Monthly Poetry Event: THERE WERE MONKEYS IN MY KITCHEN

February28

Poetry Monthly event

Kailana at The Written World and Lu at Regular Rumination have started a monthly poetry blog-along. On the last Tuesday of every month, I’m going to join in and blog (very) informally about some of the poetry that I’ve read over the past month.

In January, I posted some of Shakespeare’s thoughts from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This month, I thought I’d lighten the academic aspect of poetry by sharing some rhyme from the children’s book, There Were Monkeys in My Kitchen by Sherrie Fitch (illustrated by Sydney Smith.

The opening page features a picture of monkey bedlam and reads:

There were monkeys / In my kitchen
They were climbing / Up the walls
They were dancing / On the ceiling
They were bouncing / Basketballs

Now…
You might think
That sounds funny
Now…
You might think
That sounds neat
To see a thousand
Monkeys dancing
To a funky
Monkey beat

BUT…
Let me tell you
It was terrible
Hardest day
I ever had
So believe me / It was bad
IT WAS BAD.

So begins a wild tale of monkeys of all sorts throughout the house. And lest you forget that it’s Canadian:

I called the police / I called the RCMP
I was extra polite / I said “Pretty, pretty please”
As I shouted out, / “HELP!
Ch-ch-ch-Chimpanzees!”

Lots of fun!

How about you? When was the last time you read children’s rhymes?

For Canadian readers:
There Were Monkeys in My Kitchen

posted under Reading Challenges 2012

12 Comments to

“Monthly Poetry Event: THERE WERE MONKEYS IN MY KITCHEN”

On February 28th, 2012 at 4:04 pm Serena Says:
I love this…and I think my daughter would dig the photo of the monkey
On February 28th, 2012 at 4:54 pm Debbie Says:
Serena, there’s so much to look at in this book! My review of it will be up in a day or two.
On February 28th, 2012 at 4:45 pm Snowball Says:
I love children’s poetry. Having studied literature in college, I relish writing that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Having kids & grand-kids is a great excuse for collecting it, and my latest prize is Shel Silverstein’s recently published, Everything On It.
On February 28th, 2012 at 4:54 pm Debbie Says:
Oh, I love Shel Siverstein, Snowball. You’re right, having grandkids is a great excuse to collect children’s poetry!
On February 28th, 2012 at 9:35 pm Kailana Says:
I am thinking that children’s poetry is the last time I really loved poetry… Thanks for joining in!
On February 28th, 2012 at 11:58 pm Debbie Says:
I know it was the last time I felt sure of myself around poetry, Kailana! Thanks for hosting this meme. 🙂
On February 28th, 2012 at 11:56 pm unfinishedperson Says:
I was just thinking about children’s poetry today…probably one of my favorites is Dr. Seuss.
On February 29th, 2012 at 7:55 am Debbie Says:
One of the earliest books I can remember reading and wanting to memorize is “To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street”. I, too, am a fan of Dr. Seuss.
On February 29th, 2012 at 12:25 am kaye Says:
I read a funny poem “When Cows Fly” to my granddaughters the other night. It was hysterical. We had to read it about 4 times. Children’s poetry is very fun. kaye—the road goes ever ever on
On February 29th, 2012 at 7:59 am Debbie Says:
Limerick style poetry has a special humor, doesn’t it, Kaye?

I enjoyed your Emily Dickinson!
On February 29th, 2012 at 11:16 pm Lu Says:
Thanks for sharing! In one of my poetry workshops there was a girl who specialized in writing children’s poetry. It was always awesome to get to workshop her writing after reading and critiquing a class full of very serious stuff. We still took her writing seriously, but we were all able to have a little bit more fun with it.
On March 1st, 2012 at 3:43 pm Debbie Says:
Lu, I’m sure that people who write humorous poetry work just as hard as those who write the more serious. I’ve certainly had a lot of fun with poetry this month!