Jack Prelutsky - Good Sports: Rhymes about Running, Jumping, Throwing, and More

THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF Text copyright 2007 by Jack Prelutsky
Illustrations copyright 2007 by Chris Raschka All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Childrens Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. KNOPF, BORZOI BOOKS , and the COLOPHON are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc. www.randomhouse.com/kids Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at
www.randomhouse.com/teachers Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Prelutsky, Jack.
Good sports / by Jack Prelutsky ; illustrated by Chris Raschka. p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-375-98581-2
1. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-375-98581-2
1.

SportsJuvenile poetry. 2. Childrens poetry, American. I. Raschka, Christopher. II.

Title.
PS3566.R36 G66 2007
811.54dc22
2006005092 The illustrations in this book were created using watercolors and ink. v3.1 To Susie Chalker, a good sport
J.P.For Lefty
C.R.

Im standing at home,
And the counts three and two.
A fastball is coming,
And heres what Ill do
Ill swing at that ball,
And Ill smack it so hard,
Ill send that ball sailing
Clean out of the yard. H ere comes the pitch
Heading straight for the plate
Ive got to swing now,
I cant wait, I cant wait.
I whiff on that fastball,
The ump yells, Strike three!
Ill get him next inning,
You just wait and see. T he ball comes to me,
And I kick the ball back.
Were looking to score,
So were on the attack.
We slip past defenders
With sure-footed play,
Till only the goalkeeper
Stands in our way. I pass to a teammate
Who shoots it looks wide.
The goalkeeper lunges,
But lucks on our side.
The ball hits a goalpost,
Then goes in the net
Were down only ten,
And may win this game yet. I m at the foul line, and I bet
The ball will go right through the net.
Im certain I will sink this shot,
For Ive been practicing a lot. I concentrate, then let it go
I know its goodI know, I know.
It makes an arc, I make a wish,
Then hear the soft, sweet sound of SWISH! I m chasing after porpoises,
Im racing after seals.
I try to catch a walrus
And some underwater eels. I concentrate, then let it go
I know its goodI know, I know.
It makes an arc, I make a wish,
Then hear the soft, sweet sound of SWISH! I m chasing after porpoises,
Im racing after seals.
I try to catch a walrus
And some underwater eels.

Im an orca, Im a marlin,
Im a shark beneath the sea
But when I surface in the pool,
Im back to being me. T hough I like to swim,
I dont swim very well.
I swim like a fish
Thats been sick for a spell.
I flop in the pool,
And I flounder around.
My friends laugh and say
I should stay on the ground. I t takes me forever
To cross the pool once.
When it comes to swimming,
Im clearly a dunce.
But still I enjoy it
And happily think
I dont do so badly
At least I dont sink! I ve got the ball, and now I need
To race downfield with all my speed,
To dodge and duck and slip and twist,
To fool the defense, make them miss. Im almost in the end zone now,
And still untouched I dont know how.
I score a touchdown, and weve won.
I love football. Footballs fun. I just caught a pass
And Im well on my way.
I think I will score
Seven touchdowns today.

Oh no! Ive been tackled
I fumble the ball.
I dont like this game,
Not a bit, not at all. M y friend and I play Frisbee
In the summer in the park.
I flip the Frisbee to her,
It describes a graceful arc. She runs and tries to catch it,
And I watch her miss and fall
We both like playing Frisbee,
Though we arent good at all. I rise in the air
Like a silver balloon.
Im light as a zephyr
En route to the moon.