Tag: childrensbooks

KIDSBOOKS | THE MAJESTIC MARKHOR

On By Mahvash K. M.In Afghanistan, bookworm, kidlit, Kidsbooks, verse, writingLeave a comment 
In the great Himalayan and Karakoram mountains
There lives a brave herbivore
He climbs the dangerous tree-lined cliffs
The beautiful, nimble Markhor

His name is a cross of two words
Mar: the snake, and Khor: the eater
Most People think he’s fierce and mean
But he’s really just a gentle bleater

He’s known for his great climbing skills
And is also a fabulous forager
He’ll search for grasses and for leaves
He’ll roam like an adventuring voyager

He looks like an interesting mix
Of both a boy and a girl I’ve heard
He wears a lovely russet coat 
And also has a cute little beard

He also has very big horns
Like five feet long corkscrews
Weapons to keep bullies away
And to dig up clumps of grass too

The Markhor is the national animal 
Of the South Asian country of Pakistan
He’s also very popular
In puppet shows in Afghanistan 

And there we leave this nimble capra*
As he walks with grace, his head held high
Master of all that he sees
Great big horns spiralling into the sky
* The markhor was one of the 72 animals featured on the World Wide Fund for Nature Conservation Coin Collection in 1976. 

* Markhor marionettes are used in the Afghan puppet shows known as buz-baz. 

* The markhor has also been mentioned in a Pakistani computer-animated film known as Allahyar and the Legend of Markhor.

* The Markhor is present on the logo of the Inter-Services Intelligence, the intelligence agency of Pakistan.

* CAPRA: a genus of mammals consisting of goats, the markhor and ibexes.

KIDSBOOKS | THE TALENTED LYRE BIRD

On By Mahvash K. M.In bookworm, kidlit, Kidsbooks, verse, writing2 Comments 
A lovely musical sound is heard
From the rainforests of Queensland
Also the whirr of an electric saw
And the toots and da-dums of a marching band

They’re not the sounds of a jungle party 
Nor a trumpeter tuning his instrument 
It’s just the superb lyre bird
Showing off his many vocal talents

He can be found in the theatres he builds
In the shrubs of his forest abode
In which he dances like a prima donna 
For all the girls in his neighbourhood 

He fans out his beautiful tail
The girls all watch with interested eyes
He’ll then take two steps forward
One step back, three to the side 

He then goes up to the nearest bird 
And asks her if she likes his dance
If she says “Oh yes I do good sir!”
Well, then its the start of a little romance 

The superb lyrebird sets out to impress
Not one girl but a whole lot of them
He’ll sing for up to four hours a day
Until every last one is in love with him

Every year he puts up ever more
Beautiful acts of song and dance 
Better and better are his displays
As he entertains his special audience 

If you ever chance to come across
An especially friendly lyre bird
Say something to him a few times
And he may just say your magic word

KIDSBOOKS | THE BOXING MANTIS ALI

On By Mahvash K. M.In bookworm, kidlit, Kidsbooks, verse, writing2 Comments 
Kaboom! Boom! Biff! Biff! Thud!
That’s the sound you hear from this stomatopod
As she attacks her enemies big and small  
Breaking them up shells, claws and all

She’s a warrior of an ancient line
Fierce and strong is this lass
She can punch the living daylights out
Of anyone who shows her sass

She has independently roaming eyes
Nothing escapes her frightening glare
Your friend and you can run and hide
Ms. Mantis will follow you each with her stare

Miss Mantis Ali has many friends
They even have a secret code
Their bodies sparkle in the sun 
As they dance in their shallow pool homes

She has a cousin whom she loves
Who lives in the warm Pacific waters
They meet up once in a while
And get up to all sorts of fun and laughter

If you ever come very near her home
In the warm waters of the Indian ocean
She’ll puff out her chest and growl at you
And get her boxer mode full on

And there we leave Miss Mantis Ali
Of the Mantis Shrimp family
Boxing champion of all the oceans
Fearless fighter of all the seas.

KIDSBOOKS| THE RIP VAN WINKLE POEM

On By Mahvash K. M.In bookworm, kidlit, Kidsbooks, writingLeave a comment 
Rip Van Winkle 
He was a funny man 
And every time he got some beans 
He always wanted jam

One day he went to the market 
To buy some pecans and corn 
But when he got back home 
He saw that they were gone

His wife was very angry 
And boxed his big red ears 
He lay down for a little nap 
And slept for fifty years

So if you see an old man now
with a beard down to his knees 
You’ll know it’s Winkle woken from
His half century of sleep

Don’t dawdle but just quickly say 
Hello sir and goodbye!
He may not know if you’re a boy or a girl
Or a delicious pecan pie!

KIDSBOOKS| THE LITTLE MOTH ORCHID

On By Mahvash K. M.In bookworm, kidlit, Kidsbooks, poetry, writingLeave a comment 
There was once an orchid 
With beautiful white flowers
She loved lots of sunshine 
And gentle rain showers 

Her petals looked like little moths
Fluttering in the breeze
She lived between two branches 
Of the great banyan tree
 
The bigger plants were kind to her
And let her play with them
She’d sway her snowy flowers about 
And shake her leafy stem

One day it rained so very hard 
Moth orchid was quite drenched 
Her head of flowers hung down low 
Touching the wooden bench 

The plants around her tried to help 
But could not pick her up 
She drooped towards the bench some more 
And there her stem got stuck 

When the rain finally stopped
The gardener shuffled out 
He saw poor Mothy on the bench 
And took her in the house 

He put her in some coconut husk 
And kept her indoors for a day  
Then put her back on the banyan tree 
Where she still lives, grows and plays.

KIDSBOOKS| THE UNHAPPY CLOUD

On By Mahvash K. M.In bookworm, kidlit, Kidsbooks, writingLeave a comment 
Glumbus Bean was a sad little cloud
All day he’d cry his little eyes out
While his other friends played fun games in the sky
Glumbus would sit by himself and cry 

One day while he was howling away
And sneezing out cold sleet 
Mr Gale-Force-Wind came rushing in
On speedy, nimble feet 

He looked at Glumbus’s wet face 
And tumbled around with laughter 
I’ve never seen a nimbus cloud 
Who did a great job and sobbed after!

You are the rainy season cloud
And naturally you cry 
But these are not unhappy tears 
That’s just the way you fly! 

You’re the best little Cloud School student 
That I have ever seen 
So keep your rainy rivers flowing  
You’re an ace, Glumbus Bean!

Glumbus Bean smiled happily 
All over his cloudy face 
It pitter-pattered rain that day 
As he skipped about the place.

VERSE|THE QUIET TEA BAG

On By Mahvash K. M.In Joy, poetry, Teatime, verse, writing2 Comments

This started out as a children’s poem and ended on a not so PG-13 note. (Or maybe I’m being overly protective of our 21st century babes who are not so much in the woods as we were!). Anyway, reproducing it here for my readers. Let me know what you think. Cheers.

There was once a teabag 
The orange pekoe kind 
More shy and timid little leaves
Would be hard to find

She sat in her little bowl 
With all her other tea friends 
Raspberry and watermelon
And Lemon tea with mint

They tried to talk to O. Pekoe
But she would turn away
Wrapping her little string around 
Her cream coloured sachet 

Then one day the tea bags saw 
The handsome Earl grey gent 
He sat in his silver foil 
Scented and Elegant

They looked at him whispering
And twirling their little strings 
While O. Pekoe sat primly there 
Now and then peeking at him 

Then came the lady of the house 
And put the kettle on 
The teabags rustled in suspense 
Who’d Earl Grey have along?!

Earl Grey sat gracefully 
Inside the china cup
Wearing his special perfume  
Waiting for his tea time love

And then out of the blue
Orange pekoe was lifted up
And placed alongside Earl Grey 
In the pretty China cup

They smiled at one another 
Their strings twirling in love
The perfect pair to ever make  
The nicest tea in a cup.