The third little ditty in my "Wyatt Wonders...?" series of children's books.


Why Don’t Kids Have Tails?
Rob Wood


My parents told me that all kids are mammals…
in one big family with tigers and camels.

Mom says I’m related to possums and skunks…
and seals and lemurs and little chipmunks.

Beavers, hippos, gorillas and rabbits…
They are all mammals with different habits.

Elephants, weasels and even the shrew…
Aardvarks and manatees are all mammals too!

Horses and rhinos and seals are our cousins.
The list of mammals must be dozens and dozens.


Mom says that mammals have traits that we share…
One of which is… that we all can grow hair.

Some swim in water, some live in trees,
Some live in burrows, some fly like the breeze.

Some walk on four legs like deer and raccoons.
Some walk on two legs like me and Baboons.

My dad says mammals are born and not hatched.
That’s one of the many ways mammals are matched.

All mammal mommies make milk for their young…
and all mammals eat… with teeth and a tongue.

Mom says all mammals are born with a heart…
and it pumps warm blood and mammals are smart.

“Dolphins are not fish” were my daddy’s words.
He then told me that… “And bats are not birds.”

Some mammals are wild and some live on farms.
Some sleep in the jungle and some sleep in barns.

I have so many questions as I lie in my bed…
with all of these animals stuck in my head.

If I’m really related to all of these creatures…
then why don’t we all… have the same features?

If I’m in a family with dogs, cats and whales…
then why in the world don’t all kids have tails?