By Linda McReynolds
Illustrated by Roger Vanderlinden
Those mean boys down the road
just caught a speckled toad.
They brought it to my door.
I don't know whatever for.
Maybe just to hear me yell.
But I really cannot tell.
Possibly to hear me shout.
But I cannot figure it out.
It could've been to hear me scream.
How unusual that would seem.
It must have been quite a shock,
when on my door, they did knock,
and when I saw that speckled toad,
I did not yell, shout, scream, or scold.
I took it gently in my palm,
then shut the door, nice and calm.
Those boys wouldn't have come, had they known,
I would keep that toad for my very own.
Linda McReynolds graduated with a degree in Psychology from Illinois State University before deciding to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a published author. She currently works as a childcare provider and writes in her spare time. Linda has poems slated to appear in Hopscotch, Fun For Kidz, and Confetti magazines and hopes to someday find a publisher for the picture books she has written. She lives in Aurora, IL. with her husband and two children.
To learn more about Roger Vanderlinden, please visit his website at http://www.vanderville.com .
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