The Dirigible Balloon
Poetry for Children

Word Play

Listen to Val ...
A lazy cat
lay on a mat
and closed its lazy eyes.

A crazy bat
flew at the cat
and shouted out: ‘surprise!

Get off the mat
you lazy cat,

the crazy bat cried out.

The lazy cat
stared at the bat
and said: ‘no need to shout.

Cats like to nap,
bats like to flap,
but the two don’t go together,

come rain or shine,
come snow or fine,
not in any kind of weather.


The crazy bat
said: ‘fancy that,
and doubled up with laughter.

It said: ‘goodbye,’
then flew up high
and hung out on a rafter.

About the Writer


Val Harris

Val lives near Farnham with a horse and husband and several grandchildren living nearby, who like to mark her poems out of ten. She used to write for adults, but decided she much preferred writing poetry for children, after her debut poem was published online with The Dirigible Balloon in 2021. Since then, several others have appeared on various balloon flights, and she has had poems published in The Caterpillar Magazine, Paperbound Magazine, The Toy Press and Little Thoughts Press. You can find her as Val Poet on Instagram and @dragontripper Val Poet on Twitter.