Steve Shilstone's Blog, page 21
August 24, 2013
QUEN NIM COVER
Nimble Missst’s story will be published soon. This will be the cover. Don’t get into a battle of wits with her. She has a snapjaw mind, you know.
August 20, 2013
THE FASTEST FLY
The fastest fly in the land
loved to perch on any hand.
To show her speed at beating slaps
she sat on noses during naps.
She also liked to hang around
a barbecue or picnic ground.
But woe, alas, she grew too bold.
She sailed from her cottage while suffering from a cold.
She landed on the nose of a man named Jack.
She started to laugh, and the hand went WHACK!
From that day on she limped when she flew.
Her wings were bent. Her antennae, too.
August 12, 2013
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ZERNA SHARP
Here is Zerna Sharp.
She did not play the harp.
Instead, she filled my brain
with tales of Dick and Jane,
Mother and Father and Puff,
Spot and Sally. Stop! Enough!
August 3, 2013
THE TRAMPOLINE RAFT LIMERICK
Those logs there are bouncy. Isn’t that daft?
It’s called then, of course, the Trampoline Raft.
Its owners aren’t bouncing.
They’re swimming, not pouncing.
Who are they? Why, twins! Listen! They laughed!
July 28, 2013
BEATRIX POTTER’S BIRTHDAY
Today is the birthday of Beatrix Potter.
If you’ve not read her books, you really otter.
I painted this image on my laundry room door.
Now everyone knows what that room is for.
July 11, 2013
A JEALOUS PIG ON E. B. WHITE’S BIRTHDAY
‘If I felt like it, I could make friends with a spider, too.’
July 4, 2013
HOW BEATRIX POTTER GOT MY ATTENTION
That illustration down there from Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin certainly got my attention when my mother read the story to little tiny me.
June 29, 2013
MIFFENS
Those are miffens. Yes, I know they look like cats, but if the painting revealed the rest of their bodies, you’d notice right away how extremely not cats they are. For one thing, their bodies are limbless and shaped like plump globes. For another, they float above ground. Most miffens are herders tending to flocks of fleece. But these two here are Royal pets. That gray hand reaching out to touch the green miffen belongs to Malvina Spurl, a chalky gray elf who married into Royalty and gave birth to the famous and wild Triplet Princesses Three. These two miffens, Satin on the left, Mint on the right, are huge in comparison to the common herd miffen. Herd miffens are the size of a muffin, sort of like a kitten, float and dart swiftly in the air. These Royal pets, in contrast, tend to hang in one place, usually near food.
June 21, 2013
MOONS OVER CLOVER
The hills of Clover are nice and green.
When both moons are full, it’s a sight to be seen.
Square patchy sky,
pass swiftly by.
Yield redness to evening’s moon gilded sheen.
June 12, 2013
186 YEARS AGO
This is Johanna Spyri. She was born on this date in 1827. She wrote HEIDI. So, in her honor I made this tiny rhyme:
186 years ago
she was born
yodel-a-e-oh
