Category: kidlit

📚KIDS BOOKS | GREEK GODS AND GODDESSES

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

🦉ATHENA 🕷️

Daughter of Zeus, king of the gods
Athena is a special one
She was born from the head of her father
Grown up, with her armor on

She is known for her intelligence
She is said to be brave and wise
She has always been a guide and teacher
To gods and humans alike 

Athena’s special symbol of power
Is the wise and sensible owl
She’s an expert fighter, there’s no one like her
Or like her owl, no other fowl

She sometimes does get angry
Like all gods tend to do
That’s when she turns folks into spiders
And gives them Medusa heads too

Legend has it that the first spider
Was a lady who did weave
The goddess Athena became jealous of her
Ever so beautiful embroidery 

Medusa too started out as one
Of her pious lady priests
Zappity zell! Athena cast her spell 
The priestess became a beast 

The Parthenon is her temple 
It stands in Athens, Greece
So if you ever find yourself there
Pay your respects to Athena please.
Images generated via illustration software

📚KIDS BOOKS | GREEK GODS AND GODDESSES

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

🍇 DEMETER 🌾

She is The goddess of maize and corn
Of wheat and all other crops
She is also the mother of nuts and fruits
Of almonds and apricots 

Demeter was a happy goddess who lived
With Her daughter Persophene
Until one day, while in the fields at play
They were visited by Hades

The god of the underworld saw lovely Kore
(That is Persohone’s nickname)
He picked her up from where she stood
And kidnapped her that day

Demeter was quite heartbroken
She had lost her favourite child
But she got some comfort by and by
When Kore chose to be Hades’s wife

Ever since then, the months Persophene spends
With Hades in the underworld 
Are filled with icy winter winds 
After the leaves and flowers fall

In the spring and summer months
When Persephone comes topside
Sunshine and colour circle the earth
Everything is lush and bright

Baskets of sweet, delicious fruit 
Grain, golden and ripe
That our earth gifts us each year
Do this goddess symbolize.
Images generated via illustration software

📚KIDS BOOKS | GREEK GODS AND GODDESSES

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

🔱 POSEIDON 🌊

“Shiver me timbers! I’ll whip up a storm!”
Comes a booming voice from the mist
Poseidon the god of the oceans and seas
Has got his undies in a twist

This god of the waters is often upset
To him anger comes easily
He’ll magically make a thunder cloud
And bring down rain and sleet

Poseidon is Zeus’s brother and folks
Find it hard to say which one
Is more powerful, brave and strong
On this point they keep mum -shhhhh!

People know that if they take sides
The gods may become mean
Then the dog may eat your homework 
And Dad could holler and scream

Poseidon’s little loo secret 
This story also cannot miss
Look it up, it is a bit gross
His special “Poseidon’s Kiss”

Poseidon has his own weapon 
He keeps his trident safe
And points it at a gentle sea
When he wants to make big waves

He also loves the queen of gods
And Hera loves him back 
That is one big secret that
Zeus hasn’t quite cracked

So next time you’re caught in some rain
And don’t have an umbrella
Just say “god I wish this would stop”
Poseidon can sometimes be a jolly good fella.
Images generated via illustration software

📚KIDS BOOKS | GREEK GODS AND GODDESSES

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

⚡️ZEUS 🦅

Zeus is a grand old Greek god
He has fantastic powers
He can summon frightful storms
Lightning and thunder showers

He can also shift his shape
So you would never know
If your best friend yesterday 
Was Zeus in-cog-nito

Zeus has fought many battles 
With monsters, giants and gods
He goes in with his lightning bolt
Even humans feel his wrath

Cronus was Zeus’s father
And so the story goes
That his old dad went quite mad
And tried to swallow him whole 

But his mother the goddess Rhea
She did intervene
And saved her little son from
Becoming Cronus’s last meal

On his throne on Mount Olympus
Zeus always keeps a watch
Since his brothers Poseidon and Hades 
Would love to kill him off

But Zeus is all-powerful
Because he is also quite clever 
He keeps all his friends very close
And his enemies even closer

Now you know who Zeus is
The king of all Greek gods
With his lightning rod and his eagle
He rules from his castle in the clouds.
Images generated via Illustration software

NEW BOOK RELEASE!

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

“QUIRKY CREATURES, AN EGG, A FRUIT AND A STAR“

Putting my children’s-book-writer hat on for a bit to introduce my third book in the Curious Animals & Quirky Creatures series: QUIRKY CREATURES, AN EGG, A FRUIT AND A STAR.
From the little bee with the huge head, to the mischievous dragonfly trying to steal ladybird’s spots, to the extra bright little firefly, there are ten little stories in this collectible about delightful and funny creatures.
Every poem tells of a little act of courage, humour and kindness as each of the little creatures saves the day in its own little way.

IN SRI LANKA: The book is available at Sarasavi, Pendi, Expographics, Seyln, Barefoot and The Jam Fruit Tree bookstores.

IN PAKISTAN: It should be on the shelves in Liberty Books and Readings at the end of July 2023. It will also be available with my aunt Mrs. Nayyar Liaqat.

IN DUBAI: July onwards, you can get your copy from my sister Zarmina by sending her a WhatsApp message.

A big thank you to my illustrator, Chrish Vindhy for the beautiful artwork of the book.

It’s been a fabulous journey with my children’s literature over the last 2 years with over 700 books sold. So thank you to all who have bought, read and gifted them 💕
Here’s to #raisingreaders

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 CHEEKY GALA

On By Mahvash K. M.In bookworm, kidlit, Kidsbooks, poetry, verse, writingLeave a comment 
There was once an apple 
The Gala variety 
She would preen and pose all day 
For all the world to see 

The other apples told her
To be fruity and be kind 
To watch the world quietly 
But Gala paid no mind 

One day while the apples 
Sat in the produce aisle 
A naughty little child came by 
With a naughty little smile 

They looked at him quietly 
Maybe he’d go away 
But Gala preened, oh she beamed 
She loved being on display!

The little boy saw the apples 
And almost passed them by 
But then as she did a little jig
Cheeky Gala caught his eye 

He pounced on the dancing fruit  
She would be his lunch 
Your imagination should tell you that 
The next sound was a - “Crunch”!

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.

KIDSBOOKS | THE GREEDY MARMOSET

On By Mahvash K. M.In bookworm, kidlit, Kidsbooks, poetry, verse, writing2 Comments 
There once lived a marmoset 
On the edge of the Amazon rain forest
He was especially friendly,
He loved all of the tourists

Mangoes and bananas 
Would always lure him out
He would greedily pop these
Into his little mouth

His parents often told him
“Be thoughtful little son, 
Don’t be such a greedy glut
With your sisters do share some”

But Marny and his tummy
They had other plans
And so he ate and ate until
He was three hundred grams

One day while sitting in a tree
Waiting for folks with treats
A harpy eagle spotted him
And plunged down, ready to feast!

As Marny scrambled to escape
His tummy got in the way
The raptor would have snatched him up
But his mummy saved the day

They say Marny is a changed primate
A sweet, generous furball
He meets and greets his visitors 
And then shares his food with all.