Pod Two: Poems About Pets

In Pod Two, you’ll hear what inspired Grammy to start writing when she was six and hear Grammy and Eli’s poems about pets. The activity is to write down some thoughts about your pets and share with us in the comments on social media. Also, please share this post! Click here to start at the beginning of the Poem Pod series.

DOWNLOAD

Grammy: Hi, Eli and I are here, bringing you Poem Pods—fun poems for fun people. We’re still smiling under our masks. How are you today? 

Eli: We hope you’re good and healthy!

Grammy: I’ve been writing for fifty years this year. All different kinds of stories! Today, I’ll start telling you a little bit about the things that inspired me because inspiration is really important! It’s what makes you want to do something. When you add inspiration to your ideas, it’s like adding fuel in your car—it makes it go!

I started to love writing when I was six years old, when my grandmother, Ma, gave me a little tiny spiral notebook. I remember it had a kitten on the cover. I loved writing stories and notes in my notebook. It made me feel important. And it made me feel like I had secrets. I remember my first story was about my cat, Ching Ching! Ching Ching liked to eat the tinsel off of our Christmas tree. I thought my mom liked Ching Ching more than me sometimes! … Eli, I think writing is fun when you get to choose what you write about. What do you think? Do you like writing?

Eli: No, I don’t really like writing. I like cars and stuff that I can build, like LEGOs. Cars and stuff that I can build inspire me to do things.

POEMS

Grammy: Okay. That’s fair. It’s been a long time since I had Ching Ching, but I still like writing about my pets. Today’s Poem Pod is about some pets I’ve had in the past—Iris and Angus, a cat and dog we had when Sally and Molly were small:

Iris

She’s black.
She’s furry.
She cries an awful lot.

Sometimes she sleeps
Up on my bed,
all curled into a knot.

Angus

He’s fast.
He’s fiesty.
He chews up all his toys.

We love him like
He’s one of us.
He gives us many joys.

Grammy: Eli, you never met Iris or Angus, but after hearing these poems what stands out about them?

Eli: I remember how Iris was black and furry and how she cried a lot. I also remember how she slept on my Gramma’s bed, curled up like a knot, and I remember how Angus was fast and destroyed his toys.

Grammy: Those are details, right? The reason you remember that is that details are what make a story interesting and unusual. Eli, what pets live at your house?

Eli: My two cats, Oscar and Zoey.

Grammy: Tell us a little bit about what makes them unique.

Eli: How they’re brother and sister, but Oscar is kind of shy and timid and Zoey is like a princess. She’ll just strut right up to you and cry and cry for attention. But one thing, they circle around you like little sharks if you’re feeding them.

Grammy: I have met those cats and they are like little sharks when you’re feeding them. Eli, have you ever written a story, or a poem about one of your cats?

Eli: Yes, I have… Because you asked me to. You actually paid me to. Here’s my poem about Oscar:

Oscar is a cat.
Oscar is fat.
He is cuddly.
And cozy.
And purrs
Like an engine.

Grammy: Hey, nice job Eli. I liked the part where you said he purrs like an engine. I can hear him!

ACTIVITY

Eli: Kids out there. You can write a story about an animal you love. Write down two things that make your pet special. Write a line about what you love about those things—those qualities. Now read it! That’s a story!

Together: That’s the end of our second Poem Pod. Remember… We are smiling under our masks, and we hope you are too!

See you tomorrow!

Eli: Post your pet story in the comments for this blog, or on my Grammy’s Facebook page at Janice Beetle Books or on Instagram or Pinterest. We want to read your stories!