ANNOUNCEMENT: I’ve decided to leave this one up for a third day. We’re getting a lot of visitors to Pat Lewis’s challenge and poets are still contributing their poems to the fun. Thanks, Pat!
Hi everyone,
I’m delighted that our friend J. Patrick Lewis has just popped up with a devilishly clever new challenge, which he calls “mini-mini-book reviews.” Thank you, Pat, for giving us one that will be a challenge indeed. Let’s see what comes of this. Here’s the entire note from Pat, plus his usual helpful examples.
David, I wonder if your readers might have some fun concocting “mini-mini-book reviews.” To wit:
Moby Dick
(Herman Melville)
Man’s obsessed,
Whale is gored—
Man goes a little
Overboard.
* *
The Catcher in the Rye
(J.D. Salinger)
Adolescence
In its essence:
Anti-phony
Testimony
On society’s
Anxieties
By the golden-
Tongued Holden.
* *
Tarzan of the Apes
(Edgar Rice Burroughs)
Vanilla
Gorilla,
A sort of
Sportive
King of
Swing
Charlotte’s Web
(E.B. White)
At the fair, Wilbur (pig) wins!
Charlotte (spider) silk-spins
A reverie
Every
So often,
Saving Wilbur
From coffin.
* *
Fahrenheit 451
(Ray Bradbury)
People read books,
Books are harmful.
Fireman cooks
Books by armful.
People leave home.
Each one learns
A novel, a poem.
Fire Chief burns.
* *
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
(Brothers Grimm, Robert Browning)
Exterminator catches pests;
The town refuses his requests.
He sets out to right the wrong
By playing on his flute a song
Exciting and inviting . . . that’s
When kids start disappearing. Rats!
* *
Bambi
(Felix Salten)
Trouble’s coming
Here. Hear?
Hunters shooting—
Bam-blam!
Tearful tale of
Woe. Whoa!
End of Mother
Dear deer.
* *
I’ll go first, Pat. Here’s one effort. I’ll do others. David
Best Christmas Pageant Ever
(Barbara Robinson)
Every year, same play,
Same kids, same way.
Bullies come, loud, rough,
Hijack roles, act tough,
Unimpressed by plays past,
Shout the words to life at last.
Children's Author David L. Harrison's Blog 