Poetry and Verse

Laughter

Silverstein, Shel. (1996). Falling up : poems and drawings. New York, N.Y. : HarperCollins. PS3569 .I4723 F3 1996X

A collection of humorous poems and drawings.

Silverstein, Shel. (1974). Where the sidewalk ends : the poems & drawings of Shel Silverstein. New York : Harper and Row. 811 S587W

A boy who turns into a TV set and a girl who eats a whale are only two of the characters in a collection of humorous poetry illustrated with the author's own drawings.

Sensory Images

Sneve, Virginia Driving Hawk. (1989). Dancing teepees : poems of American Indian youth. New York : Holiday House. 897 S6714d

An illustrated collection of poems from the oral tradition of Native Americans.

Greenfield, Eloise. (1978). Honey, I Love, and Other Love Poems. New York : Crowell. 811 G8123h

American poetry by African Americans including "I look pretty," "Fun," "Riding on the train," "Harriet Tubman," and "By myself."

Giovanni, Nikki. (1985). Spin a soft Black song : poems for children. New York : Hill and Wang. 811.54 G512S

A poetry collection which recounts the feelings of Black children about their neighborhoods, American society, and themselves.

Esbensen, Barbara Juster. (1998). Words with wrinkled knees : animal poems. Honesdale, Penn. : Wordsong/Boyds Mill Press. 811.54 E745W

A collection of poems about words that express the essence of the animals they identify.

Feelings (Scary poems, thoughtful poems, and poems about family love)

Adoff, Arnold. (1973). Black is Brown is Tan. New York : Harper and Row. PRIM-FIC A2393bl 2002

Describes in verse the life of brown-skinned momma, white-skinned daddy, their children, and assorted relatives.

Brooks, Gwendolyn. (1956). Bronzeville boys and girls. New York : Harper. 811.54 B8733b

African American poetry.

Dunning, Stephen. (1966). Reflections on a gift of watermelon pickle ... and other modern verse. New York : Scholastic Book Services.  811.5 D9244r 1966

Modern poems chosen for their individual excellence and their special appeal to young people. Photographs accent the contemporary tone of the collection.

Margolis, Richard J. (1984). Secrets of a small brother. New York : Macmillan ; London : Collier Macmillan. 811.54 M329s

A series of poems reveal a young boy's relationship with his older brother.

Zolotow, Charlotte. (1993). Snippets : a gathering of poems, pictures, and possibilities. New York : HarperCollins. 811 Z86S

A collection of verses selected from earlier books by Charlotte Zolotow.

Children's Poetry Choices 1974-2000

Lee, Dennis. (1974). Alligator Pie. New York : Houghton. 811 L4774a

Thirty-seven nonsense verses on a variety of topics include "Thinking In Bed," "On Tuesdays I Polish My Uncle," and "Billy Batter."

Thayer, Ernest Lawrence. (1964). Casey at the bat. Englewood Cliffs, N.J. : Prentice-Hall. 811 T369C

Tells the story of Mudville and the batter Casey who lets his pride get in the way of winning the game.

Silverstein, Shel. (1996). Falling up : poems and drawings. New York, N.Y. : HarperCollins.  PS3569 I4723 F3 1996X

A collection of humorous poems and drawings.

Teacher's Poetry Choices 1982-2000

Carle, Eric (1989). Eric Carle's animals, animals. New York : Philomel Books. 808.81 C2784e

An illustrated collection of poems by a variety of authors describing the peculiarities of pets and wild and domestic animals.

Fleischman, Paul. (1988). Joyful noise : poems for two voices. New York : Harper & Row. 811.54 F596J

A collection of poems describing the characteristics and activities of a variety of insects.

Hesse, Karen. (1997). Out of the dust. New York : Scholastic Press. INTR-FIC H587O

In a series of poems, fifteen-year-old Billie Jo relates the hardships of living on her family's wheat farm in Oklahoma during the dust bowl years of the Depression.

Brown, Marcia. (1988). Sing a song of popcorn : every child's book of poems. New York : Scholastic Inc. 808.81 S6175

A collection of 115 poems by a variety of well-known authors with illustrations by nine Caldecott medallists.

Poetry in Many Forms

Narrative Poetry

Moore, Clement Clark. (1980). Twas The Night Before Christmas. New York : Holiday House. 811.2 M8213sh

A well-known poem about an important Christmas Eve visitor.

Lyric Poetry

De la Mare, Walter. (1961). Peacock pie. New York : Knopf. 821 D336P 1961

Poems for children.

Frost, Robert. (1978). Stopping by woods on a snowy evening. New York : Dutton. 811 F939S

Illustrations of wintry scenes accompany each line of the well-known poem.

Frost, Robert. (1959). You come too; favorite poems for young readers. New York : Holt. 811 F939Y

An anthology of the best loved poems of Robert Frost.

Free Verse

Adoff, Arnold. (2002). Black is brown is tan . New York : Harper and Row. PRIM-FIC A2393bl 2002

Describes in verse the life of brown-skinned momma, white-skinned daddy, their children, and assorted relatives.

Haiku and Cinquain

Stubis, Tālivaldis. (1969). Don’t tell the scarecrow , and other Japanese poems . New York : Four Winds Press. 895.6 D688

This is a collection of "Japanese haiku, selected especially for their relevance to a child's world. . . . As is true of all traditional Japanese haiku, each poem relates to a specific seasons."

Atwood, Ann. (1971). Haiku: the mood of earth. New York : Scribner. 895.6 A887H

A collection of haiku about nature each illustrated with two related color photographs.

Fukuda, Hanako. (1970). Wind in my hand . San Carlos, Cal. : Golden Gate Jr. Books. 921 Is7

The life of the eighteenth-century Japanese haiku poet. Includes translations of some of the poems.

Concrete Poems

Froman, Robert. (1974). Seeing things; a book of poems. New York : Crowell. 811 F931S

The words of these fifty-one brief poems are arranged on the pages in shapes appropriate to the subject of the poem.

Morrison, Lillian. (1977). The sidewalk racer, and other poems of sports and motion. New York : Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. 811 M8798S

A collection of poems on sports themes ranging from professional baseball and boxing to jump rope and stickball.

Limericks

Lewis, J. Patrick. (1990). A hippopotamusn't and other animal verses. New York : Dial Books for Young Readers. 811.54 L674h

More than thirty mostly humorous poems about a variety of animals.

Ballads

Sonneck, Oscar. (1969, c1914). The Star spangled banner. New York : Da Capo Press. ML 3561 S8S64 1969

"An unabridged republication of the first edition published in 1914."

Specialized, General, and Individual Anthologies

Special Anthologies

Livingston, Myra Cohn. (1992). If you ever meet a whale : poems. New York : Holiday House. 811 L787i

A collection of poems about whales, by such authors as Jane Yolen, Theodore Roethke, and John Ciardi.

De Regniers, Beatrice Schenk. (1985). So many cats!. New York : Clarion Books. PRIM-FIC D431SO

Counting verses explain how a family ended up with a dozen cats.

General Anthologies

Lalicki, Barbara. (1984). If there were dreams to sell. New York, N.Y. : Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books. 821.08 I23

Each letter of the alphabet is accompanied by an illustration and appropriate poem or a phrase from a poem.

Cole, Joanna. (1984). A New treasury of children's poetry : old favorites and new discoveries. Garden City, N.Y. : Doubleday. 811.08 N532

An anthology of more than 200 old and new poems for preschool through adolescent readers.

Hall, Donald. (1985). The Oxford book of children's verse in America. New York : Oxford University Press. 811.08 O984

A collection of American poems written for children or traditionally enjoyed by children, by such authors as Longfellow, Poe, Eugene Field, Langston Hughes, Dr. Seuss, and Jack Prelutsky.

Prelutsky, Jack. (1983). The Random House book of poetry for children. New York : Random House. 811 R1945

More than 550 poems by American, English, and anonymous authors.

Nye, Naomi Shihab. (1992). This same sky : a collection of poems from around the world. New York : Four Winds Press ; Toronto : Maxwell Macmillan Canada ; New York : Maxwell Macmillan International. 808.81 T448

A poetry anthology in which 129 poets from sixty-eight different countries celebrate the natural world and its human and animal inhabitants.

Individual Anthologies

Prelutsky, Jack. (1993). The dragons are singing tonight. New York : Greenwillow Books. 811 P925D

A collection of poems about dragons, including "I'm an Amiable Dragon," "If You Don't Believe in Dragons," and "A Dragon Is in My Computer."

Silverstein, Shel. (1996). Falling up : poems and drawings. New York, N.Y. : HarperCollins. PS3569 I4723 F3 1996X

Feelings, Tom. (1993). Soul looks back in wonder. New York : Dial Books. 811 S722

Artwork and poems by such writers as Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, and Askia Toure portray the creativity, strength, and beauty of their African American heritage.

Cassedy, Sylvia. (1993). Zoomrimes : poems about things that go. New York : HarperCollins. 811.54 C3447z

Twenty-six poems, all of which describe a means of transportation or something that travels, ranging from "Ark" to "Zeppelin."

A Basic Poetry Collection

Lear, Edward. (1951). The complete nonsense of Edward Lear. New York : Dover Publications. PR4879 L2 N5 1951

Includes: A book of nonsense (1846) -- Nonsense songs, stories, botany and alphabets (1871) -- More nonsense, pictures, rhymes, botany, etc. (1872) -- Laughable lyrics, a fourth book of nonsense poems, songs, botany, music, etc. (1877) -- Nonsense songs and stories (1895)

Silverstein, Shel. (1996). Falling up : poems and drawings. New York, N.Y. : HarperCollins. PS3569 I4723 F3 1996X

A collection of humorous poems and drawings.

Lawrence, Jacob. (1968). Harriet and the Promised Land. New York : Windmill Books. 811 L4215H

Brief biography in verse about Harriet Tubman and her dedicated efforts to lead her fellow slaves to freedom.

Kennedy, X. J. (1982). Knock at a star : a child's introduction to poetry. Boston : Little, Brown. 811.08 K723

An anthology of mostly very short poems by standard, contemporary, and anonymous poets, intended to stimulate interest in reading and writing poetry.

Prelutsky, Jack. (1984). The new kid on the block : poems. New York : Greenwillow Books. 811.54 P924N

Humorous poems about such strange creatures and people as Baloney Belly Billy and the Gloopy Gloopers.

Hall, Donald. (1985). The Oxford book of children's verse in America. New York : Oxford University Press. 811.08 O984

A collection of American poems written for children or traditionally enjoyed by children, by such authors as Longfellow, Poe, Eugene Field, Langston Hughes, Dr. Seuss, and Jack Prelutsky.

Prelutsky, Jack. (1986). Read-aloud rhymes for the very young. New York : A. Knopf. 811 R2824

A collection of more than 200 short poems by both known and anonymous American and English authors.

Berry, James. (1991). When I dance : poems. San Diego : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. 821 B5344w

A collection of fifty-nine poems for young adults celebrating life in inner-city Britain and in the rural Caribbean.

Silverstein, Shel. (1974). Where the sidewalk ends : the poems & drawings of Shel Silverstein. New York : Harper and Row. 811 S587W

A boy who turns into a TV set and a girl who eats a whale are only two of the characters in a collection of humorous poetry illustrated with the author's own drawings.

Resources for the Poetry Teacher

Kennedy, X. J. (1982). Knock at a star : a child's introduction to poetry. Boston : Little, Brown. 811.08 K723

An anthology of mostly very short poems by standard, contemporary, and anonymous poets, intended to stimulate interest in reading and writing poetry.