Dear Santa, here’s my list
of things I want this year:
Lots and lots of juicy leaves,
growing fresh and near.
Lots and lots of happy trees,
so I’ll always have a home,
and may the trees grow nice and tall,
so I’ll have room to roam.
Please don’t let men cut them down,
And destroy our precious bush — No!
For if the forests are destroyed,
I’ve nowhere else to go.
image from Pixabay by Michaela
If I were a koala,
how happy I would be.
I’d have one branch for dinner,
and another one for tea.
There’d be no washing up,
and nothing else to do:
so I’d curl up nice and high,
and sleep an hour or two.
Photo from Pexels by Flip Side
What do koalas do
when it’s Christmas Day?
They sleep and sleep,
the koala way.
They don’t have tinsel
in their tree;
they don’t eat goodies
like you and me.
They feast on leaves
so juicy green,
the finest ones
that Mum has seen.
And when the day
at last is done,
baby koala has had
such fun.
Mum and baby koala. Photo: Ginette Pestana
Oh boy, what a day,
I’m ready for a doze.
I’m full of yummy gum leaves
from my ears to my toes.
A little snooze would be nice,
It’s what koalas do.
So please don’t wake me up
Until half past two.
Ko-Ko Koala was a spoilt little brat.
He wouldn’t eat vegies in case he got fat.
‘Brussel sprouts and cabbage belong in the bin,
Lemonade and fudge keeps me nice and thin.’
‘Chicken and chips and hamburgers fried,
And chocolate donuts with cream inside
Taste much better for a Koala about town
Bush food is stodgy,’ he said with a frown.
His friends all got very very cross,
Bush food is filling but isn’t very posh.
Until there visited a crocodile
Jaws wide open in a hungry smile.
The little Koala was suddenly left,
Nobody liked the company he kept.
Ko-Ko wished the crocodile very far away,
But the crocodile stayed to talk of takeaway.
‘Bags of chips and popcorn for tea,
Plenty to eat if you dine with me.
If only you would come down nearer,
Our friendship could be so much dearer.’
The days went by, Ko-Ko got thin and wan,
Dreaming of takeaway meals long gone.
Getting very hungry so high off the ground,
He started eating gum leaves and grew very round
The crocodile still waited his eyes full of greed.
And kept renewing his invitation to feed.
‘There’s pineapple on pav with cream between,
And ice creams with flavours you’ve never seen.’
‘A diet of ice cream and potato chips fried,
Will give me tummy ache,’ scared Ko-Ko replied.
The crocodile sighed and at last lost his smile,
And decided to slink off home for a while.
And this is why the crocodile’s tears of grief
Are at the Koala’s love for the Eucalyptus leaf.
And for takeaway food Ko-Ko will never roam.
He finds plenty to eat in his tree top home.
Australian Children’s Poetry 