Kids, Read with Grandma or Grandpa

Mrs. Lu Lu Pewhoo, of Maribu, lived in a tiny cottage by the sea,

Since she loved animals, she started bringing them home with glee.

But soon she had rescued so many, she had to start her very own zoo,

Her neighbors now shouted, “Yoo Hoo! What a lovely zoo, Mrs. Pewhoo!”

Mrs. Pewhoo fed and bathed her animals, and gave them all fresh food,

She nursed them and healed them, and kept them all in a very good mood.

There were soon tigers and lions, and leopards, of course,

There were monkeys, and gorillas, and a little brown horse.

There were dogs and pigs, and dozens of cats,

There were skunks and beavers, and tiny white rats.

There were pheasants and peacocks, and all sorts of ducks,

There were roosters and pigeons, and chickens that clucked.

There were alligators, crocodiles, and a very big shark,

There were parrots and cockatoos, and an injured black lark.

There were zebras, giraffes, and an old hippopotamus, too,

“But what will I do when I can no longer take care of my zoo?”

Mrs. Pewhoo now had so many animals,  she didn’t know what to do,

She was getting old and tired now, and her legs always hurt her, too.

All the animals could see that their friend was now weary,

And all the animals loved Mrs. Pewhoo very, very dearly.

They soon decided to call a meeting to discuss her terrible plight,

They barked and they hissed and they growled, all through the night.

They finally decided that dear Mrs. Pewhoo deserved to retire,

They had to find a replacement for her,  her situation was dire.

So they soon placed an advertisement in an animal magazine,

‘Zookeeper is Needed, Your Love of Animals must be quite Keen.’

Then they waited and waited for weeks without one single reply,

All the animals were now sad, they just could not understand why.

Then one lovely spring morning, as the old woman tended to her zoo,

A young lady arrived – waving, and shouting, “Yoo-hoo, Mrs. Pewhoo!”

“I would like to take over, running your zoo,

You need a nice long vacation, Mrs. Pewhoo.”

“God bless you, my dear child, I could sure use a good rest,

And thank you very much, I know you’ll do your very best!”

The animals in Mrs. Pewhoo’s Zoo are all now happy once again,

And isn’t it really wonderful, when we all help our good friends?

(Based on a True Story)

©2005, Ed Kostro