Being intentional about adding beauty in the home can be as simple as getting a few poetry books to sprinkle around the house. Here is a list of over 20 poetry books for children to get you started.
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In another post I talked about the importance of poetry in the home, but now I’m going to give a list of some books that we enjoy. I think poetry is such an excellent way to help add an atmosphere of beauty in the home. Beauty doesn’t have to be just something we see with our eyes (although most of these books are an absolute delight to look at!). But it can also be what we hear with our ears.
This is in no way trying to be an exhaustive list of every children’s poetry book out there. I am sure I still have yet to come across some gems. And if I do, I can assure you that you will be the first to know. These are simply a list of ones that I own and that me and my family enjoy. And I am quite sure that you and your family will enjoy these poetry books for children too!
Preschoolers
If you are looking for poetry books for little ones, these are great ones to start with. Simple poetry with lots of colorful illustrations, these are the perfect poetry books for preschoolers or for those just starting out.
- Under the Sun and the Moon And Other Poems by Margaret Wise Brown
- From Daybreak to Good Night by Carl Sandburg
- Animals Animals by Eric Carl
- Poems and Prayers for the Very Young by Martha Alexander
- Eloise Wilkin’s Poems to Read to the Very Young, Selected by Josette Frank
- When We Were Very Young by A.A. Mine
- Hailstones and Halibut Bones by Mary O’Neill – Each poem is of a different color. A great way to add poetry to teaching kids about colors.
Best Series for Specific Artists
I absolutely love these books. As of this writing, there are 25 books in the series. Each book is about 48 pages and has the work of only one poet, making it easy to get to know one poets style. Only three of the 25 books are compilations: American Poetry, The Seasons and Animal Poems. At the beginning of each book you will find a few pages dedicated to the biography of the poet, which is a lovely touch. Each book was also illustrated with the poets style in mind, making for a nice variation between books and adding to the overall emphasis of the poets unique place in the world of poetry.
Elementary Age
All of these book are an absolute delight. From the great selections in “Favorite Poems for Children” to the beautiful illustrations in “A Child’s Book of Poems,” you won’t go wrong with any them.
- Favorite Poems for Children, Edited by Holly Pell McConnaughy
- Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne
- The Oxford Illustrated Book of American Children’s Poems, Edited by Donald Hall
- You Come Too by Robert Frost
- A Child’s Book of Poems by Gyo Fujikawa
- Sing a Song of Popcorn, Selected by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers
- A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson- I love the one illustrated by Tasha Tudor
- William Blakes Inn by Nancy Willard – This is illustrated by Martin and Alice Provensen, who are wonderful illustraters.
Poetry Books for Children About Specific Subjects
- Geography: My America, A Poetry Atlas of the United States by Lee Bennett Hopkins
- Colors: Hailstones and Halibut Bones by Mary O’Neill
Nature Poetry Books
My family does nature study and I absolutely love finding books that are specifically about a certain part of nature to add to our nature notebooks. Here are some of the ones that we own and are enjoying.
- Talking to the Sun, Selected by Kenneth Koch and Kate Farrell – This is published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art so it is also filled with lovely art as well as poems.
- The Earth is Painted Green, Edited by Barbara Brenner
- It’s Spring/It’s Summer/It’s Fall/ It’s Winter by Noemi Weygant – This is a series of 4 different poetry books. You can buy them each separately. These are hard to find and not very well known. But I love that each book is about a different season, which would be great for adding to a nature notebook if you are doing nature study. The author wrote the poems as well as took the pictures on her own nature explorations.
- Winter Poems, selected by Barbara Rogasky
- The Seasons (a part of the Poetry for Young People series)
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I love this! I always think a book will be great as a “coffee table book,” and then it ends up at the bottom of a bookshelf when I clean. Some of these are nice and small, so if you’re waiting for just about anything, you can still be inspired. Thanks for sharing!
I love putting books out for coffee table books! And yes, so many of these would be so good for that.
Wonderful I’m always wanting to read poetry and have my children learn poems for memory work I’ll have to save these and check them out.
I love having the kids memorize poetry! Last year we would read through one children’s poetry book for weeks (from the list above) and then they each picked out one poem that they wanted to memorize from it. After they memorized it, we had a big “Poetry Recitation Night” and they each dressed up and got “on stage” and said their poem in front of the rest of the family. We had a dessert afterwards. This year we are going to memorize poetry differently, but the kids truly have loved learning poetry and so do I!
This is great! My daughter loves to read. I like the suggestion you made, easy reading, and colorful illustrations. Thank you!!!!
So glad this helps! My kids love to read too…so thankful for that!
I love the idea of teaching poetry! I loved to read growing up!
Glad you liked to read as a kid too! And I love doing poetry with the kids, such a sweet time together!
My kids are starting to love reading poetry (age 4 and 6) and coming up with their own fun poems. Time to fill our library with poetry books! Love these suggestions!
Oh that is so great! And our kiddos are about the same age! Love that yours are creating their own poems, that is so cute!
Oooo this was a really helpful post! Now I have more reading options for my preschooler. Thanks for sharing!
So glad this was helpful!