Yes Virginia, Santa's deer are real!

I was walking my dog when from the corner of my eye

two tiny reindeer I was sure I did spy

then out of my peripheral vision I knew

on the side of that house were another two 

they seemed solid, no moving, I thought they were fakes

then the snow started falling, magical Christmasy flakes

Suddenly the deer sprang from that place

you should have seen the look on my face

 

Then those deer turned towards my dog

and started to hop, one started to jo

they bound through the yard, the biggest one flew

I grabbed my camera, and that's when I knew

Santa was here, in my neighborhood early

he was spying it out, one reindeer seemed surly

he stared at my dog and snorted a bit

my dog started barking, so Rudy's snorting would quit

They had a conversation, they talked for awhile

then my little pooch started to smile

I caught a few words, "can't go", and "need help"

my pooch headed towards home, she barked with a yelp

she was so excited, seems she had a plan

if Santa needed some help, she was his woMAN!  

We returned to our house, and when we went inside

my hound ran up the stairs, came back down with deer pride 

then a loud noise came from my living room

I ran cross the house, I ran with a zoom

I saw my dog ju she pounced and she ran

Practicing, seems my dog had a Santa Claus plan

So when you look up in the sky

this Christmas Eve, 

you just might see something, 

that you won't believe    

Leading that sleigh

will be my good girl

she'll fly round the world

with Santa, she'll hurl!   

 

Sometimes you just have to find the right place to write.  On a sunny beach. In a remote Colorado lake.  

Anywhere that inspires and doesn't get cell service!  Where's YOUR place?

THIS IS BETTER THAN A GROUPON!

Please pass this article on to your teacher friends, your eager readers and mostly your reluctant readers.  

I have tried to pack my poetry books full of subject matter which will get the most reluctant reader chuckling, engaged and on the road to enjoying more and more reading and poetry!

http://highlandsranch.macaronikid.com/article/273139/book-review-theres-a-fly-on-my-toast

It is officially National Poetry Month and there is a new review and a great book deal associated with it.  Three books and a performed CD of poetry to enjoy in the car for the low price of two books, a whopping discount and a money back guarantee that your reader/listener will enjoy what he or she hears.  

ALSO, if you indicate on your order to whom they should be signed, I will gladly do that.  

http://justinmatott.com/JUSTIN_MATOTT_AUTHOR/MACARONI_KID.html

BASEBALL SEASON DREAMS!

IF I COULD

If I could pitch a ball,
and strike out every guy,
I’d throw the ball so hard,
you couldn‘t see it fly!

I’d shut out all the players
when they addressed the plate.
I’d pitch and pitch and pitch and pitch!
Someday I’d be so great!

And then when I stepped up,
right behind home plate
to hit the ball out there,
that would seal my fate!

I’d swing and hit the ball.
It’d fly over the big fence.
The folks would stand and cheer,
and my baseball fame commence.

National Poetry Month!

April is National Poetry Month and to celebrate we are offering in conjunction with Macaroni Kids a special to keep your kids reading this summer and beyond!  Please visit my website http://www.justinmatott.com/JUSTIN_MATOTT_AUTHOR/MACARONI_KIDS.html and hit the MACARONI KID link to find out about a great deal for YOUR reader!

A Librarian's Lament

I just got back from the library, where I am using old school tools (the best kind, real books made out of paper products) to research my upcoming Gargoyle book. I found one book I really liked, but sadly the last person to check it out must have been eating Cheetos while using it, because there were so many orange finger prints on the tops of the pages, that I got a bit grossed out and decided to buy it instead.




Anyway, it got me to thinking about a poster I made with John Woods Jr. and one of my favorite librarians in the whole world (Wendy Jo Woody) some years ago when we were promoting our first poetry book in elementary schools, There's A Fly On My Toast!, and I thought I would post the poster here for all to see.



Click on the image and it will get big enough to read well.
IF you like it, please feel free to use it, especially in a library!

Here is the text to the poem, since the image seems a bit small to read:



A LIBRARIAN’S LAMENT

I spend so much time selecting books.

Those special one’s that make kids look,

“I LOVE TO READ! THESE BOOKS ARE GREAT!

PLEASE ORDER MORE. I JUST CAN’T WAIT!”

And yet, sometimes, I become disturbed.

The way they treat books gets me perturbed.

When I look down in the book return,

what I see there can make me burn!

This book has water damage, torn pages, too!

The spine is loose! Oh, where’s my glue?

And right there damaged is another

“That wasn’t me, that was my brother!

He used it once to stop the door.”

The whole book’s bent, and here’s one more…

“The dog chewed it, then the dog got sick.

Puked on this book. Oh, yuck! Oh, ick!”

“I was eating lunch, my sandwich fell

into the book, so hence the smell.”

Salami in a book’s just not good.

They don’t treat ‘em the way they should.

Look, someone’s written in this book,

“I was taking notes and didn’t look…

Oh, by the way, that book won’t float,

I tried it out with my bathtub boat!”

How did this one happen? I must ask twice.

The pages are warped, no longer nice.

“I was balancing it upon my head,

to see if I was poised, but instead,

the book fell off and landed hard,

into my muddy, snowy yard.”

SO PLEASE, DEAR STUDENT, HEED MY ADVICE,

CHECK THE BOOK OUT, BUT TREAT IT NICE.

A BOOK IS TO BE READ, NOT EATEN BY DOGS.

A BOOK IS TO BE PONDERED, NOT SUBMERGED LIKE FROGS.

A DAMAGED BOOK IS SAD INDEED,

“TAKE CARE OF ME”, I HEAR THEM PLEAD.

IT’S NOT A BALL TO USE IN PLAY,

IT’S NOT A TABLE FOR FOOD TO LAY,

IT’S NOT FOR BATHTUBS OR WATER AT ALL,

IT SHOULD NOT BE TORN, PLEASE HEAR MY CALL.

TAKE CARE OF THIS PRECIOUS BOOK,

SO OTHER STUDENTS CAN HAVE A LOOK.

HANDLE IT LIKE IT WAS YOUR OWN,

PLEASE DON’T MAKE THE LIBRARIAN GROAN.

I GUESS I’VE SAID WHAT I WANTED TO,

BE NICE TO THESE BOOKS, OR I’LL BE BLUE.

Snow's piling up!

It's cold and it's blowy
it's white and all snowy
hot chocolate is floating whipped cream
I went to bed warm, and I woke up real cold
is this a weird wintertime dream?

I like to go sledding or snuggle in bedding
when the white stuff is whipping out there
we'll put in a movie
pop corn treats are so groovy
my snow hat gave me hat hair

School got canceled today
and that makes this day so okay
we're snowed in our house all together
With games and warm soup
no cold and no croup
it's all because of this weather!

SUGAR AND SPICE & EVERYTHING NICE?

SUGAR AND SPICE & EVERYTHING NICE?

Give me a break, oh would you please?

Boys get a real bad name!

Girls are supposed to be so sweet,

and boys, well, kinda lame.

Well, boys and girls are different,

But that doesn’t make boys bad.

Just remember something folks -

that boy might someday be a dad!

Sugar and spice and everything nice,

Snips, snails and puppy dog tails,

so they say.

We boys get a bad rap,

so let’s just go out and play!

I wrote this poem after a school visit where I overheard two teachers in the lounge talking about some boys, who were particularly rowdy and driving them crazy! Having sons myself, I understand that at times they are like walking tornados, but...

When Mom's Out of Town

From my upcoming book NITWITTLES. Please click on the text to read it, thank you!

Ice cream, pizza, cheeseburgers... I swear man (or woman) could live on these alone...

OH BROTHER!

MY BROTHER, OH BOTHER!

A brother is a bother,
just take out one small “r”.
He bugs me in the bathroom!
He bugs me in the car!
Without the “r” in brother,
the word describes him clearly.
I’d like to try a different bro,
I think I’d like that dearly!

The one I have is older
and thinks it’s really great
to hold me down and torment me,
and sneak things onto my plate.
At dinner he takes vegetables
he doesn’t want to eat,
and puts them at my place,
and kicks me on my feet.

He whispers if I tell my mom,
he’ll pound me in our room.
So all those vegetables of his
I’ve no choice but to consume.
Bring me a new brother,
and make it really quick!
This one I have right now,
makes me mad and makes me sick!

This is another poem in my newest collection, Nitwittles, due out soon!

Nose Prints? Poems about Pooches.

I am thinking of Nose Prints as a title for a poetry collection ALL about dogs. I love this image and it would be used both as a jacket flap illustration as well as an interior.

Your rhyming submissions might go on the jacket flap and are being accepted through September 1, 2011. The rhyme should represent what dogs mean to us humans, something along the line of man's best friend... FUNNY, THOUGHTFUL, INTERESTING...

Send a four or eight line rhyme to me at justin@justinmatott.com or post it on the facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Works-of-Justin-Matott/213624096290?ref=ts (don't forget to LIKE the page on Facebook if you haven't) and if your poem is used you will receive credit on the acknowledgement page (no further remuneration, come on folks, we are doing this for fun, poetry doesn't make any money...) and an autographed book if and when it publishes.

Meanwhile, keep watching for Nitwittles poems here on my blog as well (chime in anytime your thoughts), and soon the book will be available on your ereaders and traditionally too!

BIG BAD MOTORCYCLE MAN (coming soon in Nitwittles)

My Dad was an English Professor and often did editing on my work as I developed it. He was able, generally, to read my work as he did many, many, many college students, with a sense of arms-length detachment, an editorial eye and red pen and could be constructively brutal about my writing.

He pulled no punches if he didn't like it, which I really appreciated and miss a lot! He also carefully doled out praise (usually with a little caveat) but I always knew he was in my corner, just wanting me to put out the very best work I was capable of. It was amazing to me to see my own dad become all business about my work, putting aside our relationship with objectivity.

All this to say my dad LOVED this poem. He told me it was his favorite poem of ALL of the poems I had written and he had reviewed at the time, which exceeded five hundred. SO, I have always remembered most the conversation we had about The BIG Bad Motorcycle Man that I based this poem on. I remember the way he laughed, the way we laughed. As a Dad, I know the only thing I want more than my own success is to watch my son's successes. I want more for them than I do for myself and my dad felt the very same way.

THIS POEM WAS WRITTEN WHILE WATCHING SOME GENTLEMEN AT MY LOCAL STARBUCKS, WHO - LIKE ME, RIDE HARLEY MOTORCYCLES.

PLEASE CLICK ON THE POEM BELOW TO BLOW IT UP ENOUGH TO READ IT. I HAVEN'T YET FIGURED OUT HOW TO SAVE THE FILE FROM THE MANUSCRIPT LARGE ENOUGH...

What have you watched today that you could sit down and write a poem or short story about?

Cowboys and Aliens All Mixed Up is on itunes!

1728 delightfully rendered alien cowboys are now an app on itunes for the ipad! Aliens All Mixed Up is also an app on itunes for the ipad! The next mix and match book we are developing for both print and ipad is Pooches All Mixed Up. In development (Hollywood talk for in the author's brain) are Dinos All Mixed Up, Monster Mamas All mixed up and more. If you have the traditional Aliens All Mixed Up in the "old fashioned" book form, please let readers know what you think of it (amazon.com has a great easy forum for reviews). I thank you for reading this and hope your ipad will soon be buzzing with aliens and cowboys ALL MIXED UP!

Come give a listen to some fun poems

Summertime is a great time to catch up on things! I write. This summer I've finally made my website "user friendly", including a page for people to contribute to. To build with pictures, poems or just anything they/you want on there.

But one thing I really like is the ability for people to experience something and now with the poetry page it is possible. Come give a listen and let me know what you think.

http://www.justinmatott.com/JUSTIN_MATOTT_AUTHOR/my_poems.html

From my last school visit for Spring 2011!

WELCOME TO MY HOUSE OF WORDS

WELCOME, COME ON IN

Welcome to my house of words!

Welcome to this place!

My goal within, to make you think,

or put a smile upon your face.

The subjects here all vary,

The thoughts are random, too.

I hope you like this book a lot!

Oh boy, I hope you do!

So welcome now my newest friend.

Please get a comfy chair.

And read and read and read and read,

For now, have not a care…

This poem is from my book 'There's A Fly On My Toast!' These photos are courtesy of a wonderful teacher who has used my books in her classroom and in her own home. I got to meet the boy in these pictures at his school and was delighted to see his excitement! These are some of the BIGGEST rewards of being an author!

Nitwittles book is coming!

I am SO tired of hearing half conversations EVERYWHERE I go. Thus, I wrote about it... CLICK TO ENLARGE

RAP IT UP!

Sometimes poetry comes "rapped" in a package with a good disguise. Often when I visit schools I hear the kiddoes saying things like, "I don't like poems!" "Poetry is boring!" and other such things.

I have them do an exercise: Take your favorite song and write out the lyrics. Or tell us several lines from a song you like. Suddenly as they begin to recite the lyrics from a song it becomes apparent that they are rhyming and basically speaking a poem... Ah, the light goes on.

Most music is nothing more than rhyming lines or quadrants set to a beat. Then the assignment is to write a song rather than a poem and the stigma disappears...

A SAD POEM FROM THE UPCOMING BOOK NITWITTLES

PLEASE CLICK ON POEM TO ENLARGE

I THINK IT IS IMPORTANT WHEN DISCUSSING STORIES AND POETRY THAT A YOUNGSTER UNDERSTANDS THAT A WRITER IS SIMPLY HUMAN AND DEALS WITH THE EMOTIONAL ASPECTS OF BEING ONE IN THE WAY WE KNOW BEST... WRITING IT OUT.

MOSTLY MY POEMS ARE SILLY, FUNNY OR WRITTEN TO CAUSE THOUGHT AND/OR DISCUSSION. THIS POEM IS DIFFERENT THAN ANY I HAVE WRITTEN BEFORE. THIS POEM WAS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT FOR ME TO WRITE BECAUSE IT WAS A PURGING OF DEEP, DEEP SORROW AND LOVE LOST. THIS POEM WAS WRITTEN ABOUT OUR BELOVED FAMILY DOG WHO RECENTLY LEFT OUR HOME TO GO TO DOG HEAVEN, BUT WRITING IT BROUGHT BACK MY BEST FRIEND FROM CHILDHOOD AND SOMEHOW SO MANY YEARS LATER ALLOWED ME TO SAY GOODBYE TO A PORTION OF THE SORROW THAT I HELD ON TO BECAUSE IT WAS JUST TOO HARD TO DEAL WITH IT ALL WHEN I LOST HIM AND HAS BEEN LODGED IN MY HEART FOR ALL THESE YEARS.

THE NIGHT I WROTE THE FIRST DRAFT OF THIS POEM I HAD A VERY VIVID DREAM ABOUT FRISKY, MY BEAGLE/HUSKY MIX WHO FILLED MUCH OF THE FIRST TWO DECADES OF MY LIFE WITH FRIENDSHIP AND HAPPINESS AND THEN THE ULTIMATE SORROW. IN THE DREAM HE FINALLY DID WHAT I TRIED TO GET HIM TO DO WHEN I WAS A BOY. HE SPOKE. HE SAID GOODBYE TO ME TOO. I WAS ALL AT ONCE UPON AWAKENING VERY HAPPY AND VERY, VERY SAD, KIND OF LIKE A HARD RAINSTORM WHERE THE SUN IS STILL BEAMING DOWN THROUGH THE DARK CLOUDS.

PERHAPS IT IS BECAUSE WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS IS MY ALL TIME FAVORITE BOOK THAT I FEEL THE DEEP LOSS OF MY CANINE FRIENDS.

IF YOU ARE A DOG LOVER YOU WILL APPRECIATE THIS POEM AND HOPEFULLY EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT.