Poetry Monday: “Jake the Snake”

January 9, 2012 44 Comments by Renee M. LaTulippe

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About today’s poem:
“Jake the Snake” appears in the early reader What Am I? For this poem, I had to work with a word list featuring long vowel sounds and words with vowel-consonant-e constructions, like snake and glide. Sometimes these things just write themselves. Enjoy (and check out the illustration below)!

Jake the Snake

slip
slide
twist and
glide

I am Jake the Snake.

I can hide in the shade of a rose,
pile up with my pals and pretend to be a hose,
smell a smell and not even use my nose…
can you?

I can scrape my side on a hot broken rock,
shed my skin like a slung-off sock,
make kids gasp and stare in shock…
can you?

hiss
shift
slink and
swish

I am Jake the Snake.

I can bend my spine into lots of shapes,
gulp an egg or a bunch of grapes,
chase an insect up the drapes…
can you?

I can make my home in holes and caves,
slink and slide and swell like waves,
scare a brave man while he shaves…
can you?

I am silent, swift, and wise,
my stripes are white and just my size,
my fangs protect me in the grass,
my scales shine in the sun like glass.
I am a snake, I will not hide –
not myself and not my pride!

slip
slide
twist and
glide

I am Jake the Snake.

Ssssssssssssssssss!

Jake the Snake ~ Illustration by Dave LaTulippe

Yes, I embroidered the snake

Snake Activities for “Jake the Snake”

Kidzone has all sorts of snake learning activities, printables, and worksheets.
Danielle’s Place has a plethora of adorable snake crafts for all age groups.

Video Location
Scarlino, Italy. In a pine wood by the sea.

See more poems in my poetry video library.

“Jake the Snake” by Renée LaTulippe. Illustration by Dave LaTulippe. Licensed by All About Learning Press, Inc. Copyright © 2010, 2011 All About Learning Press, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No portion of this material may be copied, retransmitted, reposted, duplicated, or otherwise used without the express written approval of All About Learning Press, Inc.

43 Comments

David
131 days ago

Any great one. Not being a fan of snakes I was a little creeped out by some of the imagery. There have been quite a few times that I have thought the hose was a snake and now knowing that Jake enjoys disguising himself as one is disturbing! Do you have snakes where you live?

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- David
  131 days ago
  
  I meant ANOTHER great one. It’s early and no coffee yet!
  
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  - Renee LaTulippe
    131 days ago
    
    Nope, haven’t seen any snakes around here. Lots of cute little lizards, though! I didn’t mean to make you afraid of your hose.
    
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Louise
131 days ago

I loved your poem! It’s great! I love the word sounds you have chosen and the meter. Even the structure slithers down the page. Good job.

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- Renee LaTulippe
  131 days ago
  
  Thanks for stopping by, Louise! Nice to meet a fellow verse writer!
  
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Susanna Leonard Hill
131 days ago

Ditto Louise’s comments! Love the poem and the activities and the video! My favorite line? “shed my skin like a slung-off sock” – so visually evocative and fun

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Joanna Marple
130 days ago

Great imagery and lots of fun. Love Jake the Snake, Renée!

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Natalie
130 days ago

Lovely,lovely,lovely, of course! And embroidery too?? Wow!! Now I am really impressed!

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Renee LaTulippe
130 days ago

@Susanna – Thanks – that’s my fave line too!

@Joanna – Thanks for stopping by again!

@Natalie – Yes, my meager attempts at teaching myself to embroider. I’ve got a sheep going too — only 5000 more French knots to go!

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Alison Hertz
130 days ago

Renee – I love the repetition of both the “twist, glide” line and the “can you?” line. Lots of fun. I can picture 3 year olds slithering around in their preschool while getting read this poem by their teacher.

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- Renee LaTulippe
  130 days ago
  
  Oh, thanks for saying so, Alison! I’ll have to test that out when my boys are a little older and actually understand the concept of “snake.”
  
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Erik This Kid Reviews Books
130 days ago

AWESOME poem! I like the snake illlustration too

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- Renee LaTulippe
  130 days ago
  
  Hehe, thanks, Erik! It’s great to get a kid’s perspective on things — and I’ll tell my brother you liked his illustration.
  
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Barb
130 days ago

I LOVE that poem! I’m going to read it to my Grade 1s tomorrow.

❀Barbara❀
Grade ONEderful

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- Renee M. LaTulippe
  130 days ago
  
  Oh, thank you, Barbara! I would love to know how they respond to it — I hope they don’t start slithering all over the classroom!
  
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Jill Bergman
130 days ago

It’s so nice to meet you Renee- I’m glad you stopped by my blog!
The ssssounds in your sssnake poem are wonderful! Jake is also very handsome in both his incarnations.

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- Renee M. LaTulippe
  130 days ago
  
  Thanks for coming over, Jill! Yes, Jake is a little vain, but we love him anyway.
  
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patientdreamer
130 days ago

Oh this was so good. Don’t like snakes but I did enjoy listening and watching you read the poem, it is a great trademark of your blog, makes a nice change. Great fun, great image Renee.

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- Renee LaTulippe
  130 days ago
  
  Hey Diane, thanks a lot for all your kind words. Wasn’t sure about the videos when I started, but I’m having fun with them and hope eventually some kiddies will find their way to them, too!
  
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Russ Cox
130 days ago

I really enjoyed your “Jake the Snake” poem and how you captured what a snake might be thinking.

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- Renee LaTulippe
  130 days ago
  
  Hey, thanks for stopping by Russ — glad you liked Jake. And I just popped over to your blog and LOVE what you’re doing! Beautiful illustration, and your profile is hysterical!
  
  Everyone, go see what Russ is doing at Smiling Otis Studio!
  
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Carol A. Bender
129 days ago

Wow, I love it all.

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- Renee LaTulippe
  129 days ago
  
  Well, thank you, Carol! Stopped by your blog today, too.
  
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Juana Martinez-Neal
128 days ago

I looooove the poem Renee! Thanks for inviting me over

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Janette Fuller
128 days ago

I love Jake the Snake! I am so glad you made the video. This is a wonderful resource for parents/teachers/librarians to share with children. Children love poetry and rhyming words ~ and they are fascinated with snakes. Perfect!

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- Renee LaTulippe
  128 days ago
  
  Thanks for stopping by, Juana and Janette!
  
  Janette, I’m so glad you said so – I’m making the videos just for those people – kids, parents, librarians – and do hope that kids will eventually come by to hear some verse.
  
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Tara
127 days ago

What fun! I loved the poem…and the embroidery! Jake looks like he’s up to something.

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jeannine Atkins
126 days ago

I, too, enjoyed Jake the Snake — and like the name of your blog! Welcome to Poetry Friday!

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Renee LaTulippe
126 days ago

@ Tara – Heh, he is up to something indeed! Glad you liked my novice attempt at embroidery.

@ Jeannine – Thanks for the welcome – looking forward to more great Fridays with your group!

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Ed DeCaria
126 days ago

Hi Renee. I enjoyed your poem, both written and your “performance”. I admit sometimes I am turned off by live readings of children’s poems because I’ve come to hear/visualize them a certain way in my mind and then the author’s performance — no matter if that’s the way he/she intended! — is so different than my own. (Yours was quite close.)

At some point, I will try to embed some audio/video recordings (Camtasia+Vimeo?) onto my site as well.

Thanks!

-Ed

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- Renee LaTulippe
  125 days ago
  
  Hi Ed – Thanks for the thoughtful comment. I know what you mean about live readings, especially if the reader isn’t so good at it, haha. Poetry is subjective and we all have our own rhythms in our heads, and that’s why I include both the text and a reading — we’ve got options here at No Water River! On the other hand, poetry is meant to be heard, and this site is also for parents and teachers, many of whom are uncomfortable with reading poetry aloud; the videos are here to help those folks along by providing a ready-made reading that hopefully shows that it’s really not so hard. That’s why I also try to stick to a fairly low-key reading and not a full-blown performance — the videos need to be accessible to everyone. I’ll be writing a post about this soon.
  
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  - Ed DeCaria
    125 days ago
    
    I completely agree with your point about many people feeling uncomfortable reading poetry. Obviously it helps if the poems have proper (and identifiable) meter and rhyme to begin with, but even then it can be intimidating for people who are afraid of “reading it wrong.” I think that I will try a recording or two and post them at some point on my site in the next month. If you catch them, please let me know what you think. -Ed
    
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Linda Baie
126 days ago

I love all that action that snakes do; the poem captures it precisely-lots of S’s too, slithering and sliding and shining and shedding. No wonder they hiss! I also love the embroidery, must have been inspiring to create Jake this way, too!

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Katya
126 days ago

I think I may have spied Jake pretending to be a hose in my garden this summer.

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Julie Hedlund
126 days ago

What a fun poem – and a beautiful setting in your video. My goodness!

Thank you for sharing Jake with us!

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Mary Jo Guglielmo
126 days ago

Looks like a fun read for kids and parents.

Have you ever tried on of those over-sized books that are too big for one person to hold when reading to two boys? Good luck on snuggle time.

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Renee LaTulippe
125 days ago

@Linda – yes, it was fun to embroider Jake! I’ve done a few of the characters from my stories in an attempt to make a baby blanket…boys are almost two and that blanket isn’t done yet.

@Katya – I see snakes EVERYWHERE, in every long leaf or dried twig!

@Julie – thanks! The setting is Suvereto, one of my favorite medieval towns. It’s really a jewel!

@Mary Jo – I have one oversized book, but it usually ends up sliding (or being pushed) off my lap and crushing my toes. Sigh.

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Nikki
125 days ago

My son Jake loves this poem…and so do I.
Can’t wait to show him this video of it being read. So far he has only heard me read it to him.

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Robyn Hood Black
125 days ago

Welcome to Poetry Friday, Renee! Glad you slithered in with this delightful poem. I can’t imagine a young reader being able to sit still through it, because he or she would be trying out all of Jake’s moves. ;0)

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Renee LaTulippe
125 days ago

@ Nikki – I’m going to guess Jake prefers his Mama’s reading, but maybe he’ll enjoy seeing his name in lights anyway — after all, he is a child of the theater!

@ Robyn – And glad you slithered in with that fun comment! Thanks for the welcome – Poetry Friday sounds like a fun group.

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Mary Lee
124 days ago

Welcome to Poetry Friday! Jake the Snake is a lot of fun!

I’d love to know more about that pine wood by the sea in Scarlino, Italy!!

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Robyn Campbell
120 days ago

Thank you for sharing Jake with us. He’s awesome. That setting in your video is lovely. I’m glad I stopped in and very thankful that you visited me.

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Irene Latham
23 days ago

I loved meeting Jake the Snake. My fave line might be: “shed my skin like a slung-off sock,”
Love!

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