KidLit Progressive Poem 2021


Greetings and welcome! It has been a privilege to participate in this written-for-children progressive poem this April. Here’s what was decided for the first six days:

I’m a case of kindness – come and catch me if you can!
Easily contagious – sharing smiles is my plan.

I’ll spread my joy both far and wide,
As a force of Nature I’ll be undenied.

Words like, “how can I help?” will bloom in the street.
A new girl alone on the playground – let’s meet, let’s meet!


Rose then offered two sweet lines for me to choose from:

We can jump-skip together in a double-dutch round.

or

I spy Mrs. J toting grocery bags.


So, like Rose, I wasn’t ready to let the new girl go. I decided to get them together, and chose Rose’s first line.

I’m a case of kindness – come and catch me if you can!
Easily contagious – sharing smiles is my plan.

I’ll spread my joy both far and wide,
As a force of Nature I’ll be undenied.

Words like, “how can I help?” will bloom in the street.
A new girl alone on the playground – let’s meet, let’s meet!

We can jump-skip together in a double-dutch round.


Now, what will happen with this new girl? Perhaps the two children will join together on a kindness mission, or this new shy girl may be won over by the “case of kindness” child. Or likely something else entirely! It’s exciting to see where this meandering poem will lead by the end of April.

For now, Margaret Simon is invited to choose one of these next lines:

Over, under, jump and wonder, touch the ground

OR

But she was shy when greeted; she didn’t make a sound.

I look forward to following the rest of the Kidlit progressive poem journey for 2021. You can too, here at these blogs:
  1. Kat Apel at katswhiskers
  2. Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise
  3. Mary Lee at A Year of Reading
  4. Donna Smith at Mainely Write
  5. Irene Latham at Live your Poem
  6. Jan Godown Annino at BookseedStudio
  7. Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities
  8. Denise Krebs at Dare to Care
  9. Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche
  10. Molly Hogan at Nix the Comfort Zone
  11. Buffy Silverman
  12. Janet Fagel at Reflections on the Teche
  13. Jone Rush MacCulloch
  14. Susan Bruck at Soul Blossom Living
  15. Wendy Taleo at Tales in eLearning
  16. Heidi Mordhorst at my juicy little universe
  17. Tricia Stohr Hunt at The Miss Rumphius Effect
  18. Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
  19. Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link
  20. Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge
  21. Leigh Anne Eck at A Day in the Life
  22. Ruth Hersey at There is No Such Thing as a God-forsaken Town
  23. Janice Scully at Salt City Verse
  24. Tabatha Yeatts at The Opposite of Indifference
  25. Shari Daniels at Islands of my Soul
  26. Tim Gels at Yet There is Method
  27. Rebecca Newman
  28. Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core
  29. Christie Wyman at Wondering and Wondering
  30. Michelle Kogan at More Art 4 All

16 thoughts on “KidLit Progressive Poem 2021

  1. Glad this new girl hasn’t left us yet! I wonder what will happen next? Will she join in or hold back a bit? Great choices for Margaret to ponder.

  2. I love that the characters are playing together. I’m looking forward to starting a new couplet.

  3. I like both lines a lot and both can keep the action going with those two, Denise. Maybe now others will join in?

    1. Thank you, Linda. I think it’s great that you are following along. You will really know this poem and where the characters have been by the 18th. I’m excited to follow along too.

  4. Hi Denise,
    Kids being kind, kids being open and supported. A poem after this retired teacher’s heart. I am eager to see where our poem will go. Thanks for giving Margaret two great choices. that can go in such different directions. I absolutely get the feel of a jump rope jingle from your first line. Acts of compassion need to be celebrated! And your second offering opens worlds of posibility.

  5. Denise, I liked following your thinking and think choice #1 is one that will resonate with both adults and children. It brings me back to the school playground when I was on teacher lunch duty. I look forward to a shared adventure. Thanks for the great choices.

    1. Thank you, Carol! It’s been really fun to join in this process this year. I’m so glad I saw the opportunity on Margaret’s blog. My mind went to double-dutch jump rope when I saw Rose’s line. However, I didn’t stop to solve the problem of how two children could double-dutch jump! Haha!

  6. Love that you chose the jump-skip, double-Dutch line! It’s fun to catch up with the poem on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

    1. Thank you, Ramona. I bet that is fun. I’m just getting in a rhythm of checking before I go to bed. It is a fun process that I’m new to this year!

  7. Welcome to the Progressive Poem adventure, Denise – great to have you. I’m partial to the juicy language in your first line, but off to see which was chosen. :0)

  8. I’m running behind on reading the poem’s progression and just catching up with people’s posts so far. I’m enjoying seeing which of the two options are chosen each time, I love both of yours. 🙂

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