Flip hip when Red Foot having fun

  Jag hade tänkt mig två böcker i kvällens barnboksinlägg, dels Kenn Nesbitts antologi One minute till bedtime och dels en bok om emigranter från centralamerika. Men dikterna i den sistnämnda var rätt andefattiga, illustrationerna av Alfonso Ruano var däremot av hög klass.
  Jag nöjer mig med tre dikter ur Nesbitts projekt.

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  Den förre Children's Poet Laureate, Kenn Nesbitt, fick en idé om att barn skulle få en kort dikt om dagen uppläst vid läggdags som ett alternativ till "avbrutna" kapitelböcker. Han skickade ut en förfrågan till mängder av barnboksförfattare och uppdraget gick ut på att författa en nyskriven dikt på temat: "60-second poems to send you off to sleep". Över 130 poeter hörsammade honom. Bland dem min absoluta favoritförfattare.

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Map of fun, by Naomi Shihab Nye
(From One minute till bedtime : 60-second poems to send you off to sleep. Selected by Kenn Nesbitt ; art by Christoph Niemann. New York ; Boston : Little, Brown and Company, 2016.)

Where did my feet walk today?
Did they step on a cloud, or into a sea?
Did a smooth wooden floor
welcome their beat?
They slid through the grass,
they stepped on a stone.
I dashed up the stairs.
My cat bit my toe.
I slid in the hall.
I splashed in a bath.
My fabulous feet felt it all.
Now they are curling under the sheet.
Tomorrow I will dance and run.
Skip and hop. Twirl and leap.
Feet always find the map of fun
and follow it.
But now, they rest,
they rest.

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The big parade, by Dennis Lee
(From One minute till bedtime : 60-second poems to send you off to sleep. Selected by Kenn Nesbitt ; art by Christoph Niemann. New York ; Boston : Little, Brown and Company, 2016.)

A centipede sat
     By the side of the road.
Along came a turtle,
     Along came a toad.

The turtle was singing
     A rock 'n' roll song,
The toad did a flip
     As she boogied along -

And the centipede danced
     In a centipede way;
He wiggled his hips,
     And he cried, "Hip-hooray!"

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Seagull beach party, by Sophie Masson
(From One minute till bedtime : 60-second poems to send you off to sleep. Selected by Kenn Nesbitt ; art by Christoph Niemann. New York ; Boston : Little, Brown and Company, 2016.)

Dressed in their smartest white and gray,
The seagulls are having a party today.
All of the regulars are gathering here,
They've come from far, and come from near.
There's trim little Lightfoot, and beady-eyed Stumpy,
Lazy old Beaky, and squawky-voiced Grumpy,
Red Foot, and White Cap, and
Blackfeather Wing,
Watching to see what the humans will bring.

For seagulls love parties but never cook, ever,
Not starters or mains or dessert, or whatever!
They know it will come when the humans are here,
The menu will vary, of course, but no fear,
There will be lots to grip, gobble and take,
Bread crumbs and fries and, who knows, even cake!
And what you must do is to keep wide-awake
And never but never give another a break.
The fastest will win, but also the meanest,
A seagull party is never the cleanest!