Wow! thanks for all the wonderful responses...now which of them fits the rhythm? tap...tap...tap.
Labels


Mum banned crayons from the house
after the Artistic One had drawn
an elephant on the tablecloth.

The Practical One took a pencil and ruler, 
mapped out the Stars and Stripes
on butcher’s paper.

She labelled where each segment
should be blue or red in pencil
and showed it to Dad.

The next day the Artistic One
drew his sister’s portrait
her blue ribbons framing her rosy cheeks
on the back cover of Aunt Jemima.

For your American version you might want to consider changing Mum to Mom as the American way is mom.  Also my thoughts are that Aunt Jemima doesn't work.  Personally I prefer that you use mommy's favorite cookbook, Betty Crocker, or Better Homes and Gardens.  The reason I say this is I think that the Artistic One drawing his rosy cheeked sister on the cookbook as some kind of defacement doesn't work for me because...well how can I explain.  Okay I will just say it.  I think that Aunt Jemima is a potentially racist image and at the very least a stereotypical image of a black woman.  I don't think using Aunt Jemima is portraying your poem as intended...instead it is adding a different element to it.  Also, Aunt Jemima was known for pancakes and syrup...something about it comes across as a mockery of Aunt Jemima herself instead of a defacement of mom's prized cookbook.  Those are just some of my thoughts from the perspective of some of my labels which include being a white woman who teaches economically disadvantaged minorities and as a person who is not prejudiced...blah blah

One more thing...in America an elephant is a symbol for a political party, which could cause confusion for some readers because then the practical one goes on to draw the stars and stripes.  Sorry, I am just trying to help you make your American version a true American version because I like your poem.

Sue, I agree that"her rosy cheeks/on the back cover of Aunt Jemima" adds another aspect to the poem, but I think that's a good thing, especially in "Labels," and I think it's better to remember rather than delete the racist stereotypes from accounts of our past (and present). To me, the issue is whether the back cover of the cookbook  works as well as another back cover for what you're describing. - Tom

Casey and Tom wow! Thanks again.  I should have caught that Mom reference...it always niggles me when I see it because Mum is so natural to me...some area's of England have Mam instead...which is just as strange to my ear...

Aunt Jemima is more fraught...I chose her because it matched the rhythm and I thought I was being inclusive...but if so I should have changed the rosy-cheeked sister so it could be imagined that she might have been the same colour as the reader.  How does it feel now excluding Aunt Jemima from the whole poem because of these difficulties?  

Better Homes and Gardens is a non starter, it's too long and probably too middle class for my purposes.  Betty Crocker might be safer but I want to stick with Aunt Jemima.  Mostly for the reasons Tom mentions and because I don't want to take the easy way out.  Here's the version we're talking about...I'll amend the top of the thread.

Latest version

Labels

Mom banned crayons from the house
after the Artistic One had drawn
a firetruck on the tablecloth.

The Practical One took a pencil and ruler,  
mapped out the Stars and Stripes
on butcher’s paper.

She labelled where each segment
should be blue or red in pencil
and showed it to Dad.

The next day the Artistic One
drew his sister’s portrait
her blue ribbons framing her dark brown eyes
on the fly leaf of Aunt Jemima.

I like it and I like how you had the Artistic One draw a firetruck further increasing the label status by emphasizing that the Artistic One is a boy.

to picks. Tom

Thanks Tom.  Very much appreiciated.