Fin Pal to Norman: My Goldfish Died...What Do I Do Now?
Norman T. Goldfish answers letters from readers. Click on the link to read his reply.
Some Finpals write letters, some draw pictures, some e-mail. They always ask good questions, but, like this one from Tametha, they aren’t always easy to answer:
Do you have a pet? Have you ever had a pet that died? What advice do you have for Tametha?
Ready to read Norman’s answer? Scroll down . . .
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Goldfish, like all pets, do require special care. Even still, they do die. That is the sad part of keeping pets.
Sometimes goldfish die because they are old.
Some die because they are sick.
Some time we feed them too much, or too little.
If you add water to their fishbowl that is colder or warmer or not treated to take chemicals out, they can die too.
Sometimes goldfish die for no reason we know..
Before you get another goldfish, or any pet, the best way to be sure you treat it well is to read about how to care for it. Find books about how to care for pets, like goldfish, in the library and on websites. Here’s a How to Care for Goldfish guide from Aquariumkids.org
Do you have a question for Norman the Goldfish—about friends, school, pets, family, life in and outside the fishbowl? Send him a letter!
Poetry Challenge #221-Buckle Up Sherman!
Let’s pretend! Just for today—because, after all, it is December 8th, National Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day. Begun by GEEK USA, participants must “spend the entire day in costume in character. The only rule is that you can not actually tell anyone that you are a time traveler.”
Poetry Challenge #221
Buckle Up Sherman!
Pretend that Doc Brown’s DeLorean or Mr. Peabody’s Time Travel Machine really works, and you can go back-back-back in time as far as you’d like, to any place you’d like. Or, if you’d rather, you can zoom-zoom forward into the future. Where would you go? To when? Why? What would you be wearing? How would you speak?
Write a poem about your travels, but, building on GEEK USA rules, do not tell us exactly where you go and when. Instead, use evocative description & dialogue to show us.
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing!
Don’t Think About it, just do it!
“Danger! Danger, Will Robinson!”….whoops, wrong show. . . “Ready, Marty?”
For inspiration, here are a few time Time Traveler books, something for everyone:
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 2000+ days ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .
Fin Pals ask Norman the Goldfish: How Do You Dance?
Norman T. Goldfish answers letters from readers. Click on the link to read his reply.
In Norman One Amazing Goldfish, Norman’s human enters our fishy friend in Pet-O-Rama but Norman gets stage fright and is too scared to move. (Does that ever happen to you?) Finally, with help from his human, Norman does dance, doesn’t he? And not just any dance, either. Take a look:
Norman flip-flop wiggle-waggle dances like crazy, doesn’t he? How do you think he does it?
Ready to read Norman’s answer? Scroll down . . .
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Wouldn’t this be a great time to read (or reread) NORMAN ONE AMAZING GOLDFISH again? Click on the cover below for ordering info—and a fintastic read aloud!
Do you have a question for Norman the Goldfish—about friends, school, pets, family, life in and outside the fishbowl? Send him a letter!
Poetry Challenge #220-Red Apple Day
No one seems to know how it came about, or why, but today, Dec 1st, 2021, is National Eat a Red Apple Day. Here’s what I do know:
Red vs. Green? Yellow wins! In spite of the prescribed “Apple a day…” apples are only the 2nd most consumed fruit in the U.S. Banana are #1.
Here’s something else: A poem doesn’t taste like an apple, but it can look like an apple, and it can be about an apple, or have apples in it, but it doesn’t have to.
Poetry Challenge #220
Wall and Red Apples
“Something there is that does not love a wall…”
Robert Frost wrote in the poem “Mending Walls”, published in 1914.
What if we changed that line to “Something there is that does not love a red apple”? Use that as the first line of your poem and see where it takes you.
Write a second verse replacing “red apple” with something else.
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing!
Don’t Think About it, just do it!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 2000+ days ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .
Fin Pals ask Norman: How Old Are You?
Norman T. Goldfish answers letters from readers. Click on the link to read his reply.
There are three ways to tell how old a goldfish is:
Color: most goldfish start out brown. Their color changes to gold, orange, black, or other colors when they are older.
Fins: goldfish fins grow longer and more pointed as they age.
Size: Goldfish grow to about 5 inches long in their first 2-3 years. After that they grow about an inch a year. But, if they are in a small fishbowl, they won’t grow as fast.
Now that you know all that, how old do you think Norman is? How old do you think his human is?
Ready to read Norman’s answer? Scroll down . . .
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20 goldfish years? How many is that? Let’s see:
Neeness says “One year in a goldfish’s life is equal to five human years, which means one-fifth of a fish year equals one human year.”
So, if Norman is 20 goldfish year’s old, how old is he in human years? 20 divided by 5 equals 4. Norman is about 4 human years old.
For more about goldfish click over to this article on cuteness.com
Now, Norman has a question for you: Verywellfamily.com says Humans grow about 4 inches a year when they are about 2 to 3 years old. And then, when they are teenagers they grow about 4 inches a year again, for a few years. After that they stop growing taller.
So, how old do you think Norman’s human is?
Do you have a question for Norman the Goldfish—about friends, school, pets, family, life in and outside the fishbowl? Send him a letter!
Poetry Challenge #219 Two Scoops of Gratitude!
Gobble Gobble Gobble! That’s what I’ll be doing tomorrow. Maybe you, too? Or maybe you’ve already enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast and will be going in for seconds…or thirds. Regardless of what you’ll eat, where you’ll go, what you’ll do, or whether you’ll celebrate alone or with other, let’s take a moment to reflect on reasons we have to give thanks. (For if you are reading this, then like me, you do have reasons.)
Spotted this rafter of turkeys strutting around our backyard last week. When I said our local B-Ball team “The Gobblers” was warming up, a friend wrote “you mean ‘pre-heating’!” Gobble-gobble!
Poetry Challenge #219
Two Scoops of Thanks
Write a poem of thanks. For? or To whom? is up to you.
The poem must be at least twelve words long—one word beginning with each letter of the word T-H-A-N-K-S-G-I-V-I-N-G.
Yes, it can be longer.
Yes, you can include words that begin with other letters, too.
Yes it can rhyme. . . No it doesn’t have to.
When you’ve finished, take a moment to polish your poem so you can share it—perhaps later, with pie!
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing!
Don’t Think About it, just do it!
Happy Thanksgiving! I am grateful for your support!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 2000+ days ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .
Fin Pals ask Norman: What Do You Want to Trade?
Norman T. Goldfish answers letters from readers. Click on the link to read his reply.
Say Kids: In the story, NOT NORMAN, the first thing the main character tries to do is trade Norman for a pup.
If you haven’t read the book in a bit, here’s the read-aloud:
But what you might not know is when they first met, Norman wanted to trade his human too? Yep. What do you think our finny friend Norman would want to trade “Curtis” (his human) for?
Ready to read Norman’s answer? Scroll down . . .
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Do you have a question for Norman the Goldfish—about friends, school, pets, family, life in and outside the fishbowl? Send him a letter!
Poetry Challenge #218-Bread & Butter
The smell of Homemade Bread is one of the best smells in the world. Warm bread with butter melted into the nooks and crannies…mmmmmm! Happy National Bread and Butter Day!
If bread and butter doesn’t float your happy boat, it’s also Baklava Day and Hike Day.
Poetry Challenge #218
Gorge Yourself . . . First
This is indeed a day worth celebrating because no matter which of the three Bs you choose —Bread, Butter, or Baklava—you can work it off with the H word—or if anyone says you shouldn’t, tell them to Take a Hike! So, let’s celebrate with a 4-way poem.
Use all of these words (homemade bread, butter, baklava, and hike) in a rhyming poem—either an AABB rhyme scheme or an ABAB rhyme scheme.
Let us feel and see and smell this poem!
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing!
Don’t Think About it, just do it!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 2000+ days ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .