about Santa is true,
But he knows how to wrestle, he knows how to run
And when he's not crying he sometimes is fun.
I chase him around, he barks like a puppy
And makes a ridiculous face like a guppy.
He knows how to scream, and he knows how to laugh
Which isn't too bad for just two-and-a-half.
22
BAD BOYS
Bad boys like to pull your hair
And make you trip upon the stair;
They also make a lot of noise
And smash up other people's toys.
23
GOOD BOYS
Good boys, I think, are hard to find
The gentle, meek, and quiet kind,
Who try to fix things when they break
And take you rowing on the lake.
24
25
SWEETHEART
If you were my sweetheart, I never would roam,
I'd sit down by the fire and tell you a poem,
And if an angel came
To call your name
I'd stay with you just the same.
26
27
HALLOWEEN
Halloween is scarey
I love it very much
The children all disguise themselves
As witches, ghosts, and princesses
And pirates with big cutlasses
And animals and such.
We go to all the houses
And holler 'Trick or treat!'
In the cold and the dark you hardly dare
Such a big jack-o-lantern grinning there
And one time a ghost even pulled my hair!
And they give you candy to eat.
28
SPAGHETTI AND CAKE
When I am grown to woman's state
And take my place among the great
And people ask me, what I ate?
To look so elegant and sedate
I'll answer them
Spaghetti and Cake!
Spaghetti and cake, spaghetti and cake!
The only things I ever ate.
If you want to grow to woman's state
Eat all you want of spaghetti and cake.
29
When I'm the Queen over land and sea
And people come running to look at me
And humbly inquire, what I had for tea?
When I was a little one just like thee
I'll answer them
Spaghetti and cake!
Spaghetti and cake, spaghetti and cake!
For breakfast, dinner and tea
If you want to grow up like me
Bright and bumptious, wild and free
Eat all you can see of
Spaghetti and cake!
30
31
THREE PENGUINS
Three penguins in the porridge
Swimming all about,
I'm not going to eat it
Till somebody takes them out!
32
33
BOOKS
Books are what I like the best
They're not just toys like all the rest
That break, or get old, or don't want to play
A book gets better every day.
Sit down and open it - soon you'll find
A whole new world jumps up in your mind,
People and places and all sorts of things -
Dragons and princesses, goblins and kings,
34
Dinosaurs walking the earth like thunder,
Ancient Egyptians who make you wonder,
Books about planets and space exploration,
The truth about rocks, and the birth of our nation.
And perhaps the most interesting story of all
That tells of the Prince who is going to call,
And even a picture to show how he looks -
Now these are the things that I like about books.
35
THE ANTS
The day was hot and quiet
And I was all alone,
I killed them in the garden
With a stick and with a stone.
I buried them and hid the place,
I didn't want to see
The ugly thing that had been done
By no one else but me.
36
37
MISTER MOON
Mister Moon looks out of the sky
And watches me with his big bright eye
Ands follows me wherever I go -
Hello, Mister Moon! Hello!
Of all the children that he can see
Why does he choose to follow me?
And watch me with his eye so bright -
Good night, Mister Moon! Good night!
38
BARBIE
Barbie is a grown-up doll
Not like the other dolls at all -
Her ponytail in golden ripples,
And breasts like real except for the nipples.
She's got more clothes than a movie star,
And adjustable joints, and her own red car.
My brother pulled off her head and then
Stuck it on to the body of Ken.
I got really mad but I had to admit
That Ken's head on Barbie was quite a good fit.
39
GRASSHOPPER
Grasshopper small
Alone under the leaves
Singing on a summer night
To the moon and all
Grasshopper grasshopper
Grasshopper grasshopper
small
Under the leaves and all
40
The leaves so dark
And the moon so bright
Singing alone on a summer night
Grasshopper grasshopper
Grasshopper grasshopper
small
41
IF
If all the world were painted pink
With lots of green and yellow ink
And all the mice were millionaires
How would we ever get upstairs?
If little dogs have little lice
And crocodiles are sweet and nice
And like to tickle with their tails
Why do they have such long sharp nails?
42
If many things we say are true
Like one plus one and six plus two
And elephants from Timbuktu
Why aren't there any in the zoo?
If up and down and out and in
And big and fat and thick and thin
And long and lean and wan and white
Why must we go to bed at night?
43
THE DAWDLES
Twirled my hair all round a pencil
Arithmetic is still not done
Made a house of fried potatoes
Only ate one little one.
Now I'm looking out the window
Toys are lying on the floor
Waiting till I tidy up - I
Guess they'll have to wait some more!
44
45
BULLDOG
Short legs
Scrunchy face
Fat little bulldog
Never won a race.
46
RED SNEAKERS
I've got new red sneakers on
I'm going to run from here to Babylon
I'm going to jump right up to the moon
And if I come back it won't be soon.
47
NEW SHOES
Black patent leather
Buckles on the toes
Click-clack! When I walk
My new shoes like to talk
Click-clack, there she goes!
48
49
CRAZY DAISY
Crazy Daisy, grandmother's cat
You never once heard of a cat like that!
She seems to think people are some sort of mice,
A little bit larger but just as nice;
She seems to think people are some sort of food,
A little bit bigger but just as good.
If Grandma forgets to lock her up tight
She jumps on your foot and takes a big bite.
One time when the meter man came to the house
She ate half his shoe just as if it were mouse.
50
IF I WERE GOD
If I were God I wouldn't let it rain.
The snow would fall in summer when it's hot.
If I were God there'd be
No school ever
Chocolate forever
and teeth that never rot
If I were God - but I'm not.
51
THE END!
52
Grace Andreacchi was born and raised in New York City
but has lived on the far side of the great ocean for many
years - sometimes in Paris, sometimes Berlin, and
nowadays in London. Works include the novels
Scarabocchio and Poetry and Fear (Andromache Books),
Give my Heart Ease, which received the New American
Writing Award, and Music for Glass Orchestra. Stories and
poetry appear in both on-line and print journals. Her
work can be viewed at graceandreacchi.com.
Viktoria Samoilova is a young Russian artist studying in
St. Petersberg. Her work can be seen HERE.
Find out more about ANDROMACHE BOOKS
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