It’s the weekend! Celebrate with Pizza, Pancakes and Poetry by Prelutsky!

Pizza, pancakes, Prelutsky…and cupcakes and bluegrass. Can you say YUM?! It’s definitely an equation for an enjoyable weekend.

We are having a pizza party with Grandma tonight and tomorrow morning my husband, Rich, will make pancakes as he always does on the weekend. And we will probably read some Jack Prelutsky since he is my daughter, Amelia’s favorite right now.

Because of all these things, I decided I needed to share the two poems below. Read them to your kids while you’re having pancakes and pizza. Or read them to your baby while you bounce her on your knee.

What are you up to this weekend? I’ll bet it is good subject matter for a poem!

Happy Friday!

A Pizza the Size of the Sun

I’m making a pizza the size of the sun,
a pizza that’s sure to weigh more than a ton,
a pizza too massive to pick up and toss,
a pizza resplendent with oceans of sauce.

I’m topping my pizza with mountains of cheese,
with acres of peppers, pimentos, and peas,
with mushrooms, tomatoes, and sausage galore,
with every last olive they had at the store.

My pizza is sure to be one of a kind,
my pizza will leave other pizzas behind,
my pizza will be a delectable treat
that all who love pizza are welcome to eat.

The oven is hot, I believe it will take
a year and a half for my pizza to bake.
I hardly can wait till my pizza is done,
my wonderful pizza the size of the sun.

The Pancake Collector

Come visit my pancake collection
It’s unique in the civilized world
I have pancakes in every description,
Pancakes flaky and fluffy and curled

I have pancakes of various sizes
Pancakes regular, heavy and light
Underdone pancakes and overdone pancakes
And pancakes so perfectly right

I have pancakes locked up in the closets
have pancakes on hangers and hooks
There are bags in boxes and bureaus
And pressed in the pages of books

There are pretty ones sewn to the cushions
And tastefully pinned to the drapes.
The ceilings are coated with pancakes
And pressed in the pages with crepes.

I have pancakes in most of my pockets
And concealed in the lining of suites
There are tiny ones stuffed in my mittens
And large one packed in my boots

I have extra of most of my pancakes,
I maintain them in rows on these shelves
And if you say nice things about them
You may take a few home for yourself

I see that you’ve got to be going
Won’t you let yourselves out by the door?
It is time that I pour out he batter
And bake up a few hundred more.

Children and Poetry: The Benefits of Loving Words

Cupcakes and bluegrass are an awesome combination — but not as awesome as children and poetry! As a writer and mother with experience teaching young people from nursery school to university age, I firmly believe that frequent doses of poetry are beneficial for every area of a child’s development.

Of course, one can easily guess that poetry is excellent for language and vocabulary development, but the benefits of poetry for children go well beyond. The musicality of poetry makes reading a very enjoyable experience for little ones. Over the past week, I have been reading my daughter a 60-something page Jack Prelutsky book and every night she sits attentively through the whole thing. And she is only 6 months old! She slaps the book excitedly and tries to turn the pages herself. By the end of it she is almost always cooing like crazy and I like to believe she just wants to participate in all the fun sound-making. What a great beginning to her relationship with books!

But why is a love of reading so important, anyway? Reading is good, reading is good, reading is good. It’s jammed down our throats from a young age but how many of us can really articulate what is so good about it? From time to time I will inevitably try to do that in this blog, but for now I’ll just say that books help us think about life, which, as we all know, can be so hard sometimes! They give us opportunities to deeply investigate the lives and minds of others so we might understand differences among people and, more importantly, identify the places where we overlap. This overlap is what it is to be human and it is the stuff that poetry is made of.

Beyond all this, poetry allows children to express themselves and to stretch their imaginations. The world is bigger and its possibilites more vast for children who develop a love of words, a respect for ideas and a fondness for books.

This blog is dedicated to children and the adults who want the best for them. It will be filled with poetry for children, information about poets and poetry for children, activities and contests to foster a love of words in children, and anything else that might be related.

I must admit, I’m super excited about this project. I hope you and your children enjoy reading and participating in this blog as much as I think I’m going to enjoy writing it. I hope you gobble up poems like cupcakes and dance to their verses like you’re at a big ol’ bluegrass festival!

WELCOME!!!

PS: Why the name “Cupcakes and Bluegrass?” Because I’m writing a collection of children’s poetry by that name. I am also writing one called “The Hatbox: A Poetry of Collection.”

I think a poem is like a cupcake…so personal and enjoyable. And I tend to respond internally to poetry I like in very much the same way that I do to music I like. And I love bluegrass…

So that’s that! 🙂