Doodles and Ditties

Hey.... did you know I wrote a whole children's book?

Well.. I did.

It's called Izzy's hair and you can find it here:

The story was inspired by a real event that took place when my oldest daughter was a lot younger. Izzy wanted to dye her hair pink for her birthday and it didn't go quite the way she planned.

I have recently been working on a couple of other children's books, and it has inspired me to do something else (probably because I am insane and never stop adding things to my already overflowing plate of responsibilities, side quests, and projects).

I want to host my very first challenge! 🥳

I'm calling it the Doodles n Ditties challenge.

What a weird name. Why would I call it that?

Because 'doodles' and 'ditties' are hilariously adorable words that I never get to use and this gives me a reason. 😐

That's it. That's the reason.

I was inspired by my kiddos on my journey of writing children's books. Now I want to see what your imagination can conjure when sparked by a piece of THEIR art.

The Challenge:

Write a rhyming poem inspired by one of my children's pieces of art. You can choose any one or combine them. Whatever you want. But it must be written specifically for children. No adult themes. No foul language.

The Rules:

Must Rhyme: Any rhyme is welcome... but it must flow and rhyme cohesively and still make sense.

Human-Made Only: To keep the spirit of true creativity alive, there is a strict NO AI policy. This applies to both the writing and any accompanying art. No running any of the art pieces through AI. You must use the original photo of whatever child's art piece you choose as your header photo.

The Judges: The toughest critics of all (my kids) will be reading the entries (or in the little ones case having it read to her) and picking the ultimate winner.

Word Count: Not super strict on this one. Must be atleast 100 words. Preferably no more than 1200. Remember, you're writing for children. That's your target audience. Mine are home schooled and have an attention span that I am actually impressed by... but still. Summer is coming up. Don't make them hate me giving them a surplus of reading material when they wanna be as useless as the G in lasagna this close to Summer Vacation. Ok? Thanks.

How to Enter: Choose a piece of art from the bottom of this story. Write your poem inspired by whatever piece or pieces you choose. Add a link for this challenge at the bottom of your story. Put the challenge name in your subtitle (I wanna see the word doodle and dittie everywhere). Post to the poets community. Drop your finished poem directly into the comments of this post so I can find and read every single one.

The Prize:

The winner will receive a $10 tip and, of course, bragging rights!

Dates to Remember:

Contest Starts: May 13

Contest Ends: May 31

Winner Announced: June 1

Here are the art pieces to choose from:

I can't wait to see the stories you tell and the magic you create.

Good luck to everyone!