DMC: "Don't Ask a Hopkinsaurus" by Michelle H. Barnes

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A little dino told me Today's Little Ditty is not the ONLY one celebrating a birthday this month.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY 

Lee Bennett Hopkins!

This one's for you . . .

Don't Ask a Hopkinsaurus

The L. B. Hopkinsaurus
is a rare and noble breed—
a prince among the wordivores,
he always takes the lead.

At feasting "dino"ccasions
when poetry is served,
his taste for inky gobbling
is robust and unreserved.

He might appear well-mannered
but once he's on a roll,
he holds the Guinness record
for collections swallowed whole!

The L. B. Hopkinsaurus
wears a venerable crown.
Don't ask him to retire,
or even to slow down.

This Energizer Dino
with his charismatic roar
says when it comes to Poetry,
we all should eat much more!

© 2018 Michelle Heidenrich Barnes. All rights reserved.


I hope Deborah Bruss and Matt Forrest Esenwine don't mind me writing about an imaginary dinosaur rather than a real one, but I couldn't resist the opportunity! If you missed last week's interview, you can find it HERE. Their challenge this month is to write a poem about something you would not expect (or want) a dinosaur, or other animal, to do.


Read my Spotlight ON interview with Lee Bennett Hopkins HERE.

If you're looking for collections of dinosaur poems, these three LBH editions are a great place to start... although I don't recommend swallowing them whole.

It's giveaway central around here this month!

This week's "dino-ditties" were by Matt Forrest Esenwine, Linda Baie, and Kathleen Mazurowski. Leave yours on our April 2018 padlet. While some contributions will be featured as daily ditties, they all will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, April 27th, and one lucky participant will win a copy of Don't Ask a Dinosaur (POW! Kids, April 2018) signed by the authors.

Also featured on Today's Little Ditty this week: Amy Ludwig VanDerwater's latest collection of poems for young readers, With My Hands: Poems About Making Things (Clarion Books, 2018). There's a giveaway going on for that, as well! Don't miss the post and giveaway details HERE. (Plus you can see a whole bunch of photos from when my kiddos were much younger and cuter than they are now!)





To celebrate TLD's fifth birthday, I'm giving away five sets of The Best of Today's Little Ditty (Volumes 1 & 2) to educators—teachers, caregivers, volunteers... anyone who shares their love of poetry with students of any age. To enter, contact me anytime during the month—via blog comment, email, Facebook, or Twitter. I'll be compiling a list and drawing names at the end of April.

Robyn Hood Black has a whole lot more surprise party fun at Life on the Deckle Edge. Join her for this week's Poetry Friday roundup!

For more National Poetry Month projects taking place during April, visit the kidlit events roundup at Jama's Alphabet Soup.