[steve-newberry Posts: 7 Status: Offline Laughing & Learning for Young Minds! WWW]

Hi,

I've always loved 'nonsense-verse'.  However, outside of Shel Silverstein and my childhood favourite Dennis Lee (is he known outside of Canada?) I don't really know where to look.  Please hit me with your recommendations if you got 'em!

[carrots Posts: 771 Status: Offline]

Congratulations on Semicolons, Cupcakes, and Cucumbers, Steve!! I just saw it over at The Innovation Press and made a note to check it out!! What a clever premise!!

As for good nonsense-verse poets, have you read anything by Jack Prelutsky? Here's his website: http://jackprelutsky.com .

Enjoy your pursuit of nonsense!!

 

[Debbie Vilardi Posts: 5,581 Status: Online Language is so cool! WWW]

Seuss has a bit of nonsense verse in his picture books. Otherwise, I go back to Alice in Wonderland.

[dewsanddamps Posts: 3,601 Status: Offline]

I was chatting about just this thing with a B&N bookseller a month ago--and can't remember the title that she put in my hand.  So sorry. But if you went to a large bookstore, I'll bet you could find a section.

If you're thinking about writing a book of poetry for MG, I'll say that my impression was that the poems were fairly short--lots of four liners, and there were more of them than I'd have guessed. It was heavily illustrated, as you'd imagine. Not sure how helpful that is...
 

[dkshumaker Posts: 877 Status: Online]

This is a bit of a tangent, but if you are just looking for reading of silly poetry for fun and not as "mentor texts" Ed Decaria does a March Madness Poetry contest most years and "authletes" have less than 48 hours to write a kid's poem with an assigned random word. Many of the poems are quite silly and totally fun, and many are stunning in imagery and you would be surprised that they were written in such a short time frame. Last year he renamed it Madness! Poetry. Here is a link to his website if you'd like to check out the poems in the competition.

https://madnesspoetry.com/

And you if you like writing silly poetry, you should totally apply to compete next year!

[JulieM Posts: 920 Status: Offline WWW]

Spike Milligan has some.

[rjschechter Posts: 142 Status: Offline WWW]

Shel Silverstein and Dennis Lee (who is often quite good) are not what you would call "nonsense" verse writers. They almost always make perfect sense and their poems present understandable arguments and sentences, even if they are fanciful or funny. "Nonsense" verse usually refers to poems that are not just silly, but ultimately either senseless or utilizing mostly made-up words. So I would think you might be interested in any number of children's poets writing today.  Kenn Nesbitt, J Patrick Lewis, Joshua Seigal, Roger Stevens, Jack Prelutsky,  and many, many others.  And looking to the past, my favorite would be AA Milne (he has two fine poetry collections that are, in my opinion, essential classics). Some Dr. Seuss (e.g., One fish two fish"), and Lewis Carrol (of course). 

[marla-lesage Posts: 413 Status: Offline Write. Illustrate. Revise.]

Sheree Fitch - she has a few collections published & are quite silly I think. I think her stuff is silly. Jennifer McGrath too although I don't know if she has her own collection of poetry published - a heard her present her poem from: Whispers of Mermaids and Wonderful Things: Atlantic Canadian Poetry and Verse for Children - it was silly. Zach Hapeman as well.

[steve-newberry Posts: 7 Status: Offline Laughing & Learning for Young Minds! WWW]

Thanks for these added suggestions!