Contests

Poetry Contest: Animal Whisperers

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to communicate with animals, as Dejario can in “The Penguin Whisperer” and Henry does in “The Cygnet”? Or even as Cricket learned to do with Ugly Bird? (Awkee Sqawkee Buggeez!) What would animals tells us, if they could? How would their perceptions of the world differ from a human’s?

Tater was especially interested in the scientific possibility of interspecies communication. And Muffin really, really wanted to be able to “whisper” to horses. For this month’s contest, they both want to read your best poetry about whispering to an animal.

Will you be a dog or cat whisperer? Or maybe write about a wild animal, or even an imaginary one? Will your poetry capture how your animal thinks and feels, like the story “Magali of Istanbul” capture’s a cat’s point of view? Will your poem be about the relationship between the animal and a human? Or will it be about some adventure in the animal’s life?

Just fill in the blank in the title “The _________ Whisperer” and start writing. Everybuggy will be whispering around the Cricket Country mailbox waiting to read your best poem of 24 lines or less about “The _________ Whisperer.” Shhh!

  • (Show Rules)
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    1. Your contest entry must be your very own original work. Ideas and words should not be copied.
    2. If you're 14 years old or younger, your entry must be signed by your parent or guardian, saying it is your own original work, that no help was given, and granting Cricket permission to publish prizewinning entries in the April 2013 issue or on our Web site. If you're older than 14, you must sign your own work, verifying that it is original.
    3. Be sure to include your name, age, and full address on your entry.
    4. Only one entry per person, please.
    5. If you want your work returned, enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope for each entry.
    6. Incomplete entries cannot be considered. Your entry will be incomplete if you forget to include your age or a signature verifying that your work is original.
    7. Your entry must be received by January 25, 2013.
    8. Send entries to:
      Cricket League
      P.O. Box 300
      Peru, IL 61354