The Song of the Whippoorwill-Part 1

I am trying something a little different with this story. I started writing this story for a children's picture book a while ago and never finished it. So here is The first few pages, I will finish it and post the rest tomorrow. Before you start, this is very sing-songy (which is ok...it's for kids) and yes, I use big words, but I think you should use big words with kids. Let me know what you think! Oh...and in case you didn't know a whippoorwill is a bird I think found in Southern states. I grew up in Missouri and to this day I love and miss the sound of the whippoorwill in the summer, it was a big part of my childhood. If you want to hear it, you can click here!

The Song of the Whippoorwill

On a warm Summer’s eve, when the sun has gone to sleep
When the children go to bed and whisper not a peep
After long games of baseball and hide-and-go seek,
After juicy watermelon and a melting ice cream treat,

The creatures of the forest prepare for a twilight celebration.
The deer and the fox start the nightly jubilation.
The staccato of their hooves and soft whooshing of their tails,
Signal to the wolves to begin their slow and lonesome wails.

The bats join in with their papery-soft flapping
And the beaver’s wide flat tails start the rhythmic tapping
The crickets chirp together, the cicadas harmonize, too
And the wise owl sitting in a tree quietly sings “Who?”

The animals sing excitedly in sweet anticipation
For the shy singing star of the nightly celebration
A bird who sings her own name in a lovely melodic twill
She hides in shadows and sings sweetly one word, “Whippoorwill.”

The little bird flies in shadows and never shows her face
She sings her song nightly at a slow and steady pace.
Though she is timid, she is always heard, but never seen
Admired by all animals; tall, short, wide and lean.

As they all listened quietly and headed off to bed
A young, curious turtle scratched his little head
He asked as he fell asleep “Who is this mysterious bird?
Can she truly exist if she is never seen, but only heard?

Early in the morning, after all the animals woke
The turtle stood in front of them and confidently spoke,
“Every night we all admire the famous Whippoorwill’s song,
But if we never see her, maybe she never existed all along!”

The animals stared as the turtle continued to talk,
“We see the other singers, the owl, and even the hawk,
But if we never know if she has feathers or if she’s furry
How do we know that she isn’t an imaginary story?”

The crowd of animals listened and shook their heads in disbelief
They wondered why this young turtle would bring them so much grief
A fox replied, “Every night we celebrate, we dance and we sing,
We admire the whippoorwill for the song she chooses to bring.”

A deer proudly stated, “We do not need proof that she is near,
Through her song she sings every night we know that she is here.
Who else could sing her name in that beautiful melodic way?”
The animals nodded in agreement and continued with the day.