ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
March 25, 2009
Words to Laugh By
TFK talks to poet Kenn Nesbitt
Poet Kenn Nesbitt is the author of such zany poetry collections as My Foot Fell Asleep and Revenge of the Lunch Ladies. His latest book of poetry, My Hippo Has the Hiccups, hits bookstores on April 1. TFK chatted with Nesbitt about his love of poetry, his silly sense of humor and how kids can write really funny poetry.
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Click Here to Enter the TIME For Kids Poetry Contest! You could win an online class visit from Nesbitt.
Listen to Nesbitt read "Dexter McDwyer." Click here.
Listen to Nesbitt read "Don't Ever Bite Your Sister." Click here.
Listen to Nesbitt read "My Dog Likes to Disco." Click here.
Listen to Nesbitt read "Something I Need to Remember."Click here.
TFK:
Where did you get ideas for the poems in My Hippo Has the Hiccups?
Nesbitt:Everywhere! Some of the ideas came from my kids. Some came from kids I met on visits to schools. Most of them just came from sitting around and thinking--daydreaming, basically.
TFK:What can you tell kids about the poems in Hippo?
Nesbitt:There are over 100 poems in Hippo and they are all different. Some are wildly imaginative and some are about things that actually happened to kids. They are all funny. I treat poems as a delivery vehicle for a joke because my goal is to give kids something that they enjoy reading so much that they can't put it down. And when every poem is a joke and every poem has a punch line at the end of it, it's almost like a little cliffhanger. You laughed at the end of that poem, so naturally you want to turn the page and laugh again.
TFK:Could you tell me the story of how you came to write one of the poems in Hippo?
Nesbitt:Let me tell you about the poem "Don't Ever Bite Your Sister." I have two kids, an 8-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son. One day, I was just watching TV and I heard my daughter yell at the top of her lungs, "Don't ever bite your sister!" I know most parents would hear that and think, "Oh my goodness! I better see what's going on." My mind just doesn't work that way. I hear that and I think, "Wow, that sounds like a poem. I better write that down."
TFK:How long did it take you to write all the poems in Hippo? What was your writing process?
Nesbitt:This book was written over a period of about 15 years, but the bulk of the poems were written in the past 5 years. When I write a new poem, I post it on my website, Poetry4kids.com. This allows kids to read new poems as I write them, but it also gives me feedback because kids can grade the poems. So I know what kids really like, and what they never want to read again. Hippo is a culmination of the highest-scoring poems on my website.
TFK:Which poems from Hippo were kids' favorites?
Nesbitt:The ones that kids tend to like the most are "My Puppy Punched Me in the Eye" and "I Went to the Barber." They're just over-the-top funny and kids respond to that.
TFK:Were there any poems that you loved, but kids didn't?
Nesbitt:Absolutely! One of my favorite poems, "I Like to Pretend to Be Like Myself," didn't get included in Hippo because kids didn't like it. The poem really worked for me, but it didn't seem to work for anyone else, so it's not in the book.
TFK:You visit a lot of schools. What do you do on these visits?
Nesbitt:It's like educational stand-up comedy for kids. I share really funny poetry with the kids. My goal is to get them laughing their heads off. Then we write poetry from scratch together. We create new poems and the idea is that they walk away thinking, "Wow, that was really fun and easy. I can do that."
TFK:How do you write a poem together with a bunch of students?
Nesbitt:I get ideas from the kids. They'll say, "Let's write a poem about cats." And then we'll talk about what might be funny about cats. Someone might say, "Well, my cat thinks it's a dog." Or "My cat is afraid of bananas." We'll just get a whole list of ideas and then work with the funniest. If it's "My cat is afraid of bananas" then we'll talk about what could happen as a result of a cat's banana phobia. I guide the process. I get all of the words from them. Then I slap the poem together. By the time we're done, they can see it's really not rocket science. It's not that hard to just take your ideas, put them down on paper, and push the words around. It's quite fun. By the way, I never said the words banana phobia before. Pardon me, but I have to jot that down. Yeah, that's going into a poem. You asked me how I get ideas for poems—just like that!
TFK:How did you come to love poetry?
Nesbitt:I blame that on my father. The way my parents kept me and my two brothers from fighting on long car trips was by singing songs and reciting poetry. My father had a lot of poetry committed to memory. We'd be driving down the road, and he'd be reciting the poetry of Rudyard Kipling. There were a few nonsense poems that he taught me and I just thought they were wonderful. I fell in love with poetry from that point on.
TFK:What do you like about rhyme?
Nesbitt:Generally speaking, funny poems work better when they rhyme, and serious poems work better when they don't. Since I mostly write funny poems, they are usually rhyming poems too. I like the way rhyme feels and sounds. It just rolls off your tongue and sticks in your brain.
TFK:Where do you think you get your silly sense of humor?
Nesbitt:I wasn't a class clown or anything like that in school. I suppose it came from watching kids. I was at a school last night and I got the best compliment ever from two girls. I was kind of bouncing around, waiting to go on, and one girl turned to her friend and said, "He acts like us!" I thought, "Oh great! I'm an 11-year-old girl." But that's a wonderful compliment.
TFK:What did you do before you became a poet?
Nesbitt:I was a computer programmer. Writing poetry is much more fun.
TFK:Who are your favorite poets?
Nesbitt:If I had to pick a favorite poet, it would probably be Dennis Lee, the author of Alligator Pie. I don't understand how he does what he does. His poems are little miracles. I also really, really love Jack Prelutsky, Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seuss.
TFK:What tips do you have for kids who'd like to write funny poems?
Nesbitt:Keep doing it! Write more. Every time you write a poem, it gets a little easier and you learn something new. One day I'll be reading your books if you keep it up.
TFK:How would you advise kids who don't know how to start a poem?
Nesbitt:I would tell kids to write about their favorite things, whether it be football, cats, going to the movies or peanut butter. For instance, I might write a poem about chocolate. Then I ask myself, "What's funny about chocolate?" I'll think about it melting in my pocket, or having the world's largest chocolate bar. I make a list of 10 or 15 things. Then I pick the one that strikes me as the funniest and go from there.
