That’s Weird and Funny!

“That’s Weird and Funny!”


Tie Your Socks and Clap Your Feet

Where else can you find noses that drink, grizzly bears that cut turtles’ hair, purple oranges in trees, and broccoli pie plants? In mixed-up poems! In Tie Your Socks and Clap Your Feet, poet Lenny Hort’s mixed-up poems are paired with Stephen Kroninger’s unique, wacky collage art.


Filled with fun twists, these nonsense poems are sure to cause laughter. This book promotes imagination and seeing the world from different perspectives.

TITLE: Tie Your Socks and Clap Your Feet

POET: Lenny Hort

ILLUSTRATOR: Stephen Kroninger

PUBLISHER: Atheneum Books for Yound Readers, 2000


CREATIVE COMPONENTS: imagination, seeing the world from different perspectives, making connections


1) This game is known by many names. I call it the Connection game. It can be played with a group of students. One person starts by stating an object. The next person says the first thing that comes to his/her mind connected to the first person’s statement. Then the third person says the first something connected to the second person’s statement. For example, if I said, paper. The next person might say pencil. The third person might say eraser. The fourth person might say mistake. And so forth. The game can continue as long as you like or stop once everyone has had a turn. A few rules: Limit responses to one word. Words cannot be repeated as a connection. Keep it age-appropriate. Don’t take a long time thinking of a connection, use the first thing that comes to mind. If someone doesn’t understand a connection, the person can explain how they made the connection.

2) Invent your own mixed-up poem. Fold a lined piece of paper lengthwise in half. Unfold. In one column, make a list of things you find in your room. Think about the purpose of each thing. In the other column, write what else that object’s purpose could be. Make sure it’s wacky. For example, a bed’s purpose is to sleep. A wacky purpose might be to fly or to cook dinner on. When I think about flying, I think of going places. Maybe I’ll write a poem about a flying bed that takes me to different places or I’ll write about a flying bed that acts like a school bus picking up kids to take to school but instead of going to school, the bus takes the kids to a monster store. Write a poem using at least five of the things on your list. (Remember your poem doesn’t need to rhyme unless you want it to.) Let your imagination soar like a bed!


To learn more about author/poet Lenny Hort’s books, visit

To learn more about illustrator Stephen Kroninger, visit:

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