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While at the sofa factory I nearly broke my spleen when I accidentally fell in an upholstery machine. I almost died that fateful day but I survived somehow. And I'm looking even better, too, since I'm recovered now.
–Kenn Nesbitt
Kids often ask me, “How old do you have to be to write a book?” I tell them that if they can write or draw, it doesn’t matter how old they are. You don’t have to be a grown-up to get a book published.
I often point out best-selling child authors such as Alec Greven, the author of How to Talk to Girls, or Christopher Paolini, the author of Eragon and the other books in the Inheritance Cycle.
Recently, though, I’ve been telling people about Olivia Whitman, a 9-year-old girl from Michigan who survived brain cancer and went on to publish her first book, a collection of her own poems and drawings called “You Make My Face Smile.” Watch the video below to see how Olivia got her wish and had her book published.
Olivia Whitman, author of "You Make My Face Smile"
I you would like to order a copy of Olivia Whitman’s book, you can mail a check or money order for $12.00 per book (includes shipping & handling) to:
Liv Via Books
401 E. Main St
DeWitt, MI 48820
Or you can “Like” Liv Via Books on Facebook and order your copy at the Shop Now tab. You can also click here to read more about Olivia’s remarkable story.
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Subscribe to this Podcast  Children’s Author Janet Wong |
Last week I had the opportunity to speak with children’s author and poet Janet Wong about her writing, her books, and her current projects, including her new eBook project with Sylvia Vardell, the Poetry Tag Time series. The third book in the series, Gift Tag, is out just in time for the holidays, and is already one of the best-selling children’s poetry eBooks on Amazon.com.
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Subscribe to this Podcast  Ted Scheu, That Poetry Guy |
Ted Scheu (pronounced “shy”), also known as “That Poetry Guy,” has been writing funny poetry for kids for a dozen years now. His poems have appeared in many anthologies in the US and the UK, and he has published four collections of humorous children’s poetry.
His newest book, Now I Know My ZBCs: 59 School Poems for Young Gigglers is available now.
I had the chance to interview Ted recently about his poetry and you can listen to our conversation here.
Looking for some funny poetry to share for Thanksgiving? Here are a few Thanksgivings poems for kids that I’ve written. I hope you enjoy them all.
And here is the newest… a collection of “fractured” Mother Goose nursery rhymes especially for Thanksgiving:
Can you guess which one is me?
I was nine years old when my family went water-skiing every day for an entire summer. We’d get up early, fix enough sandwiches to fill the cooler, and head for the lake in our midnight blue 1967 Cadillac Coupe de Ville, ski-boat in tow. On the best days, we would arrive before the wind had kicked up, when the lake was still a glassy calm.
Somehow, my dad’s job with a heating and air conditioning company allowed him to work mainly in the spring and fall. With summers free, my parents took us to the lake every day; me and my two brothers, Hap and Danny, and our friend Jimmy. Hap was the one with the crew-cut. Danny looked just like me, only more devious. We were all skinny, tanned, and a little too wild.
This was 1971, and the car had only an AM radio. No FM, no 8-track player, and certainly no DVDs or video games. A trip to the lake meant over an hour in the car each way, along winding mountain roads where the AM radio was useless, there weren’t enough other cars to play “slug bug,” and thumb wrestling got old in a hurry. Eventually–as four boys will do when stuck in the back seat of a car for an hour or two–we would begin to fight. It always started innocently enough with a “Quit touching me,” or a “Hey, that’s mine,” but would quickly erupt into a full-blown wrestling match on the floor of the car. Did I mention we also didn’t have seat belts?
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Subscribe to this Podcast  Lee Bennett Hopkins |
Lee Bennett Hopkins is an award-winning children’s author, poet, anthologist, and editor, and a lifelong promoter of poetry for children. I had the honor of speaking with him recently about his career, his books, and his thoughts about children’s poetry. You can listen to the interview here on the Poetry4kids Podcast.
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To some it’s known as “Halloween,”
or else “All Hallows Eve.”
To some it’s simply “Dress Up Day,”
a time for make believe.
And some folks call it “Trick or Treat,”
when ghosts and witches play.
To others it’s the night before
the day called “All Saints Day.”
It’s got so many different names,
but this is what I say:
To me October thirty-first
is called “Free Candy Day.”
–Kenn Nesbitt
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Children’s author Alan Katz has a brand new collection of funny poetry for kids called Poems I Wrote When No One Was Looking. I had the pleasure of speaking to Alan about his new book. You can listen to the interview here on the Poetry4kids Podcast.
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Melvin the mummy, who lived near the Nile,
had worked as a mummy for more than a while,
for mummies can go their entire careers
without a vacation for thousands of years.
He guarded the pyramids day after day
to frighten the burglars and bandits away,
which meant, as he stood watching over the pharaohs,
he often got shot at with bullets and arrows.
His job was so stressful, the pay was so poor,
but, still, Melvin stayed and protected the door.
Until he got sick of his sad situation
and knew that he needed to take a vacation.
His crypt was so dark and so cold and so clammy,
he packed up his swimsuit and flew to Miami.
He thought he would stay there for just a few days,
enjoying the beach and absorbing some rays.
But, sadly, poor Melvin would never return,
and this is a lesson all mummies should learn:
Don’t take any trips or, like Melvin, you’ll find
vacations make mummies relax and unwind.
–Kenn Nesbitt
