National Poetry Month (April 2025) - Poetry for Kids

April is National Poetry Month! Celebrate by exploring the vast world of poetry with your kids. From old classics to new favourites, there's something for everyone!

Updated March 19, 2025
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Inheritance : a visual poem
Acevedo, Elizabeth
Paper Book
They tell me to "fix" my hair. And by fix, they mean straighten, they mean whiten; but how do you fix this shipwrecked history of hair? In her most famous spoken-word poem, author of the Pura Belpré-winning novel-in-verse The Poet X Elizabeth Acevedo embraces all the...
Love that dog
Creech, Sharon
Paper Book
The Newbery Medal-winning author of Walk Two Moons, Sharon Creech, brings readers a story with enormous heart.  Love That Dog shows how one boy named Jack finds his voice with the help of a teacher, a pencil, some yellow paper, and of course, a dog. Written as a series of free-verse...
Mother Goose goes to India
Sehgal, Kabir
Paper Book
An NCTE Notable Book in Poetry From New York Times bestselling authors Kabir Sehgal and Surishtha Sehgal comes a charming and brightly illustrated spin on classic nursery rhymes that celebrates rich Indian culture and introduces Hindi vocabulary. Mother...
I wish I had a Wookiee : and other poems for our galaxy
Doescher, Ian
Paper Book
Inspired by the beloved world of Star Wars, this collection of over 75 whimsical and original poems is a celebration of childhood, creativity, imagination, and the early years of Star Wars fandom. In "My Pet AT-AT," a ten-year-old dreams of playing hide and seek and...
There is a flower at the tip of my nose smelling me
Walker, Alice
Paper Book
Pulitzer Prize-winning author and activist Alice Walker invites readers young and old to see the world--and our place in it--through new eyes in this new edition featuring art from Queenbe Monyei. With beautifully poetic text and joyous illustrations to guide readers through their read,...
Other words for home
Warga, Jasmine
Paper Book
New York Times bestseller and Newbery Honor Book! A gorgeously written, hopeful middle grade novel in verse about a young girl who must leave Syria to move to the United States, perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds and Aisha Saeed. Jude never thought she'd be...
Alligator pie
Lee, Dennis
Paper Book
Alligator pie, alligator pie, If I don't get some I think I'm gonna die. For over 25 years Dennis Lee has enthralled young readers with memorable and delightfully clever rhymes and sing-song rhythms. First published in 1974, Alligator Pie has been loved by children from Napanee to Kamloops. Now, a...
I talk like a river
Scott, Jordan
Paper Book
Winner of the Schneider Family Book Award Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Winner What if words got stuck in the back of your mouth whenever you tried to speak? What if they never came out the way you wanted them to? Sometimes it takes a change of perspective to get...
Hello, Earth! : poems to our planet
Sidman, Joyce
Paper Book
We walk on Earth's surface every day, but how often do we wonder about the incredible planet around us? From the molten cracks below to the shimmering moon above, Hello, Earth! explores the wonders of the natural world. This playful journey across our puzzle-piece continents does...
Langston Hughes
Hughes, Langston
Paper Book
Celebrate 100 years of Langston Hughes's powerful poetry. A Coretta Scott King Honor Award recipient, Poetry for Young People: Langston Hughes includes 26 of the poet's most influential pieces, including: "Mother to Son";...
Marshmallow clouds : two poets at play among figures of speech
Kooser, Ted
Paper Book
Celebrated poets Ted Kooser along with Connie Wanek, and illustrator Richard Jones, explore figures of speech in a spirited and magical way--and invite our imaginations out to play. A freewheeling romp through the world of imagery and metaphor, this quietly startling collection...
Construction people
Hopkins, Lee Bennett
Paper Book
Fourteen poems compiled by award-winning poet and anthologist Lee Bennett Hopkins introduce readers to the various construction people who collaborate to create a high-rise hotel building, from architect to crane operator to glaziers and more. How does an empty lot transform into...
Cast away : poems for our time
Nye, Naomi Shihab
Paper Book
"Nye at her engaging, insightful best." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Acclaimed poet and Young People's Poet Laureate Naomi Shihab Nye shines a spotlight on the things we cast away, from plastic water bottles to those less fortunate, in this collection of more than eighty...
Where the sidewalk ends : the poems & drawings of Shel Silverstein
Silverstein, Shel.
Paper Book
Shel Silverstein, the New York Times bestselling author of The Giving Tree, A Light in the Attic, Falling Up, and Every Thing On It, has created a poetry collection that is outrageously funny and deeply profound. Come in . . . for where the sidewalk ends, Shel Silverstein's world begins. ...
Carry on : poetry by young immigrants
Boulerice, Simon
Paper Book
A moving #OwnVoices poetry collection written by young newcomers to Canada Carry Onbegan in a high school in Outremont, Quebec, where author and poet Simon Boulerice conducted creative-writing workshops for young newcomers to Canada. As the students...
Eating my words : and 128 other poems
Cleary, Brian P.
Paper Book
At lunch, / I ate three cans / of alphabet soup. / An hour later / I had / thesaurus / throat / ever. Would you care for a cupful of couplets? How about a helping of haiku? Brian P. Cleary offers poetry by the plateful in this clever collection! Wordplay and humor abound in poems that cover...
Hard-boiled bugs for breakfast : and other tasty poems
Prelutsky, Jack
Paper Book
Hard-Boiled Bugs for Breakfast is guaranteed to make readers laugh, imagine, write, and dream. "A quick-witted delight."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Perfectly in pitch."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A well-written, must-have collection of poems."-...
Earth verse : haiku from the ground up
Walker, Sally M.
Paper Book
Rocks, fossils, earthquakes. Seventeen short syllables? Earth Science haiku! In a stunning combination of haiku and impressionistic (but accurate) art, this one-of-a-kind book encourages readers to think playfully about our planet and its wondrous...

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