Month: March 2014

TIME for Kids 2014 Poetry Contest Winners

TIME for Kids 2014 Poetry Contest Winners

Illustration by Deam Macadam for TFK

Congratulations to the winners of the 2014  TIME for Kids Poetry Contest! I had so much fun reading all the entries and selecting the winners, plus a few “honorable mentions.” There were over 2100 entries this year; the most ever!

The grand-prize winning poem this year was by 10-year-old Benjamin Ecsedy. His poem “Mess” was absolutley wonderful. His prizes include a free autographed copy of my book The Armpit of Doom and a free online author visit for his class.

In addition to Benjamin’s wonderfully funny poem, the runner-up winners were “Stranded in Paradise” by 14-year-old John Vernaglia, “My Elephant” by 10-year-old Maddy Harmon, and “Expelled” by 12-year-old Ella Smith.

You can read all of the winners, plus several honorable mentions on the TIME for Kids website, and in TIME for Kids Magazine.

A big congratulations to all of the winners and honorable mentions, and to all of the kids who took the time to write a poem and submit it. If I could have, I would have picked a hundred winners. There were at least that many poems that were true winners in my eyes.

My Teacher Calls Me Sweetie Cakes

Here is the brand new animated video for the poem “My Teacher Calls Me Sweetie Cakes,” from the book Revenge of the Lunch Ladies.

I visit a lot of schools every year, and every once in a while I meet a student whose mother is a teacher at the school. Once I even met a boy who’s father was the Principal! And I always wondered what kinds of funny things might happen to a student whose mother was also his or her teacher. Here’s one thing I think might happen.

Rhyming Musical Instruments and Terms

If you ever find yourself writing a poem that involves music, especially a list poem, you may find it helpful to have a list of musical instruments and musical terms that rhyme with one another. Here are some common ones that you could use:

  • Autoharp / harp / sharp
  • Bach / rock
  • Band / baby grand / band stand / grand / music stand
  • Bang / clang / rang / sang
  • Baritone / microphone / saxophone / tone / trombone / xylophone
  • Bass / instrument case
  • Blare / snare
  • Bong / gong / singalong / song
  • Cacophony / euphony / key of C / symphony / tympani
  • Castanet / clarinet / cornet / duet / minuet / quartet
  • Chime / rhyme / time
  • Choir / lyre
  • Chord / record / musically scored
  • Clap / rap / tap
  • Cymbal / timbal
  • Drum / harmonium / hum / strum
  • Flat / high hat / rat-a-tat / scat
  • Flute / lute / toot
  • Glide / elide
  • Group / music loop / troupe
  • Guitar / rock star / sitar
  • Hear / play by ear
  • Juke / uke
  • Mandolin / violin
  • Nat King Cole / rock-n-roll
  • Note / throat
  • Piano / soprano
  • Pianola / Victrola / viola
  • Psalm / tom
  • Ring / sing / string / swing

Click here for other lists of rhyming words.