Poetry Month, Day 16: It's a Real Treat

Mary Ann Hoberman may well be my favourite, living children's poet. Rhyme, assonance, wordplay, wide-ranging subject matter: you name it, she has it all. Here are two small gems but whatever you do, don't stop with these.

My Sister Saw a Dinosaur
My sister saw a dinosaur.
At least she said she saw one.
I said that dinosaurs are dead.
She said she saw one in her head.
A dinosaur inside your head?
"Remarkable!" my mother said.

Brother
I had a little brother
And I brought him to my mother
And I said I want another
Little brother for a change.

But she said don't be a bother
So I took him to my father
And I said this little bother
Of a brother's very strange.

But he said one little brother
Is exactly like another
And every little brother
Misbehaves a bit, he said.

So I took the little bother
From my mother and my father
And I put the little bother
Of a brother back to bed.

--Mary Ann Hoberman


from The Llama Who Had No Pajama: 100 Favorite Poems by Mary Ann Hoberman; illustrated by Betty Fraser. Harcourt, 1998, published in paperback in 2006.

(Note: when quoting poems online, always include a full citation for the collection from which the poem originated. If the poem is not in the public domain (i.e. is still in copyright) abide by the principle of Fair Dealing in your use of the work.)