Category: childrensbooks

KIDS BOOKS | BRAVE AND STEADY AND KIND

On By Mahvash K. M.In bookworm, childrensbooks, kidlit, Kidsbooks, verse, womenwriters, writingLeave a comment

Theme: Bullying and teaching a child how to respond to it 

It was Monday morning again
And Sheila lay in her bed
When her mom had woken her up
“My tummy hurts”, she had said 

Her mom looked at her worried
Sheila’s tummy seemed to hurt a lot
She had missed school too many times
Was there a bug she’d caught?

She then took her temperature
The thermometer said 98.6
She seemed fine her mom thought 
She did not even look sick

She then sat by Sheila’s side
And said, “let’s both take off today
Me from work and you from school 
It’ll be our special little holiday”

Sheila’s eyes sparkled bright
She smiled sweetly at her mom
Her heart felt light and happy
It was a treat to be home 

Mom and Sheila had breakfast
Then off to the park they went
Sheila went straight for the dragon slide
It had three crazy, loopy bends

Later sitting in the grass they saw
Something happen at the slides 
A boy in a jacket and a black cap
Was trying to pick a fight

The other boy was standing there
He looked kind of scared
Sheila looked away and then
Reached out for her Mom’s hand

A grownup had come up by then
To sort out the disturbance 
Sheila’s mom looked at her child
Things seemed to make some sense

She asked Sheila how she felt 
When she saw the big boy be mean
Sheila looked at her mom’s kind face
“I was scared, it could have been me”

She then told her about a girl
Who had just joined their school
She would pick on Sheila
At lunch every afternoon

“My darling, there are bullies sometimes
Just as there are nice people too
The next time this girl or anyone
Tries to be mean to you

You will tell them firmly, 
I don’t like this, stop this now
Or Back off, leave me alone
Stand confident and tall

Look at the girl and focus 
On the colour of her eyes
When you look bullies in the face
They always seem to shrink a size

You’ll see that she doesn’t look
Quite so fierce and so mean
Bullies are not all that brave 
As they’d have you think and feel

If you dearest heart, feel like someone
Could hurt you physically
Then you must tell a teacher 
And always, always talk to me

Just know that there is no one
In school or outside of it
That can ever hurt you
As long as your speak of it

Sometimes it can be hard, I know
To talk of things that make you scared
But these scary things just disappear
When with loved ones they are shared 

You are never never alone with things
And people that make you sad
We will always talk of our days
The good times and the bad

And you my darling girl are good
And brave and steady and kind
Bullies and monsters have no chance
When there are people like you around 

My dearest, know that I’m with you
Now and even when you’re older
Our team of two like a magical cloak 
Will forever drape your brave shoulders.

KIDS BOOKS | CHUBBY CHEEKS AND GROWING PAINS

On By Mahvash K. M.In bookworm, childrensbooks, kidlit, Kidsbooks, verse, womenwriters, writingLeave a comment

Theme: Growing pains with the arrival of a new brother or sister

“I don’t want a little sister!
And I don’t want a brother too!”
Said Adam with his cheeks puffed out
He was angry at the news 
He did not want to share his toys 
Nor share his mother and father
With another child who would 
Live in his home forever

And so he stomped and huffed and puffed
And said “Nooo! The idea stinks!”
His parents looked at each other 
And quietly tapped their chins
What were they to do they thought 
With their one and only child 
Adam never behaved like this 
So angry and so wild

“Darling son, it is but natural 
To have a balanced family 
With a brother or a sister 
Who can grow up and be 
Your best friend, your playmate 
Someone you can love 
And you will always be our Adam
Our precious, oldest one” 

But Adam still felt moody 
And went up to his room 
He couldn’t find his happy smile 
So he wore his maddest frown
He looked at himself in the mirror 
His reflection stared right back 
His pouty face looked so silly 
Hahaha! Hoohoo! He had to laugh! 

When little Amara came into the world
And his parents brought her home 
Adam looked at her for a while 
At her cheeks and her tiny nose
He touched one small chubby hand 
And when she held his little finger 
He laughed his happy laugh and he knew
That he already loved his baby sister.
Image: Isabella Potgieter

KIDS BOOKS | FROM DAD, WITH LOVE

On By Mahvash K. M.In bookworm, childrensbooks, kidlit, Kidsbooks, verse, womenwriters, writing2 Comments

Theme: Dealing with parents’ divorce

Sarah woke up from her sleep at night 
She’d had another dream 
Where she was falling through the clouds 
Down, down into the trees 

She was scared like she had once been 
From monsters under her bed 
But now she was a big girl 
Why was she afraid like that again?

In her heart she knew the new
Monster that had come to life:
Her parents were always sad-angry
There was always a new fight 

Sarah wanted to hide away
She wanted to close her eyes 
She wished that when she woke again 
Everything would be alright
 
But that didn’t happen and one day
Her dad he sat her down 
He kissed her on her forehead 
He had a worried frown 

He said “sometimes moms and dads
Go through moody times 
And because they’re Big-People moods 
It turns them into frankensteins! 

If they stay together they’ll chomp-chomp
Off each other’s heads 
So they both start living in separate homes
So that they can keep being friends

And that is why Mom and I 
With our fights and with our moods
Will live apart but in our hearts 
Our love will never change for you 

Look at it as a new adventure 
New things to do with each one 
With Dad you can go fishing 
With Mom to the space museum 

We will always keep you close 
Just not in the same way 
Some days you will be with Mom
Some days with me you’ll stay 

Change sometimes is a good thing 
So cheer up my darling child 
No more fights and no more frowns
Just happy hearts and happy smiles 

And know that even if a thousand miles 
Separate you from me sometimes 
We’ll never let you be sad or scared 
We’re your Forever-Team, your Mom and I.

KIDSBOOKS | THE HAPPY SUBMARINE

On By Mahvash K. M.In bookworm, childrensbooks, kidlit, Kidsbooks, writingLeave a comment 
There was once a little sub 
He was called Eleos*-Blue
His daddy had swum in world war One
His mummy in world war two

He had grown up being taught 
That his role was to fight 
To carry sailors in deep waters
Where there was zero light 

His little body had been trained 
To dive in extra deep 
Sharks and squids and anglerfish
Would never make that trip 

But in his tinny tiny heart 
The little sub didn’t like 
The grownup chore that they called war 
He was a happy little tyke

When the admirals saw that he 
Would beam with the purest joy 
Everytime he was visited 
By a little girl or boy 

They took him to the water park 
And put him in the pool
And there he still swims happily 
There never was a sub so cool!
* Eleos: In ancient Athens, Eleos was the personification of mercy and compassion – the counterpart of the Roman goddess Clementia.

KIDSBOOKS | THE WONKY TOY BLOCK

On By Mahvash K. M.In bookworm, childrensbooks, kidlit, Kidsbooks, poetry, verse, writing2 Comments 
There was once a toy block 
The kind that’s in a set 
Of twenty blocks all sharp and square 
Some blue and others red 

Bendy Block stood starkly out 
Because she was quite grey 
She also had one dented edge
That made her lean sideways

While the other blocks climbed up 
To build a tunnel or a house 
Bendy would lean back and watch 
As timid as a mouse 

She’d straighten to ninety degrees 
From the surface where she sat 
But within a minute or two 
She’d slowly lean right back

One day the building blocks all heard 
A loud crash from within 
The family photo had fallen down
With a mighty gust of wind 

The glass was whole but the stand 
Had broken into two
The lady tried to mend the break 
With a tube of super glue 

But that didn’t work so she looked 
Around for inspiration 
She spied the bendy little block 
And used it for elevation 

The photo with its smiling faces
Stands again up on the dresser
Bendy is the happy prop 
As the frame now leans back on her.

KIDSBOOKS | THE LONELY SNOWMAN

On By Mahvash K. M.In bookworm, childrensbooks, kidlit, Kidsbooks, poetry, verse, writing2 Comments 
There was once a snowman 
He had a heart of gold 
He had stood in that one cold spot 
For a hundred years or more 

He had not seen sign or form 
Of any man or beast 
And so he had just waited on
Patient and solitary 

It was over a century  
Of his being in the expanse
That he saw the shadow of … 
Could it be? Yes, a man! 

He tried to wiggle his carrot nose 
But it was frozen solid 
Just like his eyes and his mouth
So he focused his energy inwards 

He thought of jolly polar bears 
And penguins in the sun 
And then he thought of ice cream 
Chocolate seemed like fun! 

With all these happy musings 
He started melting inside out 
The little trickle from his eyes 
Became a gushing spout 

The man then saw the snowman 
And came up close to him 
He held a little cup up
And had a little drink 

Then he took his scarf off and 
Gently wrapped it around 
The shrinking neck; it was a thank you said 
For the kindness he had found.

KIDSBOOKS | THE SORROWFUL NUMBER SIX

On By Mahvash K. M.In bookworm, childrensbooks, kidlit, Kidsbooks, poetry, verse, writingLeave a comment 
There was once a lonely 6
Who lived with all the 9s
He was always bullied
For his minus three design

The 9s would throw mathematical 
Enigmas out at him
“3 times 3 or 5 plus 4
Will never be your thing!”

6 would mope around all day
Adding and multiplying
Sometimes standing on his head
In hopes of becoming 9

But a solid 6 he stayed 
Not budging to even 7
Despite using big numbers
Like 17 minus 11

Then one day a little girl
Came and sat at one of the desks
She was all of 6 years old 
With 6 curls on her forehead 

When the teacher asked her to
Choose her favourite number
She pointed to 6, and then counted it
Out on her little fingers 

That special day the whole class drew
Pictures of the number 6
Amid bright flowers and super powers
On every page he skipped.

KIDSBOOKS | THE ELEGANT DUO

On By Mahvash K. M.In bookworm, childrensbooks, kidlit, Kidsbooks, poetry, verse, writingLeave a comment 
Shelby was a graceful snail 
Folks said he had blue blood 
His shell had a lovely turquoise tinge
He buffed it with wax and gloves 

From leafy shrubs to the ground 
He’d slither and he’d glide
He’d peer at all who came his way 
With a monocle on his left eye 

He never spoke to anyone 
Not the earthworms nor the flies 
The lady snails and the misses slugs 
Looked on with great big sighs 

But master Shelby stayed aloof 
His heart was not a prize
To give to pretty girls who would 
Gaze at him with roving eyes 

One day while he was gliding along 
With his monocle and cravat 
He saw the most exquisite toad 
With an umbrella and bowler hat 

He slowly moved his eye stalks  
In gracious acknowledgment 
He was a toad with taste, so he made haste 
To say hello to the gentleman 

It has now been five years since
That elegant friendship was made
Shelby Snail and Toad O’Toole 
Are still the very best of mates.