Allison+& Tommy

Kristine O'Connell George



**Poems:**
__Snowballs__ by Tommy Seidl I'm a great snowball maker, Just like a cookie baker. Roll them up into a sphere, Throw them at everyone here.

Fly through the air, Into somebody's hair, But they're wearing a hat, scream like a bat.

Melting away, Into water, A nice drink, I would say.

Snow is gone, No more snow, Snowballs gone, I can't throw.

__A Lonely Dog__ by Allison Kumarasena

Dear Owner. Why won't you come home? Every day, I wait for you. SItting here alone.

I wait here by the door, your gone so long. You say school is only 7 hours then it's done, but in dog years that's 49, and without you it's no fun!

Now all I can do is sit counting by the door, Owner please come home I cannot take this anymore! But when I ponder how to fix this mess, circling about the flooe, there you are walking towards me, already halfway through the door.

You pick up my toys and get my treats, I sit anxiously ready to play. I'm happy again because now I know, you won't have to go away.

__About Kristi﻿ne__

Biography Tommy Seidl

Kristine was born in Denver, CO on May 3, 1954. During her childhood, she moved a lot, and lived in many states like CO, ID, OR, TX, and CA. She is still alive and writing, but she likes other activities as well, for example tennis, golf, hiking, photography, collage, watercolors, gardening, and sewing. She now lives in the Santa Monica Mountains of southern California with her husband and kids. Some funny anecdotes about Kristine are that she has a family of skunks in her backyard also, a raccoon comes out at night and plays with her dog’s toys.  George has claimed many awards during her career as a poet, and these are them; Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, International Reading Association / Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award, the Golden Kite, Myra Cohn Livingston Poetry Awards, Claudia Lewis Poetry Awards, ALA notables, NCTE notables, //School Library Journal// Best Books, //Hornbook// Fanfare, Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award, and IRA-CBC Children's Choice. One of the books that she is most recognized for is //The Great Frog Race// it was published in October, 2005.

**Styles & Influence** by Allison Kumarasena

Kristine O'Connell George started writing poetry at the age of 35. She began to write after she took a writing class with the published author, Myra Cohn Livingston. Kristine writes most of her poems based on nature. She usually uses one style of poetry and very few types of figurative language. She doesn't have a specific style, but she does rhyme every few lines, and she also uses personification. In her book, //Little Dog Poems,// Kristine makes a little dog the main character of the poems, and gives the dog many human traits and the ability for it to speak about his daily life. She also writes a lot about her childhood and past experiences that all relate to nature. Many other authors also like her poetry. A booklist contributor, Stephanie Zvirin said that her poetry was "a charming way to introduce little ones to the form and feel of poetry."

__** Poetry by Kristine **__

=Toasting Marshmallows =

BY KRISTINE O'CONNELL GEORGE I am a careful marshmallow toaster, a patient marshmallow roaster, turning my stick oh-so-slowly, taking my time, checking often. This is art--- a time of serious reflectionas my pillowed confection slowly reaches golden perfection. My brother  grabs ‘em with grubby hands  shoves ‘em on the stick  burns ‘em to a crisp cools ‘em off <span style="color: #505050; display: block; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Georgia; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 25px; padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;"> flicks soot <span style="color: #505050; display: block; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Georgia; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 25px; padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;"> eats quick. <span style="color: #505050; display: block; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Georgia; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 25px; padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">I’m still turning my stick. <span style="color: #505050; display: block; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Georgia; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 25px; padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">He’s already eaten //six//.

Rabbit I.
by Kristine O'Connell George

Coyote? Tail flicks. Dog? Quiver. Fox? Whiskers twitch. Owl? Shiver.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica; font-size: 13px; height: 100%; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 100%;"> <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24pt; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="display: block; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;"> Bibliography <span style="display: block; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 3em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-indent: -3em;"> George, Kristine. "Kristine O'Connell George: Biography." // Kristine O'Connell George's Children's Poetry Corner //. 1997. Web. 10 May 2011. <http://www.kristinegeorge.com/biography.html>. George, Kristine O'Connell., and Kate Kiesler. // Toasting Marshmallows: Camping Poems //. New York: Clarion, 2001. Print. O'Connell, Kristine. "Toasting Marshmallows by Kristine O'Connell George : The Poetry Foundation [poem]." // Poetry Foundation //. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2001. Web. 10 May 2011. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/241898>.