Children’s Poetry Books

Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems by multiple authors – J 811.54 JAN
Presents a collection of short poems about each season written to demonstrate how a few carefully chosen words and images can invoke powerful messages.
Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart by Mary Ann Hoberman and Michael Emberley – J 811.008 FOR

Presents a new collection of poems, from both classic and contemporary poets, which are especially suited for learning by heart and reciting aloud.
Poems to Learn by Heart by Caroline Kennedy – J 821.008 KEN
Features one hundred readily memorizable poems that convey a wide range of feelings, meanings, and wisdom, in a volume complemented by watercolor illustrations.
Words With Wings: A Treasury of African-American Poetry and Art by Nikki Grimes – J F GRI
When Gabby’s parents separate, her tendency to daydream becomes essential to coping with life’s difficulties, which only increase when she moves with her mother to a new home and a new school.
Guess Who, Haiku by Deanna Caswell – Hoopla
A collection of haiku, each of which describes an animal and asks a question that rhymes with the answer on the following page.
Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman – J 811.54 FLE
A collection of poems describing the characteristics and activities of a variety of insects.
The New Kid on the Block: Poems by Jack Prelutsky – J 811.54 PRE
Humorous poems about such strange creatures and people as Baloney Belly Billy and the Gloopy Gloopers.
Frankenstein Makes A Sandwich by Adam Rex – Hoopla
Being a monster isn’t all frightening villagers and sucking blood. Monsters have their trials, too. Poor Frankenstein’s cupboard is bare, Wolfman is in need of some household help, and it’s best not to get started on Dracula’s hygiene issues. What could be scarier?
Nineteen hilarious poems delve into the secret lives of the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Bigfoot, Godzilla, and others. In a range of styles that pay homage to everyone from Charles Schulz to John James Audubon, the monstrously talented Adam Rex uncovers horrific–and clever–truths you won’t want to miss.
Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman – J 811.54 SID
A collection of poems that celebrates the wonder, mystery, and danger of the night and describes the many things that hide in the dark.
Where The Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein – J 811.54 SIL
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. Come in – for where the sidewalk ends, Shel Silverstein’s world begins. The Unicorn and the Bloath live there, and so does Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout who will not take the garbage out. It is a place where you wash your shadow and plant diamond gardens, a place where shoes fly, sisters are auctioned off, and crocodiles go to the dentist.
Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse by Marilyn Singer – J 811.54 SIN
A collection of short poems which, when reversed, provide new perspectives on the fairy tale characters they feature.
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jaqueline Woodson – J B WOO

Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child’s soul as she searches for her place in the world. Woodson’s eloquent poetry also reflects the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, despite the fact that she struggled with reading as a child. Her love of stories inspired her and stayed with her, creating the first sparks of the gifted writer she was to become.
The Cuckoo’s Haiku: And Other Birding Poems by Michael J. Rosen – J 811.54 ROS
In spare and graceful words, poet and birder Michael J. Rosen captures the forecasting call of the mysterious cuckoo as well as essential characteristics of more than twenty commonly seen North American birds. This artfully compiled book, enriched by the artwork of watercolorist Stan Fellows, captures the excitement of recognizing a bird, whether a darting kingfisher, a wandering wild turkey, or a chirpy house sparrow.
Lemonade, and Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word by Bob Raczka – J 811.6 RAC

Part anagram, part rebus, part riddle – this brand new poetic form turns word puzzles into poetry.