2020 Jean Ciavonne Poetry Contest Winners Announced!

Pikes Peak Library District is pleased to announce the winners of the 2020 Jean Ciavonne Poetry Contest for Children:

Bricks of Wheat
By Cooper Alvin

As I come home from school, filled with resent,
I see cold cream of wheat, hard as cement!
I thought what could be built with such hard a material,
Build skyscrapers out of this rock-hard cold cereal.
A new way of building! Who would of thought evolution
Could lead to such a disgusting solution.

Cream of wheat bricks! Now that’s something new!
Guess the trick to construction is edible goo!
Someone says: “The tallest building is inside Dubai.”
“That’s nothing! Build it with soup!” I reply.
We’d build it high and we’d build it wide.
Why would we do it? ‘Cause nobody’s tried.

A cream of wheat pool? No, that’d be just gross.
A cream of wheat coaster? (sigh) That’d be shunned on by most.
A cream of wheat car? Something no one would borrow.
Well, I’m out of ideas! Come back tomorrow!

Chocolate Peppermint Delight
By Emily Lunsford

One day during lunch,
My friend and I chatted.
She asked,
“If you could invent a dessert,
ANY dessert,
What would it be?”
We started sharing,
And worked together to imagine…
The Chocolate Peppermint Delight!

A chocolate lava cake,
But with peppermint bits in the lava!
Sweet, creamy vanilla ice cream,
With chocolate chip cookie crumbled in
On top of the cake.
A peppermint shell,
For the luscious ice cream.

Topping it off,
Caramel sauce,
And don’t forget
The flavorful peppermint sauce!
Whipped cream generously deposited
Around the plate,
And up the cake.

Coming out from our dream
Of heavenly desserts,
We smiled, thinking about
The luxurious treat.
Our mouths watering,
We looked down at our trays of cafeteria food.
And our otherwise fine tacos,
They didn’t seem nearly as good anymore.
Nor did our fruit cups,
Or our milk.
With the Chocolate Peppermint Delight on our minds,
Everything else faded in comparison,
To a dull gray.

It’s funny how a daydream,
A vision of succulent delicacies,
Can bleach perfectly fine food,
Leaving only the fantasy,
Bright and colorful.
That day I learned
That pure imagination
Can achromatize
Reality.

Bitter and Sour
By Azul Padilla

I’m grabbing a mango
Dancing like a weirdo
Cutting the mango
Nice and yellow
I ask my mother
Can you pass me the chili powder
I sprinkled it all over
Bitter and sour

How to Make a Pot of Rhino Stew
By Avery Pilkington

How to make a pot of rhino stew:
Add these five things to your Crockpot
Slice up some carrots
Chop up some potatoes
Dice up some worms
Add one huge RHINO
Add a dash of ground herbs
Put the lid on
Cook for SEVEN HOURS

The Life of a Cupcake
By Maya Rebugio

They put me in the oven to bake.
Me, a depressed and miserable cupcake.
Feeling the heat, I started to bubble.
Watching the others, I knew I was in trouble.

They opened the door and started my life.
Frosting me with a silver knife,
Decorating me with candy jewels.
The rest of my batch looked like fools.

Lifting me up, she took off my wrapper.
Feeling the breeze, I wanted to slap her.
Opening her mouth with shiny teeth inside,
This was the day this cupcake died.

I Love Pasta That’s No Doubt
By Madison Smith

Hear it boil from the pot
Crunch munchy from the box
I love pasta a whole whole lot

Short, fat, long, tall, just ask me I’ve got them all
Slippery, slimy, spaghetti
Whirly, twirly, colored noodles
Cheesy, wheezy, macaroni

Spiraled, curved, rigid, smooth, pasta makes me really groove
Pesto perfecto green and grand, even beefaroni from the can.

Rigatoni in my tummy
Amazing alfredo hot and yummy
With veggies or without
I love pasta that’s no doubt.

Cupboard Crafts & Experiments: Liquid Fireworks!

Cupboard Crafts & Experiments: Liquid Fireworks!

Supplies:

  • Shallow containers or plates
  • Cotton swabs
  • Dish soap
  • Liquid food coloring
  • Milk (whole milk is best but any percentage will work)

Directions:

  1. Pour the milk in a shallow container, just enough to cover the bottom. (Experiment with cold or room temperature milk.)
  2. Add drops of liquid food coloring to the milk, drop them close to one another in the center for a more dramatic effect.
  3. Dip a cotton swab in a small amount of dish soap and then very lightly touch it to the side of the color. Watch the liquid fireworks!

What is happening? Milk is mostly water but it also has proteins, minerals, and fat. The milk fat molecules are more dense than the liquid food coloring therefore the food coloring floats on top. The dish soap weakens the chemical bonds separating the water loving molecules and the water fearing parts of the molecules, flinging them apart and creating beautiful bursts of color. Keep experimenting, if the action slows down pour out the milk mixture into a spare container and start over with fresh milk.

Watch this project at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh7iAMH59ZU&t=7s

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Page-Turning Reads for Tweens

Looking for a book you just can’t put down? These action-packed chapter books are great picks for kids ages 9 to 12.
Click on the link below to check out the booklist!