Poem: The Ostrich

The ostrich believes she is hidden from view
with her foolish head stuck in the ground.
For she thinks you can'ts see her when she can't see you,
so the ostrich is easily found.


by Jack Prelutsky

Poem: The Owl

The owl is wary, the owl is wise.
He knows all the names of the stars in the skies.
He hoots and he toots and he lives bu his wits,
but mostly he sits... (and he sits...and he sits).


by Jack Prelutsky

Poem: Scramble

If the zebra were given the spots of the leopard
and the leopard the stripes of the zebra,
then the leopard would have to be renamed the zeopard,
and the zebra retitled the lebra.

And wouldn't we laugh if the gentle giraffe
swapped his neck for the hump of a camel?
For the camel would henceforth be called the camaffe,
the giraffe designated giramel.

IT would be very funny, if the ears of the bunny were exchanged for the horns of the sheep.
For the sheep would then surely be known as the shunny,
and the bunny quite simply the beep.


by Jack Prelutsky

Poem: The Chipmunk

Chitter-chatter, chitter-chatter
is the chipmunk's steady patter,
even when he's eating acorns
(which he hopes will make him fatter).


by Jack Prelutsky

Poem: The Egg

If you listen very carefully, you'll hear the chicken hatching.
At first there scarecly was s sound, but now a steady scratching;
and now the egg begins to crack, the scratching starts to quicken,
as anxiously we all await the exit of the chicken.

And now a head emerges from the darkness of the egg,
and now a bit of fluff appears, and now a tiny leg,
and now the chicken's out at last, he's shaking himself loose.
But, wait a minute, that's no chicken...goodness, it's a goose.


*by Jack Prelutsky