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Dennis Lee (born on August 31 in Toronto) is widely regarded as Canada’s best-loved children’s poet and his work has garnered many awards including the Governor General’s Award for Poetry, Canadian Association of Children’s Librarians Best Book Medals, Hans Christian Andersen Honour List citation, Canadian Library Association Award, and Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children nomination.
During his career, Lee has worked as a lecturer in English, as an editorial consultant, poetry editor, as the co-founder and editor of the House of Anansi Press in Toronto, and as a lyricist for the TV series “Fraggle Rock.” He also contributed to the scripts for the films, “The Dark Crystal” and “Labyrinth.” Dennis Lee holds an honorary doctorate from Trent University and his manuscripts and papers are in a permanent collection at the Fisher Rare Book Room at the University of Toronto.
The writing of Canadian poet Dennis Lee is often compared to that of Shel Silverstein or Jack Prelutsky because of his use of zany humor, strong rhythm, and child-friendly topics. Although he may not be as familiar to audiences in the United States, his work still holds wide appeal. In addition, he incorporates many uniquely Canadian references in his verses, easily understandable in context, but offering an added layer of richness to the poems—much like the use of Spanish words in the poems of Gary Soto or Pat Mora.
For an example of Lee’s work, look for The Ice Cream Store (HarperCollins, 1999), full of inventive, energetic and off-the-wall humor. From the title poem on, he celebrates the diversity of children comparing them to ice cream flavors such as chocolate, vanilla, and maple. His rhythmical poems invite children to read or sing along. Take his poem, "A Home Like a Hiccup," for example, that asks children to speculate about what they would be like if they had been born in a different place, and then provides a litany of place names that are fun to pronounce, “Like Minsk! or Omsk! or Tomsk! or Bratsk!” In the end, however, there’s no place like home, and children can provide the name of their individual hometowns when the last line is read aloud, “So the name of MY place is _____________.” Invite the children to locate the poem places on a map or mark the places that they were born or have lived.
An Ookpik is nothing but hair.
If you shave him, he isn't there.
He's never locked in the zoo.
He lives in a warm igloo.
He can whistle and dance on the walls.
He can dance on Niagra Falls.
Submitted by Alessia on Sun, 08/29/2010 - 22:57
Mumbo, Jumbo
Christopher Colomobo
I'm sitting on the sidewalk
Chewing bubble gumbo.
I think I'll catch a WHALE...
I think I'll catch a snail...
I think I'll sit around awhile
Submitted by Alessia on Sun, 08/29/2010 - 22:56
Billy Batter,
What's the matter?
How come you're so sad?
I lost my cat
In the laundromat,
And a dragon ran off with my dad,
My dad--
A dragan ran off with my dad!
Billy Batter,
Submitted by Alessia on Sun, 08/29/2010 - 22:55
Georgie's face was
Never clean.
Georgie smelled like
Gasoline.
Kissing Georgie--
Mighty fine!
Just like kissing
Frankenstein!
Georgie, Georgie,
Wash your face,
Or we'll kick you out
Submitted by Alessia on Sun, 08/29/2010 - 22:54
When they bring me a plate
Full of stuff that I hate,
Like spinache and turnips and guck,
I sit very straight
And I look at the plate
And I quietly say to it: "YUCK!"
Little kids bawl
Submitted by Alessia on Sun, 08/29/2010 - 22:53
A child went out one day.
She only went to play.
A mighty monster came along
And sang its mighty monster song:
"I EAT KIDS YUM YUM!
I STUFF THEM DOWN MY TUM.
Submitted by Alessia on Sun, 08/29/2010 - 22:52
I am sitting
In the middle
Of a rather Muddy
Puddle,
With my bottom
Full of bubbles
and my rubbers
Full of Mud,
While my jacket
And my sweater
Go on slowly
Getting wetter
As I very
Submitted by Alessia on Sun, 08/29/2010 - 22:52
My child, do not exaggerate,
Lest you incur a horrid fate—
As ancient oracles relate,
And modern texts corroborate.
For if you ever fabricate,
Dissimulate, prevaricate,
Submitted by Alessia on Sun, 08/29/2010 - 22:50
My little sister's sitter
Got a cutter from the baker,
And she baked a little fritter
From a pat of bitter butter.
First she bought a butter beater
Just to beat the butter better,
Submitted by Alessia on Sun, 08/29/2010 - 22:49
Bubblegum, delicious,
Bubblegum delight,
Bubblegum de-lovely in the
Middle of the night...
Submitted by Alessia on Sun, 08/29/2010 - 22:42
Anna Banana, jump into the stew
Gravy and carrots are good for you.
Good for your teeth,
And your fingernails too.
So Anna Banana, jump into the stew!
Submitted by Alessia on Sun, 08/29/2010 - 22:39
If I'd been born in a different place,
With a different body, a different face,
And different parents and kids to chase--
I might have a home like a hiccup:
Submitted by Alessia on Sun, 08/29/2010 - 22:38
Some people think a worm is rude,
Cause he's mostly not in a talkative mood.
And other people think he's dumb,
Cause he likes you to call, but he doesn't come.
Submitted by Alessia on Sun, 08/29/2010 - 22:35
They never stop asking me
"What will you be?--
A doctor, a dancer,
A diver at sea?"
They never stop bugging me:
"What will you be?"
As if they expect me to
Stop being me.
Submitted by Alessia on Sun, 08/29/2010 - 22:34
I'm thinking in bed,
Cause I can't get out
Till I learn how to think
What I'm thinking about;
What I'm thinking about
Is a person to be--
A sort of a person
Who feels like me.
Submitted by Alessia on Sun, 08/29/2010 - 22:33
I found a balloon and it went up a tree
I learned how to ride on a pony for free
And I looked at a girl and she knew it was me
When I went to the Summerhill Fair.
Submitted by Alessia on Sun, 08/29/2010 - 22:32
Johnny came from England
Jackie came from France
They went to see a wise man
About a pair of pants.
One said, 'They're too long.'
One said, 'They're too little.'
Submitted by Alessia on Sun, 08/29/2010 - 22:31
A Jersey cow exploded,
One sunny summer's day.
The farmer was in Flin Flon,
Combing his toupee.
The farmer's wife was farming,
She didn't hear a thing.
(A motorist was injured
Submitted by Alessia on Sun, 08/29/2010 - 22:31
Sometimes my mind is crazy
Sometimes my mind is dumb
Sometimes it sings like angel wings
And beeps like kingdom come.
My mother calls me Mary
My father calls me Fred
Submitted by Alessia on Sun, 08/29/2010 - 22:30
Alligator pie, alligator pie,
If I don't get some I think I'm going to die.
Give away the green grass, give away the sky,
But don't give away my alligator pie.
Alligator stew, alligator stew,
Submitted by Alessia on Sun, 08/29/2010 - 22:28
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