Poems with Lois Letchford : Never Mince Words With a Shark

30 Oct 2020 · 1 min

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1:00

In this YouTube video, author and literacy advocate Lois Letchford introduces herself and her memoir, then reads the children’s poem “Never Mince Words With a Shark” from Jack Polutsky’s collection New Kids on the Block. The poem humorously lists a variety of animals (centipedes, seals, ducks, croots, anteaters, eels, geese, monkeys, moose, otters, teals, shrews) with which one may argue, quibble, or debate, but warns that a shark will not tolerate any verbal sparring and will quickly end the conversation. The reading is delivered in a lively, kid‑friendly tone and concludes with standard YouTube calls to like, subscribe, and share the video.

Chapters

Hello, I'm Lois Letchford, author of the book Reversed: A Memoir and literacy problem solver, reading poetry for kids from New Kids on the Block by Jack Polutsky. Never mince words with a shark. You may quarrel with centipedes, quibble with seals, declare to a duck in a park, engage in disputes with cantankerous croots, but never Mince words with a shark. You may rant at an anteater, banter with eels, and haggle with gaggles of geese, heap verbal abuse on a monkey or moose, but a shark you had best leave in peace. You may argue with otters, make speeches to teals, and lecture at length to a shrew, but a shark will deflate your attempts to debate, and before you are done, You are through. Enjoy. Hit like, hit subscribe, and share it with others.