National Frog Jumping Day
Three Ribbits for National Frog Jumping Day! Ribbit! Ribbit! Ribbit!
As long as toads have been croaking, frogs (and kids) have been jump-jump-jumping, and, every May 13th, in honor of Mark Twain’s first published short story, Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog (better known as The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County or The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County) folks have been celebrating frog jumping day.
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the longest frog jump on record is 1.21 m (3 ft 11.64 in)—compared to the frog jumps recorded at the Calaveras County Frog Jumping Jubilee, a mere hop. The 2019 Calaveras Country winner “The Webbed One” jumped 18 feet 6 inches! Seeing a frog jump that far is surely the stuff of poetry!
It Jumped How Far?
Let’s invoke the spirit of Mark Twain by writing a hyperbolic poem about a long-high-far jumping frog, or a person who jumps like a frog, or a frog-jumping contest—creator’s choice. See how many words for jump you can include in the poem. And don’t forget to add a ribbit or three:
April Pulley Sayer’s book: Being Frog http://www.aprilsayre.com/2020/01/31/being-frog/
Calveras Country Frog Jumping Jubilee: http://lace23.wixsite.com/frogjump/history
*According to the Guiness Book of World’s Record, that 1.21 meter frog jump was achieved by Noa Möller (Sweden) at Palatset in Stockhom, Sweden, on 19 November 2011.
Guiness World Record: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/longest-frog-jump
Longest Frog Jump: https://www.livescience.com/40480-biggest-frog-jumps-calaveras.html
“In 1865, Mark Twain published his first short story, Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog. Later, he changed the name and published it as The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. This same story also had a third title, The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.
“Mark Twain’s story about a pet frog named Dan’l Webster and a casual competition between two men betting on whose frog jumps higher, is the origin of National Frog Jumping Day. The annual Frog Jumping Contest, which began in 1849 in Calaveras County, California, is also an origin of this holiday.
Use #FrogJumpingDay to post on social media.
National Frog Jumping Day: https://nationaldaycalendar.com/days-2/national-frog-jumping-day-may-13/
Set your timer for 7 minutes
Don’t think about it too much; just do it!
Start writing!
Kelly Bennett and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge over 1400 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.