Episode 2: Animals

Join Little Dazzy Donuts for 15 minutes of fun on this week’s topic of ANIMALS! You’ll hear poems about flying pigs, a wise owl, and sheep that don’t help you to sleep. Plus there’s a poem from a listener, and the usual chance to join in with games.

As you listen, why not also enjoy all of the related free materials. Everything you need is on this page:

• Follow along with the poems and enjoy the illustrations.

• Download the episode’s PodPack for fun kid activities related to the episode.

• Check out the PodSnacks on YouTube to see short videos of the illustrated poems.

Listen to the episode.

PodPack

Download the PDF PodPack that goes with this episode. It contains activities based on the poems in this episode. It’s all free.

Transcript

Let's have some fun 

with things that rhyme

welcome Kids 

it's poetry time!

Welcome to Kids Poetry Club with me, Little Dazzy Donuts. Get yourself ready for some fun because we're going to spend the next 15 minutes listening to three poems on this week's chosen topic - are you going to guess what the topic is? We'll also have a poem from a Club member - a listener just like you, if not actually you! So, here's a little intro music so that you can wriggle around and get yourself comfortable ... it's time for this week's Kids Poetry Club!

Music

Before we play "guess the topic of the week", let's start off with club registration. This is where you shout out your name. Let me show you how .... So, if you're here this week, shout out your name and you all get a Club point for being here! 

Okay, so what's the topic of the week? This week's poems are all on the same topic - but what is it? This week, the clues are all sounds. I'm going to play you three sounds. Can you spot what's common about all three and so guess the topic?

Sounds

So, what did you guess? Well, I bet you got it right, or got really close, as the topic this week is ... Animals ... 

and our first poem is about SOUND ... yes, pigs. Did you know that pigs are really clever animals. In fact, pigs are about as clever as a three year old boy or girl. They are also really clean animals. Sure, you see them rolling around in mud, but that's to keep themselves cool. There are also lots of pigs in the world - roughly one pig for every 4 people. So, if you walk around your street and see four people, that means that somewhere there's a pig. But where is it? This first poem answers that question by suggesting that perhaps we don't see pigs running around the streets because they are somewhere else entirely. Up in the sky! The poem is called: "I was woken this morning"

 I was woken this morning

by the unmistakable sound

of a flock of migrating pigs.

With their small wriggly tales

and large flapping wings

catching the gusts

from a northerly wind.

And with a chorus of oinks,

off they did fly,

those migrating pigs

way up in the sky.

Isn't that a curious thought - the idea of flying pigs. Not only do they fly, but they also migrate - which means they fly from one place to another for Summer and for Winter. Many birds do that ... and so, why not pigs. If you want to see what that could look like, check out the KidsPoetryClub.com website for a wonderful illustration of flying pigs by the Club's official illustrator, Dot Cherch. If you want to send in your own drawing of flying pigs, just ask your parent or guardian to email the picture to drawings@kidspoetryclub.com, and we'll post a selection of them on the website.

Do you remember our topic of the week? Yes - it's animals. The first poem was about pigs, and so what's the second poem about? Here's a clue ... SOUNDS. Now, that's a more difficult one to guess. The poem is actually about an an owl. If you guessed that, then give yourself a big cheer! SOUND.  

 Have you ever met an owl? If you did, the chances are that you met it at night as owls are what we call nocturnal. That just means an animal that comes out at night and tends to sleep in the day. Almost the opposite of me and you! That's not the only thing that makes owls totally fascinating. There are over 200 different types of owl around the world, some as small as an adult's hand. And others are as large as 18 month old child! They can also rotate their heads around almost completely, so they can look behind them without moving their body. As you heard in the sound I played, owls hoot. They can also chirp, whistle, scream, screech, bark, growl, and shriek.

In the poem you're about to hear, we meet a clever owl. The idea of owls being wise, or clever, dates back thousands of years. In reality, owls aren't that clever because most of their head is devoted to seeing and listening at night. But, let's not worry about that. Our owl is wise ... as the following poem proves. It's called simply, "A Wise Owl":

 A wise owl perched in a tree,

began hooting advice to me:

“Don’t give up, your path is true,

all good things will come to you.”

I thanked the owl and asked for more,

As I hadn’t met a wise owl before,

but with a hoot he said to me:

“I’m sorry but only the first is free.”

I love that poem - the idea that the owl is so wise that he says something clever, but only says one clever thing for free - if you want to hear more, you need to presumably pay the owl. Now, what an owl would do with money, I don't know. Perhaps we'll discover what in another poem on another day.

Just like with the flying pigs earlier, you can see a drawing of the wise owl on the KidsPoetryClub.com website, drawn by our club illustrator, Dot Cherch. If you want to send in your own drawing of an owl, just ask your parent or guardian to email your picture to drawings@kidspoetryclub.com, and we'll post a selection of them on the website.

Talking of things you send into the club, we've reached the point where we hear from a listener who has sent in her poem to be read out. Remember that you can have your poem read out - just ask an adult to help you to send it to me at poems@KidsPoetryClub.com. I read every poem that comes in, and choose some to go on the website, and one per week for the podcast. Today's poem comes in from Judy, who lives in Wales. I love it when poems come in from different places around the world, and Wales is a country in Europe - around 5000 miles away from where I live. That's a long way - around 9 hours on a plane. So this poem has traveled a long way to get here today! Thank you, Judy, for sending it in ... and it fits perfectly with today's topic of animals. Judy's poem is about a robin - which is a type of bird known as having red feathers down its front. Here's Judy's poem:

I have a little Robin,

who visits every day

I feed him grubs and bird food

and then he'll fly away.

Whenever I dig in my garden,

His song's so clear and sweet,

Sometimes he will land next to me

Looking for his treat.

If you see my Robin,

Remember to be kind.

For in hard wintertime

Their food is hard to find.

What a lovely poem, Judy! Thank you! You'll find it on the website together with all of the other poems chosen this week. if you want your poem read out, just ask a parent or guardian to email it for you to poems@KidsPoetryClub.com - I can't wait to read it.

Well, we have made it to our final poem of the week. Do you remember back to the beginning, when I played you three different sounds and asked you to guess the topic of the week? Do you remember what the three animals were? The first was a pig - and we've heard the flying pig poem already. The second was an owl - and we've heard the wise owl poem already. So what was the third sound?

Let me remind you ... here it is again ... SOUND.

Yes - it was the sound of sheep. Our final poem is about sheep. Before we learn why, let's first think about the word "sheep". Have you ever noticed that it's a special word because the word sheep applies to just one sheep as well as more than one. So, we'd say: one sheep, two sheep, three sheep, four sheep. No matter how many sheep we have, the word is sheep. That's so unusual - it doesn't work for dogs: one dog, two dogs, three dogs. SOUND. And it doesn't work for cats: one cat, two cats, three cats. SOUND. But it does work for salmon, deer, moose, and a few other words. So, one moose, two moose, three moose. 

So, our final poem is about sheep - in fact, it's about special sheep that help us go to sleep. Back when I was a kid, I would sometimes have difficulty getting to sleep. Does that happen to you sometimes too? Well, I would go to bed, and I would lie there and, for some reason, I just couldn't get to sleep. So, someone suggested that I count sheep in my head. I'd lie there in bed, and I would picture sheep jumping over my bed. One sheep, two sheep, three sheep, and up from there. Unfortunately, it never worked for me. What does work, is when I picture doing a walk I know well - like a walk from house and around all of the other houses in the neighborhood. If I picture doing that walk, I often fall asleep. That got me thinking about what would happen if I kept counting sheep - not just three, but perhaps a hundred sheep or more. What happens to all of those sheep once they have jumped over my bed. What question is answered in the final poem for today, which is called: Counting Sheep.

I had tried really hard, but totally failed

to fall asleep in my bed.

So I used an old trick a friend told to me

and I counted some sheep in my head.

I pictured the first one entering my room.

Soon there was two, three, then four.

Before very long there were sheep everywhere,

plus they were lined up outside my door.

There was almost no room for any more sheep.

They were three-sheep-deep on my bed.

Plus I’d stacked them on top of the wardrobe,

and there was one balanced right on my head.

Things were starting to get desperate:

one hundred sheep in disarray.

So I decided to picture a sheepdog

to come in and herd them away.

Ten minutes later, that sheep dog

had my bedroom empty of sheep.

To be honest the whole thing had tired me so much,

I soon found myself fast asleep.

My advice to you is quite simple.

If you’re ever counting sheep, there’s no doubt,

you should open your door and your window

so the sheep can come in and get out.

Every time I read that poem, it makes me laugh. The thought of sheep everywhere in my bedroom, including three layers of sheep on my bed, and even a sheep sat on my head. I'm so glad that I pictured the sheep dog to come and collect them. That whole scene was beautifully illustrated by Dot Cherch for the club's website. You can find it at KidsPoetryClub.com - just ask an adult to help you find it on the computer or a phone, and you'll see those sheep. Don't forget, I'd love to see your drawings too, so if you want to draw flying pigs, a wise owl, or a sheep in your bedroom, just do that and ask a parent of guardian to email it into drawings@KidsPoetryClub.com. I'll look at every one that comes in, and will put a selection of them on the website.

Well, sadly, we have reached the end of our club time for this week. It has been so lovely to spend time with you! Thank you for joining in by guessing the topic, remembering the sounds, and shouting out your name. I hope you enjoyed yourself, and hope you will be back for more next time the Club meets. I'd love to see you there again. Until then, stay happy and stay rhyming ... and let's finish with our short goodbye poem.

We've had some fun 

with things that rhymed

goodbye Kids 

until next time!

This is Little Dazzy Donuts saying .... see you again soon … and keep rhyming!

MUSIC