Category Archives: Rhymes For Kids

Tony Funderburk’s rhymes and reasons to help you understand the power of God’s love. For kids from 1 to 101.

Tony Funderburk Posted on by

It occurred to me that most of my writing for kids comes from the perspective of happiness and optimism. And today I just happened to think, “Hmm…maybe not everyone is feeling happy and optimistic right now”.

Sure, there’s a lot of bad news out there. People just don’t seem to be able to get along. For some reason some people want to be king of the world and make everyone serve them. But we don’t have to be like them. We can do so much more in our lives when we look for ways to serve others. Think about it…when you do something special for your mom or dad or sister or brother…don’t you feel great?

That’s the funny thing about problems and troubles. When we focus on them, they look bigger and badder than they really are. Then we make it worse by focusing on them even more, and then they look even bigger and badder. And it just gets worse and worse.

But when we learn to look for answers instead of staring at the problems or complaining about the problems, we start to work our brains in a really good way. As I often say…when things get you down…look UP! Like this…

When you’re really in the middle
And you’re feeling like a riddle,
And you start to get a little bit down…
Take your eyes off all your troubles.
Let ’em float away like bubbles.
When they pop, then I bet you can’t frown.
When you think your life is rotten…
All the good things have been gotten,
And the world’s takin’ more than it gives…
Start to laugh and start to winkin’.
You can stop that stinkin’ thinkin’.
That’s the way that a happy kid lives.
Yeah, your face might get all flappy
When you walk around so happy,
But your life is gonna mean much more.
Now go be a sparkling fountain
Or a bright light on a mountain
‘Cause your Maker’s got a lot in store.

Stay tuned,

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Tony Funderburk Posted on by

I could ask a profound question of grownups like, “Any ideas what you will be doing in ten years?”

And I could get some profound answers, some unprepared answers, and even some who would say they don’t really have an answer. But what if I asked little kids that very same question? Or what if I asked them that question…and then I gave them a bunch of choices in the form of questions?

Well, since my specialty is writing for kids, I wrote a few of those questions so we don’t have to wonder. If you have kids, read ’em this verse and see if they have other thoughts on what they’ll be doing. I bet they’ll have some of their typical delightful ideas…

What will you be doing
When you’re not doing what you’re doing?
Will some pieces need some gluing?
Will your feet both need some shoeing?
Will your smile replace boo-hooing
When you hear a big cow mooing?
Will you watch some hot tea brewing?
Will you smell a pot roast stewing?
Will you see a bear pursuing
When you go somewhere canoeing?
Will it all be your undoing
When you’re doing what you’re doing?

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Tony Funderburk Posted on by

Your Story Matters

Have you read or heard this quote from a writer who said, “If matter’s all there is, then nothing really matters.” Let’s see…who was that? Hmm…oh yeah…it was me. And I said it for a very good reason. Because you’re the only you.

See, it’s like this. Whether I’m writing for kids, grownups, or the whole kit and kaboodle, I’m writing for you because your story matters. (by the way, “reason” isn’t found in matter)

And your story matters because you’re created. You didn’t just happen. And the story of who you are and why you look and sound the way you do is written inside the cells of your body. It’s like a secret code, only it’s not a secret anymore. Your code is yours and no one else has the your code. And this is true of every person on the earth. Big or little. Fat or skinny. Blue or pink.

If we took the code inside of you and used a special decoder ring, we could read the one book in the world written just about you. It would tell us why your singing voice is so nice…or why you can’t carry a tune in a bucket. It would tell us how you grew up to be a 7 foot basketball player in the NBA…or a 5 foot jockey in the Kentucky Derby. Well, your code wouldn’t tell us how you won a place in the NBA or the Kentucky Derby, but it would show us why you’re tall or short.

Imagine how many other things we could learn by reading the teeny, tiny instructions in each of the trillions of cells in our bodies. But then there wouldn’t be time to read or do anything else. You can just be sure that…

Your Story Matters

Inside a trillion tiny cells
Where no one’s eyes can see…
A trillion times your story flies
On sparks of energy.

That energy is life itself
The fire to light your way
To write your story and to live
And love someone today.

Be thankful for your source of life
And bow or smile and nod…
Because your story matters most,
When it reveals our God.

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Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

Tony Funderburk Posted on by

Here in Colorado this fine May morning there’s sunshine and cool breezes. I was the first to rise and get things going. I enjoy the quietness…always have. When I was younger, I’d almost always be the first one to get up. And I’d sneak into the kitchen and pour myself a bowl of Saturday morning breakfast cereal.

Even back then I’d take the time to just crunch on Cheerios, or corn flakes, or whatever was there and stare out the window. I loved to watch the birds and squirrels already busy at work getting and gathering food. There was so much activity, but it was so peaceful and quiet. When I was a kid, we weren’t allowed to have coffee. I didn’t mind because that grownup beverage tasted awful to me, and I never needed that kind of caffeine boost to wake up.

These days the first thing I do, in the morning, is fire up the coffee maker and enjoy the aroma as the brewing begins. That first cup, with a bit of honey or raw sugar and some coconut milk, wakes up that first layer of brain cells where my imagination lives. And when I let those cells roam around freely inside my head, pretty soon groups of words follow.

This Saturday morning my thoughts went to cereal and the “good ol’ days”

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

Saturday morning breakfast cereal
Floating in a big, blue bowl…
Oaty oat circles spinning in spoonfuls
Milk dripping out of control.

Saturday morning sunshine prisms
Sparkle on a glass of juice,
Bouncing like BB’s clicking on concrete
Luminous lights let loose.

Saturday morning cartoon silliness
Playing on the TV screen…
Bozos and birdbrains, rockets and robots
Every week the same routine.

Saturday morning breakfast cereal
Wakin’ up a sleepyhead…
Saturday morning breakfast cereal
The reason to get out of bed.

Stay tuned,

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Or how about some music for believers, dreamers, and thinkers

 

Tony Funderburk Posted on by

Unique gifts are the ones no one was expecting…except for one.

You. In fact, when you were conceived, they said your mom was “expecting”.

When a mom is “expecting”, what exactly is she expecting?

  • An apple pie?
  • A new car?
  • New shoes?
  • A phone call?
  • None of the above?

Yep, the answer is “none of the above”. When a mom is “expecting”, it means she’s going to get one of the two most unique gifts known to mankind. A boy…or a girl. If you think about how no one else in the world will have the same fingerprints as you, or the same DNA, or even the same size and shape…you’ll begin to understand how incredible and unique you are.

That’s why, today, I’m not writing for kids…I’m writing this especially for you…

OK, look at your fingers, and what do you see?
Look at them now, and don’t point them at me.
On each of your fingers you have fingertips.
Maybe your mom touched hers to your lips.

Your fingertips make their very own prints
Like no one’s before and no one else since.
It’s true of the billions of people on earth.
It means you have value. It means you have worth.

And something inside you too tiny to see
Says you will be you and never be me.
It was God who designed it and made it that way.
He gave you a code, and it’s called DNA.

It controls if your eyes will be brown, green, or blue.
It makes you a human, not an odd kangaroo.
And under a microscope what do we find?
That your DNA makes you into one-of-a-kind.

OK, never forget to remember this news
There will never be three or even two you’s.
And even the voice you use when you speak
Will show the whole world you’re truly unique.

Stay tuned,

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Tell everybody you know to subscribe to Tony’s Rhyme and Reason Daily Devotional
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Get digital Bible stuff from the same company I do.

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Or how about some music for believers, dreamers, and thinkers

 

Tony Funderburk Posted on by

When I’m writing for kids, whether it’s a song, a poem, or even ebooks for kids…I often find a way to challenge them with their own lingo.

Maybe you’ve seen those AT&T commercials where a man sits at a kids’ table and asks some kids if doing two things is better than doing one. Then, he watches the kids and their reactions, comments, and funny movements. I’ve always been that way with kids. I love to ask them questions that challenge their perceptions…and then give them a goofy alternative. Their consternation is priceless.

And that’s why I enjoy writing for kids so much.

It gives me the opportunity to turn on the switch to the imagination I’ve always had but don’t always tap in to. I can be anything or go anywhere, and I can hopefully write it in a way that takes kids along for the ride. Colors can have sounds. And sounds can come to life and sprout wings and fly. They can fly into clouds that turn into eyes. And the eyes can blink out tears that drip into pools of color. And the whole thing can start over again going in a new, fun direction.

Well, that’s my take on it. I’ll just leave you with this one last musical thought…

Holla holla moolah…holla holla moolah
Holla holla moolah molay

Joppa joppa joopah…joppa joppa joopah
Joppa joppa joopah jopay

Kenna keena kyna…kenna keena kyna
Kenna keena kyna konay

Wella weela wyla…wella weela wyla
Wella weela wyla wolay

Soli Oh Yo…Soli Oh Yo Yo
Soli Ay Yi…Soli Ay yi yi
Soli Oh Soli Ay Soli Oh Soli Ay
Soli Oh Yi Oh Yi Yo

Stay tuned,

Tony Funderburk signature logo

No-cost, low-cost, and premium ways you can help me spread the Word…

Tell everybody you know to subscribe to Tony’s Rhyme and Reason Daily Devotional
(emails with good stuff for Fa-Ree)

Get my Rhyme & Reason Podcast delivered right to your device. (also Fa-Ree)

Get digital Bible stuff from the same company I do.

My books are also on Amazon.com or Apple Books

Grab yourself an un-cool T-shirt

Or how about some music for believers, dreamers, and thinkers

 

Writing For Kids In The Snow

Tony Funderburk Posted on by

OK…so you see the headline to this story and you can take it more ways than one. Do I mean that I’m writing for kids who are in the snow? Or do I mean that I’m writing for kids while I’m in the snow? Or is an article about writing…for kids in the snow?

Ah-ha…those are the questions, and here is my answer. This is the first day of May, and it’s only going to be in the 30’s here on Green Mountain in Colorado. And to top it off, it’s snowing like a banshee out there. (By the way, how do banshees snow?) So, the answer is…I’m writing for kids while I’m in a house that’s in the snow. How’s that for the long way around an explanation?

So…to make up for the long-winded answer I’m gonna share an important brief dissertation (I think that might be an oxymoron) about meteorological disturbances and why they occur when they do. I’m writing for kids, but you kids should make sure your parents see this. It’s called…

Ode To When It Snowed

When it snowed on the very first of May,
All the snowbirds grabbed their nests and flew away.
As they turned and looked behind…
Every creature, every kind
Had decided it was much too cold to stay…

Because May’s meant for flowers and not snow,
But those tardy snowflakes didn’t seem to know.
They kept floating through the air
Without sound and without care.
So then what could all the creatures do but go?

When the birds and the others took their flight,
They relied on what they felt and not their sight.
Days like this will come and go.
Soon the sun will melt the snow.
Yes the world may be all white, but it’s alright.

Stay tuned,
Tony Funderburk, THE writer-singer-illustrator for kids and life in Denver talks about his first 7 ebooks for kids.

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