Thursday, March 20, 2014

The March Madness Writing Contest!



The MarcMadness Writing Contest!


Hosted over at Susanna Hill's blog CLICK HERE

The Contest: Write a children's story, in poetry or prosemaximum 400 words, that is a fractured fairy tale.  Feel free to add a theme of spring, or mix in one of the spring holidays if you like - St. Patrick's Day, April Fools Day, Easter or Passover, Arbor Day, Earth Day...  Have fun with it!  The madder* the better! :)
*as in wild and wacky, not angry :)


Here's my entry:


HANSEL AND GRETEL'S SWEET TOOTH

Hansel and Gretel didn’t stick around after escaping the old witch’s candy cottage.
It was told: They ran back home.
But how did they get home if all their breadcrumbs were eaten?
Here’s what really happened after they ditched the witch…
 
The candy cottage magically called out to them,
“Hey! Get back here and try the jelly beans! They’re the best!”
And they were!
 
By day, they picked and chewed…
And by night they rubbed their swollen tummies.
“We’re gonna need bigger pants!”
 
The cottage kept whispering, “Try the shingles! They’re mouth-watering!”
They ate and ate and ATE!
Until, they were down to one jelly bean.
 
“Let’s grow more,” said Gretel.
They planted the jelly bean, like a seed, in the garden.
 
They waited for one long hour.
“Hello in there? Come on out,” said Gretel, tapping her foot.
Hansel’s tummy gurgled. He dug up the jelly bean and ate it.
Yup- It had dirt on it. He was that hungry.
 
On their walk, they wobbled and rested, wobbled and rested.
 
This went on for hours until finally they found…
… ANOTHER cottage. 
 
It had huge layers of sliced beets, potato trimmings, and a celery stalk chimney. 
It seemed to call out to them, “Try my asparagus! It’s tasty!”
“What’s asparagus?” Gretel asked Hansel.
 
A large burly hand pointed at them. 
It was their old gym teacher.
“Have you been skipping my class?” he said.
“We got lost,” explained Hansel.
 
The gym teacher picked an onion off his cottage.
“Try my onions! They’re the sweetest!”
 “Sweet like candy?” asked Gretel.
“No thanks!” said Hansel.
 
Their teacher made a few veggie concoctions.
He said, “Try this carrot shake!”
“Did you say carrot cake?” asked Gretel, “I’ll have a BIG slice!”
Hansel tried a sip of raw beet juice.
But her taste buds ONLY wanted candy.
 
It took some time to change their minds.  But once they did, there was no stopping their eating.
 
By day, they picked and chewed their veggies…
And by night they rubbed their full tummies.
 “We’re gonna need bigger plants!”
 
With the help from their gym teacher, Hansel and Gretel planted their very own cottage.
But NOT a veggie one….
It had huge layers of sliced strawberries, blueberry trimmings, and a banana top chimney. 
Gretel called out to Hansel, “Try the watermelon! It’s mouth-watering!”
They never ate candy houses again and they lived healthier ever after.


Happy spring everyone!!
And thank you Susanna for hosting this fun contest!
 

44 comments:

  1. What a clever twist on the tale! Great job, Jennifer!

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  2. I love it, Jen! A fractured fairy tale AND a lesson in healthy eating :) I think I would have chosen the fruit cottage :) Thanks so much for joining in the madness :)

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    1. Thank you for hosting! As always, I love your fun contests Susanna :)

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  3. Very fun Jen! Great opening! I love the idea of finding holes in the fairy tales. It's a good point. How DID they get home????

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    1. So glad you enjoyed it Erika! Thank you!

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  4. Love the fruit cottage, Jen! Good luck!

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    1. It was a last minute slip in. Thanks for the help Julie :)

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  5. Fruity you! Now you've got me wanting some juicy melon of my own.

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    1. haha me too! Especially watermelon :) p.s. I loved your wiggly worm one. What a fun read :)

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  6. Looks like Hansel and Gretel finally learned their lesson! Nice job, Jennifer!

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    1. I hope so! Thanks for the kind words Juliana :)

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  7. What a great take on Hansel and Gretel, Jennifer. In my PiBoIdMo notebook from 2012, I have a Hansel and Gretel idea that I almost used for this contest...and it also had the healthy slant on it.
    I love the message...and how you started your story AFTER the witch is gone...very creative...great job!

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    1. You're sweet, thank you Vivian! That's funny about the similar stories.

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  8. This would have great illustrations. "Bigger pants" - I love it.

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    1. Thank you Joanne! I'm happy you liked it :)

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  9. Love it! Very creative idea and twist to the story!

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    1. Hey Patricia! Thanks for stopping by and for the very kind words :)

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  10. This is fun. Great job!

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  11. I am having a good chuckle over this one :)

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    1. Oh nice, I'm glad it came across as funny?! Thanks so much for sharing that with me :)

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  12. I have to day the carrot shake line is my fav.:)

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  13. Love this, Jenny! I can't believe they didn't eat the candy house in the original. Nice way to add yummy candy with veggies.

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    1. Hi Catherine *waves* Thanks for the compliments :)

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  14. Love, love, love that you went for a what happened next scenario - very effective!

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    1. Thank you Joanna. My kids and I loved the pb, HUMPTY DUMPTY CLIMBS AGAIN by Dave Horowitz. So I tried to see if it would work with H & G
      Thanks for all the love :)

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  15. I love how they waddled and rested! Great fracturing jenny!

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    1. Hi Lauri! Thank you! So glad you liked it :)

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  16. Lovely take on H&G! Here's to healthy gardens.

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  17. Loved your beginning paragraph. I wanted to find out what really happened!

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  18. Cute! I can just picture that gym teacher.

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  19. Ha! :) I love the ending! It's great! :)

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    1. HI Erik! Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for stopping by :)

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  20. Yum! Sweet twist on H & G ;)

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  21. I want to crave veggies and bananas and such but all I can think of is CANDY! :-) Cute story!

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    1. Haha, yup, there's no way I'd stop eating candy houses )

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