A Long Winter's Nap - Illustration Caption Contest

I'm getting ready for 2024 and next year's new blog theme of AWE - Authentic Writing Experiences with a writing contest based on a poem I recently created called "A Long Winter's Nap." It was inspired by two real bears. One of them is the subject of my decodable chapter book, Hank the Tank: Animal in the Spotlight. Hank was blamed for the antics of another bear named Henrietta. Read my recent blog post Update on the Real Hank the Tank... Or Is It Henrietta? 

From the image above you can probably guess what the poem is about. Here's an excerpt:

'Twas a night in December, when all through the house

not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

Not the cat, not the dog who slept under the stairs,

not the white-footed ferret, not even the bears.

The poem "A Long Winter's Nap" is a parody of "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" by Clement Clarke Moore. The story is humourous, but it depicts a very real and dangerous situation that occurs when bears seek out warm places to hibernate for the winter and people are not vigilant about protecting their crawl spaces and decks. To get the full poem along with background information and an entry form for my student illustration contest for grades K-12, you may download the FREE PDF HERE. I also have a QR code if you would like to share this resource with others.

Students may illustrate any scene from the poem and write a caption describing their illustration. Teachers may want to use this activity as a fun end-of-year project or revisit it in January when everyone is slogging back to school with visions of winter break still in their heads. The theme is "Winter," NOT "Christmas," so it still applies in January. The contest ends on January 30th. The winner will be notified by February 10 and will receive a free copy of Hank the Tank: Animal in the Spotlight. Contests provide a fun and authentic incentive for students to showcase their writing, even if it is as simple as creating a caption for an illustration. 

If you order Hank the Tank: Animal in the Spotlight from Bookshop.org, proceeds can go to your local independent bookstore. Hank may also be purchased at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

Read about Henrietta's new home at The Wild Animal Refuge, a beautiful 230-acre wooded location near Springfield, Colorado.  It is one of the properties belonging to The Wild Animal Sanctuary. Read about their animal rescue efforts at www.WildAnimalSanctuary.org 

The Bear League, a Wildlife Rescue Service in Homewood, California, serves Lake Taho and the surrounding area. They receive many calls in the winter months from numerous homeowners asking for help to evict their unwanted guests, and this is a problem in other places as well. Learn about the work of The Bear League HERE.

Finally, sign up for my newsletter HERE and receive a free copy of my first decodable book, No Gift for Man. That way you won't miss any of the fun-filled activities I'm creating for A Year of AWE: Authentic Writing Experiences.