It’s National Poetry Month – Does Your Hippo Have The Hiccups?

Or Does Your Doggie Like To Disco?

Pick up a copy of My Hippo Has The Hiccups from Sourcebooks’ cool kids imprint Jabberwocky to find out. I guarantee you’ll have tons of fun reading aloud with your children and then laughing yourself silly with the fantastic collection of poems from poet and sought-after school performer, Kenn Nesbitt. Then, when you’re done and yearning for more, why not keep the poetry pulse pumping by visiting Kenn’s website, www.poetry4kids.com?

Not since Shel Silverstein and his belly-laugh inducing poetry have I dog-eared so many pages in a children’s poetry book. Wild and wacky, inventive and inspiring, the 109 poems in this book are certain to entertain. And if they don’t get your kids eager to write their own poetry, I don’t know what will! It was utterly impossible to pick a favorite because I adored them all, but let me contradict myself and select the beginning of one here:

I Often Contradict Myself

I often contradict myself.
Oh no, I never do.
I argue with me day and night.
That simply isn’t true.

With titles in Nesbitt’s vast collection ranging from I Cloned Myself on Friday Night to Don’t Ever Bite Your Sister, I thought I’d give you a taste of what’s in store when you bring this book home (and the best part is there’s even an audio CD included for your portable poetry pleasure). Whet your poetry appetite and listen to Kenn Nesbitt read the following poems by clicking on each title below:

Something I Need to Remember
Dexter McDwyer
Don’t Ever Bite Your Sister

Want a chance to see your poem in print? Go right now (contest ends April 30), please don’t delay, tell the world, you’ve got something to say and visit TIME for Kids in conjunction with www.poetry4kids.com and enter their contest. The best funny poem gets published on the TFK website!