I’ve written a kids’ story. Well, I’ve written a few, actually. I’d like to get them published, but haven’t had any luck thus far. Anyway, I thought I might share this one with you all.
This would be a picture book, obviously, probably for ages 3-6, but you’ll have to use your imaginations to conjure up the crazy creatures that keep sneaking into the little boy’s room, since I’m certainly no artist.
Let me know what you think – I’d love some feedback. And if you happen to be in the children’s book publishing business, that ‘contact’ button has your name all over it.
The Haftapee
I’ve kissed your head, I’ve said goodnight,
The covers are tucked, off goes the light.
But wait! But wait! It’s not too late,
The Haftapee has just shimmied in,
Dancing a wee-jig with his guilty little grin,
Let’s go sit on the potty, let’s plop him on the seat,
I’ll carry him in on my fast little feet.
I hear no sprinkle, no sign of a stream,
Not even a tinkle, do you know what I mean?
He lied! He lied! The Haftapee lied!
He told me a fib, he said that he tried,
But sometimes he’s tricked, he’s not quite so sure,
And now he feels silly and just slipped out the door,
He’ll go for the night, won’t come back until day,
He won’t dare to come in as long as you stay…
It’s back to your bed now, I don’t want to hear
Any more from your creatures –
Have I made myself clear?
Over there, by the cup, next to the night light,
A Drinkawatta is slinking just into sight.
He must be real thirsty, he must be so drying,
Please give him some water, to keep him from dying.
See, how he’s gulping and gasping all of it down?
And you thought he was faking, you with your frown.
I think he’s ok now,
His belly is full,
There’s no danger of dying,
So let me just pull…
Oh, a Mybakizitchy has wormed its way up
My pajama leg and now it’s nearing the top!
Its creeping and crawling I simply can’t bear,
It’s making my backside feel scritchy down there,
Now it’s inching its scritch up my back, oh no!
Could you give a quick scratch, before you go?
There, is that better?
Is the itching all gone?
Can you please go to sleep now,
You and your yawns.
Ahh, Butiluvyu has snuggled into bed with a sigh,
He’s looking at you with those soft sleepy eyes,
His heart is so full, him arms are outstretched,
If you’d give him a hug, it’s not so farfetched
To think that he’ll quickly go down without fuss,
The Butiluvyu only needs a teeny cuddle from us.
I love you too, but that’s not the issue,
Your bedtime’s long past,
This is the last time I kiss you…
AHHH, a Squitofly’s in here! My neck he just bited!
Now he’s right round my head, I think he’s alighted,
Please squish him, please squash him, to stop all the squealing,
There he is, just above me, he’s up on the ceiling!
It’s hard to relax when these creatures keep creeping,
Could you stay just a little, to help me with sleeping?
No more bugs, no more beasts, let’s get you to bed,
There are creatures all right, but they’re all in your head,
I’ve sung you a song, I’ve read you three books,
Now please close your eyes, and don’t give me that look.
Just one more thing…
Arrrrgh! What is it?
The bathroom I think I really must visit,
Don’t be grumpy, don’t be grousy, don’t be angry with me,
But Daddy…I have to pee.
A friend of mine self-published through Amazon. Also, I have read some blogs on self publishing. You may want to do a search.
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I think every parent out there could appreciate this story. Well done. I really like it. Have you tried to self-publish. I also wrote a children’s book that I published through AuthorHouse. Of course there are so many different self-publishing houses out there. I found AuthorHouse to be the most affordable for publishing. Printing is another story. Anyhow, best wishes. Great story! FYI, I’d buy the book. Oh, and if you need illustrations there is a company out of Atlanta that could probably help with this, Veopix.
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Reblogged this on Honey, I'm lost with the kids! and commented:
I was impressed with this unpublished children’s story, and thought you may be too. One day, perhaps even with your help, you may be able to hold it in your hand in book format.
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The way you packaged it I didn’t think I’d like it.. I didn’t even want to.. but I couldn’t help it. I loved it! I’m going to reblog it to see if any of my contacts may be interested in the publising malarky..
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Thanks, and thank you for the reblog!
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Hey! I really loved your story. It’s so true. The one thing that crossed my mind though, is that the content might be far funnier to parents than kids though. Have you thought about changing your target audience to parents instead of kids – or parents and kids? Marketing it differently, I think this kind of poetry/story telling is almost like Dr Seuss for grownups – but they can also read it to their kids at bedtime. Good luck, I really hope you get published.
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Yeah, I know that parents would recognize these familiar ploys and perhaps find them funny, but I figured kids might get a chuckle as well. And the adults are the ones with the wallets, after all.
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What a great story! Picking up your comment about no luck getting published, there is a post on selfhelpworldwide.wordpress.com that may help. It is called Profit loophole for writers and looks at how writers can use blogging to start making money online. Hope this helps, and best wishes for your future publishing
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Thanks for the link – I’ll check it out!
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What a great story! Picking up your mention of no luck getting published, there is a post in selfhlpworldwide.wordpress.com that may help. It is called Profit loophole for writers and looks a how writers can use blogging to start making money by publishing online. Further articles for writers will be published in the next few weeks. Hope this helps, and best wishes for your publishibg in future.
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Alas I am no publisher but I think this is tops.
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Thank you!
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My kids love bedtime stories. Actually, we have 5 of them, so that’s a lot of reading. LOL! So we started a new ritual. Bedtime audiobooks. There’s lots of sites to download them, but we use one site in particular because the stories are all original and free. Here’s the link, if anyone is interested. http://www.twirlygirlshop.com/moral-stories-for-kids
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Thanks for the link, and for your comments!
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