The Dirigible Balloon
Poetry for Children

Tiptoe Tina, Ballerina

Tiptoe Tina, ballerina’s show is sure to stun.
She’s got her stretchy leotard and tightly twisted bun.
Her tutu flounces with each bounce as Tiptoe Tina twirls.
Yes, Tiptoe Tina is the ballerin-iest of girls.

But, wait!
Tiptoe Tina’s
slippers
are
MISSING!

Tiptoe Tina, ballerina searches high and low.
With dainty femininity, she tosses pins and bows.
Her sandals, mocs, high heels, and Crocs all rain down gracefully,
But Tiptoe Tina’s out of luck. Where CAN her slippers be?

Oh no!Not only
are her slippers missing, BUT the
only dance shoes she can find are her taps!

Tiptoe Tina, bends her knees for one pristine plié,
But clatters like a falling pan with each petit jeté.
Her arabesques are quite grotesque, her heel upon the ground,
And when she tries to pirouette, the racket is profound.

Hold on…was Tiptoe Tina’s shoe snafu actually what the audience wanted all along?

TAPtoe Tina, tapping queen-a, crashes, clomps, and clangs.
This former ballerina’s prima at this tap shebang.
With feisty pluck she runs amok and raises such a din,
Her audience can’t look away, and she calls that a win!

About the Writer


Jacinta Patterson

Jacinta is a wife, mother, teacher, lifelong learner, and picture book writer. The eldest of six children, she grew up in a loud, loving home in south Jersey. She now lives in Massachusetts in the land of Little Women and Walden Pond. First-generation Egyptian-American on one side and Philadelphia Irish-Catholic on the other, she believes in the beauty of the melting pot.