I am the Flotz, I gobble dotz,

indeed, I gobble lots and lots,

every dot I ever see

is bound to be a bite for me.

I often munch on myriads

of sweet, abundant periods,

I nibble hyphens, and with ease

chew succulent apostrophes.

 

From time to time, I turn my gaze

to little dotted "i's" and "j's,"

and if I chance upon a dash,

I soon dispatch it with panache.

I chomp on commas half the day,

quotation marks are rarer prey,

a semicolon's quite a treat,

while polka dots are joys to eat.

 

When I confront a dotted line,

my tongue flicks out, those dots are mine,

Morse code becomes a feast, and yes,

I've snacked upon an S.O.S.

For I'm the Flotz, who gobbles dots,

I gobble them in pails and pots,

and you'll not like my brief embrace

if you have freckles on your face.

 

Prelutsky, Jack.  1998.  Imagine that!  Poems of never-was. Illus. by Kevin Hawkes.  New York:  Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.  ISBN 067998206X.

 

 

Read this poem before a lesson on punctuation.  Have fun with it and be enthusiastic.  Cut the punctuation lesson a few minutes short and let the kids draw their own "Flotz," speculating on what it might look like.  An alternative would be to allow the kids to create their own beast - a very strange beast who eats something surprising and non traditional.  For example, a beast who only eats a certain color or a beast who eats numbers only.