Poetry I

Sylvia Vardell’s The Poetry Friday Anthology (Pomelo Books, 2012), subtitled “Poems for the School Year with Connections to the Common Core,” lists 36 poems each for grades K-5 – a poem for each week of the school year – with teaching strategies and curriculum connections for each selection. For older kids, see The Poetry Friday Anthology for Middle School (Pomelo Books, 2013), which lists weekly poems for grades 6-8.

April is NaPoWriMo - that is, National Poetry Writing Month. Write 30 poems in 30 days (with help from a daily writing prompt).

From the Library of Congress, Poetry 180 has a poem for each day of the school year for high-school-level students. A terrific collection; highly recommended.

See https://www.loc.gov/programs/poetry-and-literature/poet-laureate/poet-laureate-projects/poetry-180/all-poems/.

Garrison Keillor’s Good Poems (Penguin Books, 2003) is an anthology of the daily poems from NPR’s popular Writer’s Almanac.

Bobbi Katz’s Pocket Poems (Puffin, 2013) is a charmingly illustrated collection of 50 short appealing poems by a wide range of authors, just right for tucking in a pocket. For ages 4-7.

From the Academy of American Poets, Poem in Your Pocket (Abrams Image, 2009) is a collection of 200 poems just for pockets: choose a favorite and tear it out of the book. (You’re supposed to – the pages are perforated - though for some of us, it’s still a wrench.)

In the same format, see Poem in Your Pocket for Young Poets (Amulet Books, 2011) for ages 10 (or so) and up.

Read-Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 1986) is a collection of 200 catchy poems chosen by Jack Prelutsky and illustrated by Marc Brown. Poets include Ogden Nash, Myra Cohn Livingston, Robert Louis Stevenson, A.A. Milne, and many more. For ages 3-7.

By Maud and Miska Petersham, The Rooster Crows: A Book of American Rhymes and Jingles (Aladdin, 1987) is an illustrated collection of classical playtime rhymes, among them “Baby Bunting,” “The Bear Went Over the Mountain,” “Mary Had a Little Lamb,”  and the immortal “I asked my mother for fifty cents/To see the elephant jump the fence.” For ages 3-7.

Compiled by J. Patrick Lewis, National Geographic’s award-winning Book of Animal Poetry (National Geographic Children’s Books, 2012) is a collection of 200 animal poems on everything from elephants to centipedes, paired with spectacular color photographs. For ages 4 and up.

John Ciardi’s You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You (HarperCollins, 1987), with irresistible illustrations by Edward Gorey, is a collection of 35 poems, some to be read by adults to kids, and some to be read by kids to adults. My favorite: “Mummy Slept Late and Daddy Fixed Breakfast.” (“Daddy fixed the breakfast/He made us each a waffle./It looked like gravel pudding./It tasted something awful.”) For ages 4-8.

Compiled by Jack Prelutsky and illustrated by Arnold Lobel, The Random House Book of Poetry for Children (Random House, 1983) was worn to rags in our house, which explains why we have two copies. The 572 poems are grouped into categories, among them Four Seasons; City, Oh, City!; Children, Children, Everywhere; Nonsense, Nonsense; and Alphabet Stew. For ages 4-11.

Edited by Elise Paschen and Dominique Raccah, Poetry Speaks to Children (Sourcebooks Mediafusion, 2005) is a 112-page illustrated poetry collection with an accompanying CD of poets reading their work. It’s a wonderful and wide-ranging assortment, featuring such poets as Rita Dove, Maxine Kumin, Emily Dickinson, Lewis Carroll, Nikki Giovanni, Alfred Noyes – with “Daddy Fell Into the Pond” – and many more. For ages 7 and up.

Look up books by Lee Bennett Hopkins and you’ll find a wide and wonderful range of themed poetry compilations on everything from science and math to weather, words, inventions, and holidays. Among the many titles are Weather: Poems for All Seasons (HarperCollins, 1995), My America: A Poetry Atlas of the United States (Simon & Schuster, 2000), Wonderful Words: Poems About Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening (Simon & Schuster, 2004), Incredible Inventions (Greenwillow Books, 2009), and Nasty Bugs (Dial, 2012).

From Sterling Publishing, the Poetry for Young People series consists of 48-page illustrated collections of the works (generally 25-30 poems) of well-known poets, plus biographical information.  Among the featured poets are Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Carl Sandburg, Maya Angelou, Rudyard Kipling, and Edna St. Vincent Millay. For ages 8 and up.

Compiled by Michael Harrison and Christopher Stuart-Clark, One Hundred Years of Poetry for Children (Oxford University Press, 2007) is an outstanding collection of works by over 100 different poets, categorized under Mystery, Animals, Childhood, People, Scenes, War, and Love. For ages 10 and up.

Compiled by Stephen Dunning, Edward Lueders, and Hugh Smith, Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle (HarperTeen, 1967) is a superb, wide-ranging, and unusual collection of 300 modern poems illustrated with dramatic black-and-white photographs. One of our favorites. For ages 10 and up.

Talking to the Sun, edited by Kenneth Koch and Kate Farrell (Henry Holt, 1985) is a wonderful collection of poems, illustrated with artworks from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. For all ages.

Poetry 180, edited by Billy Collins (Random House, 2003) is an anthology of contemporary poets inspired by Collins’s poem-a-day program with the Library of Congress. Also see 180 More (2005). For ages 13 and up.  

Edited by Hayden Carruth, The Voice That is Great Within Us (Bantam, 1983) is a highly recommended collection of 20^th-century American poetry. Popular for college-level poetry courses. For teens and adults. 

Edited by Donald Hall, The Oxford Illustrated Book of American Children’s Poems (Oxford University Press, 1999) is a gorgeous volume of illustrated poems arranged in chronological order. The book begins with American Indian chants and lullabies, the early 18^th-century “Alphabet” from the New England Primer (“In Adam’s fall/We sinned all”), and Clement Clarke Moore’s 19^th-century “Visit from St. Nicholas” and continues with works by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emily Dickinson, Gelett Burgess, Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, and many more. A delight for all ages.

By John Lithgow, The Poets’ Corner (Grand Central Publishing, 2007) – subtitled “The One-and-Only Poetry Book for the Whole Family” – is a delight and I’m ashamed to say I almost didn’t pick it up. Lithgow begins the book with an essay on his own experiences with poetry; then embarks on the poems, in alphabetical order by poet, from Matthew Arnold to William Butler Yeats. For each, there’s background information on the life and times of the poet, a list of his/her best-known poems, and the featured poem with follow-up commentary.  It’s superb. For all ages.

A.A. Milne’s When We Were Very Young (Dutton Juvenile, 2009), originally published in 1924, includes such favorites as “Disobedience,” the story of James James Morrison Morrison Weatherby George Dupree and his sadly straying mother, and “The King’s Breakfast,” in which the king simply wants a little butter for his bread. Follow this one up with Now We Are Six (Dutton Juvenile, 2008). For ages 3 and up.

Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses (available in many editions), first published in 1885, includes such time-honored favorites as “Bed in Summer,” “Windy Nights,” “The Land of Counterpane,” and “The Unseen Playmate.” Particularly beautiful versions are those illustrated by Brian Wildsmith (Star Bright, 2008) and Barbara McClintock (HarperCollins, 2011). For ages 4-8.

From Dover Publications, A Child’s Garden of Verses Coloring Book has a selection of Stevenson’s poems with accompanying blackline ready-to-color illustrations by Nancy Haase Tafuri.

By Anna Grossnickle Hines, Pieces: A Year in Poems and Quilts (Greenwillow Books, 2003) is a collection of seasonal poems illustrated with quilt blocks. For ages 4 and up.

Nancy Willard’s Newbery-winner, A Visit to William Blake’s Inn (Sandpiper, 1982), with beautiful illustrations by Alice and Martin Provensen, is a creative collection of poems based on Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. Titles include “A Rabbit Reveals My Room,” “The Sun and Moon Circus Soothes the Wakeful Guests,” “The Man in the Marmalade Hat Arrives,” and “The Tiger Asks Blake for a Bedtime Story.” Not to be missed. For all ages.

Ogden Nash’s The Tale of Custard the Dragon (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 1998) is a picture-book version of the rollicking rhyming tale of Belinda and Custard, her “realio, trulio little pet dragon” – and a total coward until the fatal day when Belinda is attacked by a pirate. For ages 4-8.

The Best of Ogden Nash (Ivan R. Dee, 2007) is the definitive Nash anthology, 548 poems by America’s “poet laureate of light verse.” For all ages.

Compiled by Paul Janeczko, Dirty Laundry Pile (HarperCollins, 2001) is an imagination-expanding collection of “poems in different voices,” with lovely watercolor illustrations by Melissa Sweet. Among the voices are those of a shell, a scarecrow, a snowflake, a turtle, and even – yes – a pile of dirty laundry. For ages 4 and up.

Mary O’Neill’s Hailstones and Halibut Bones (Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 1990), originally published in 1961, is an illustrated collection of twelve poems about colors, each introduced with “What Is…?” “What Is Black?,” for example, begins “Black is the night/When there isn’t a star…” Not only a lovely read, but a great start for writing color poems of your own. For ages 4-9.

Shel Silverstein’s cleverly subversive collections of verse include A Giraffe and a Half (HarperCollins, 1964), Where the Sidewalk Ends (HarperCollins, 1974), A Light in the Attic (HarperCollins, 1981), and Falling Up (HarperCollins, 1996). For ages 5 and up.

J. Patrick Lewis’s World Rat Day (Candlewick, 2013) is a poetic celebration of such real-but-neglected holidays as Dragon Appreciation Day, World Turtle Day, and International Cephalopod Awareness Day. For ages 5-8.

Marilyn Singer’s Mirror Mirror (Dutton Juvenile, 2010) and sequel Follow Follow (Dial, 2013) are fascinating collections of palindromic poems – “reversos” - that put a whole new spin on familiar fairy tales. The poems are paired side by side on a page – first read forward, then backward – and there lies all the difference: the story of Hansel and Gretel, for example, read forward, is narrated by the witch, urging Hansel to fatten up; read backwards, it’s a caution to do just the opposite. Included are instructions for writing reversos of your own. A cool project for ages 7 and up.

By Jane Yolen and Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Grumbles from the Forest (Wordsong, 2013) is an illustrated collection of fifteen classic fairy tales told with a twist, through paired poems. Beauty daydreams before her marriage (“I can’t get past/ his fangs, his roar”) and then writes nostalgically on a distant anniversary (“Beast and I/putter in the garden…I have no regrets/None.”). Cinderella complains about the glass slipper (“I could have put on/moccasins”) and the stepsisters complain of her move to the palace; the Princess and the Pea both present their points of view. Kids will want to invent their own fairy-tale character poems. For ages 7 and up.

Neil Gaiman’s Instructions (HarperCollins, 2010), the picture-book version of a poem that first appeared in A Wolf at the Door and Other Retold Fairy Tales (Aladdin, 2001), are magical step-by-step directions for navigating a fairy-tale landscape. (“Trust the wolves, but do not tell them where you are going.”) All ages.

Valerie Worth’s All the Small Poems and Fourteen More (Square Fish, 1996) is a collection of over 100 “small poems” celebrating the wonders of the everyday. The table of contents alone might serve as poem starters for potential poetry writers: Worth’s (lower-case) titles include “cow,” “duck,” “door,” “daisies,” “crickets,” “acorn,” “flamingo,” “haunted house,” “soap bubble,” and “lions.” All ages.

T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats (Harcourt Children’s Books), originally published in 1939, is a collection of the wonderful poems that inspired Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Cats. Poems include such favorites as “The Naming of Cats,” “Mr. Mistoffelees,” and “Macavity: The Mystery Cat.” For all ages.

Paul Fleischman’s Newbery winner Joyful Noise (HarperCollins, 2004) is a collection of fourteen  terrific poems about insects – everything from the firefly to the cricket, book louse, mayfly, and honeybee – all designed to be read in two alternating voices. For ages 8 and up.

Also by Fleischman, see I Am the Phoenix (HarperCollins, 1989), fifteen poems for two voices, all about birds.

More voices! Paul Fleischman’s Big Talk: Poems for Four Voices (Candlewick, 2008) is a collaborative poetry experience in which each reader chooses a color (green, yellow, orange, or purple) and then reads the appropriate color-coded lines of the poem. For ages 9-13.

In Don Marquis’s archy and mehitabel (Anchor, 1987), originally published in 1927, archy is a highly literate cockroach who types by leaping on the typewriter keys (he can’t use the Shift key; hence no capital letters) and his friend mehitabel, an alley cat, who claims in a past life to have been Cleopatra. archy’s reflections on life, all in free verse, are now an American classic. For ages 13 and up.

David Morice’s Poetry Comics (Teachers & Writers Books, 2002) is an irreverent and hilarious collection of classic poems, unconventionally illustrated. Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 (“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”), for example, is recited by monsters; both Walt Whitman and Edgar Allan Poe’s Raven are depicted as superheroes; and “I think that I shall never see/A poem lovely as a tree” – when spoken by a tree – becomes a tree-style pick-up ploy. Included are instructions for making your own poetry comics. For teenagers and adults.

Joan Bransfield Graham’s brightly illustrated Flicker Flash (Sandpiper, 2003) is a collection of 23 concrete poems about many aspects of light, from birthday candles to fireflies, moonlight, light bulbs, and lightning. For ages 4-9.

Also by Graham, Splish Splash (Sandpiper, 2001) is a collection of concrete poems about water, from rain, hail, and dew to waterfalls, popsicles, steam, and crocodile tears. For ages 4-9.

J. Patrick Lewis’s Doodle Dandies (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2002) is a delightful collection of concrete poems, using a creative mix of word shapes and photographs. Subjects include skyscrapers, giraffes, dachshunds, and baseball. For ages 5-10.

Chris Harris’s I’m Just No Good at Rhyming (Little, Brown, 2017), with great illustrations by Lane Smith, is a wickedly funny collection that will win over even determined poetry-haters. For ages 7-11.

Karen Jo Shapiro’s Because I Could Not Stop My Bike and Other Poems (Charlesbridge, 2005) is a collection of hilarious poems that are take-offs on famous works by Shakespeare, Tennyson, Dickinson, and others. (Pair with the originals.) For ages 7-11.

By John Grandits, Technically It’s Not My Fault (Sandpiper, 2004) is a terrific collection of concrete poems, supposedly written by a snarky eleven-year-old named Robert. Titles include “Skateboard,” “My Sister Is Crazy,” “Bloodcurdling Screams,” and “It’s Not Fair,” which last involves forbidden fireworks.

Also by Grandits, Blue Lipstick (Sandpiper, 2007) is a collection of concrete poems supposedly written by a fifteen-year-old girl, Jessie. Titles include “Bad Hair Day.” “Talking to My Stupid Younger Brother Is Like Swimming Upstream in a River to Nowhere,” “Zombie Jocks,” and “Pocket Poem.”

Paul B. Janeczko’s A Poke in the I (Candlewick, 2005) is a wonderful collection of 30 concrete poems – that is, poems that have two-dimensional shapes, or in which the arrangement of words and letters contributes to the meaning of the poem – by some extraordinary visual poets, among them John Hollander and Douglas Florian. For all ages.

Maurice Sendak’s Pierre: A Cautionary Tale in Five Chapters and a Prologue (HarperCollins, 1991) is the rhyming tale of the obnoxious Pierre, who simply doesn’t care – until he’s gobbled up (not permanently) by a hungry lion and learns a useful lesson. For ages 4-8.

Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes (Puffin, 2009) are wickedly clever and hilariously funny poetic spins on traditional fairy tales, with  - the perfect accompaniment – illustrations by Quentin Blake. Dahl’s “Cinderella,” for example, begins: “I guess you think you know this story./You don’t. The real one’s much more gory./The phony one, the one you know/Was cooked up years and years ago/And made to sound all soft and sappy/Just to keep the children happy.” Mayhem, murder, and mockery for ages 6-9. Also by Dahl, see Dirty Beasts (Puffin, 2002).

Hilaire Belloc’s Cautionary Tales for Children (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2002) – this edition with illustrations by Edward Gorey – are tongue-in-cheek rhymes about children who misbehave and come to disproportionately dreadful ends, such as “Jim, Who ran away from his Nurse and was eaten by a Lion” and “Rebecca, Who slammed Doors for Fun and Perished Miserably.” A sure bet for fans of Roald Dahl. For all ages.

Edward Gorey’s The Gashlycrumb Tinies (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1997) is a rhyming alphabet book from the dark side, documenting the demise of a raft of Victorian children, beginning with Amy (who fell down the stairs) and Basil (assaulted by bears.)

See the complete illustrated Gashlycrumb Tinies online at https://www.themarginalian.org/index.php/2011/01/19/edward-gorey-the-gashlycrumb-tinies/.

Sara Holbrook’s Wham! It’s a Poetry Jam (Boyds Mills Press, 2002) is a nicely designed guide to performance poetry, with lots of exercises, suggestions, and 30 practice poems. Fun for ages 7-12.

Mary Ann Hoberman’s Forget Me Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2012) is a collection of over 120 poems particularly suited to learning by heart - by 57 different poets, among them Robert Louis Stevenson, Carl Sandburg, Edward Lear, Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, and Christina Rossetti. For ages 7-10.

Performance poems? Paul Janeczko’s 64-page A Foot in the Mouth: Poems to Speak, Sing, and Shout (Candlewick, 2009) is an illustrated collection of great read-aloud poems, including poems for two, three, and many voices, list poems, bilingual poems, and tongue-twisters. Among these are Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky,” the witches’ chant from Macbeth, and Walt Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing.” For ages 8 and up.

Caroline Kennedy’s Poems to Learn by Heart (Disney-Hyperion, 2013), illustrated with paintings by Jon Muth, is a diverse collection from a wide range of poets. For ages 9 and up.

Compiled by Patrice Vecchione, Whisper and Shout (Cricket Books/Marcato, 2002) is a collection of over 50 poems for kids to memorize, among them Frost’s “The Road Not Taken,” Lewis Carroll’s “Beautiful Soup,” Gelett Burgess’s “The Purple Cow,” and Carl Sandburg’s “Fog.” For ages 9 and up.

Edited by John Hollander, Committed to Memory (Turtle Point Press, 2000) is an elegant collection of the “100 Best Poems to Memorize.” It’s a challenging collection, divided among “Sonnets,” “Songs,” “Counsels,” “Tales,” and “Meditations.” Among the to-be-memorized are Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky,” Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan,” Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach,” and Ernest Lawrence Thayer’s “Casey at the Bat,” which takes up three full pages. For teenagers and adults.