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Children's Poetry

From the July 27, 2008 Pigeon Post of the same name.

This book list is divided into three sections:
(1) Picture Books
(2) Books for Independent Readers
(3) Books for Young Adults

The list begins below with Picture Books, but you can use one of the following links to skip directly to either of the other two sections.
Go to books for Independent Readers
Go to books for Young Adults

What are your favorite collections of children's poetry?


Picture Books

Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Felicia Bond Highly Recommended
Johnny Appleseed by Reeve Lindbergh Highly Recommended
Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and illustrated by Ted Rand and illustrated by Ted Rand Highly Recommended
All the Places to Love by Patricia MacLachlan and illustrated by Mike Wimmer Highly Recommended
The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore and illustrated by Tasha Tudor Highly Recommended
The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe and illustrated by Ryan Price Highly Recommended
A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson and illustrated by Tasha Tudor Highly Recommended
The Ballad of the Pirate Queens by Jane Yolen and illustrated by David Shannon Highly Recommended
Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet Ahlberg and illustrated by Allan Ahlberg Recommended
Cautionary Tales for Children by Hilaire Belloc and illustrated by Edward Gorey Recommended
Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll and illustrated by Stephane Jorisch Recommended
Wynken, Blynken, and illustrated by Nod by Eugene Field and illustrated by Johanna Westerman Recommended
In the Small, Small Pond by Denise Fleming Recommended
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost and illustrated by Susan Jeffers Recommended
Hush! by Minfong Ho and illustrated by Holly Meade Recommended
A Book of Nonsense by Edward Lear Recommended
The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear and illustrated by Jan Brett Recommended
Now We Are Six by A. A. Milne and illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard Recommended
When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne and illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard Recommended
The Adventures of Isabel by Ogden Nash and illustrated by Bridget Starr Taylor Recommended
The Tale of Custard the Dragon by Ogden Nash and illustrated by Lynn Munsinger Recommended
My Very First Mother Goose by Iona Archibald Opie and illustrated by Rosemary Wells Recommended
The Random House Book of Poetry for Children by Jack Prelutsky and illustrated by Arnold Lobel Recommended
Read-Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young by Jack Prelutsky and illustrated by Marc Tolon Brown Recommended
The Complete Poetical Works of James Whitcomb Riley by James Whitcomb Riley Recommended
Nutshell Library by Maurice Sendak Recommended
Casey at the Bat by Ernest Lawrence Thayer and illustrated by Christopher H. Bing Recommended
The Edmund Fitzgerald by Kathy-Jo Wargin and illustrated by Gijsbert Van Frankenhuyzen Recommended
Flower Fairies of the Spring by Cicely Mary Barker Suggested
Nonsense Verse by Lewis Carroll and illustrated by Lorna Hussey Suggested
Joyful Noise by Paul Fleischman and illustrated by Eric Beddows Suggested
This Land Is Your Land by Woody Guthrie and illustrated by Kathy Jakobsen Suggested
Family of Poems by Caroline Kennedy and illustrated by Jon J. Muth Suggested
Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and illustrated by Susan Jeffers Suggested
A Pizza the Size of the Sun by Jack Prelutsky and illustrated by James Stevenson Suggested
For Laughing Out Loud by Jack Prelutsky and illustrated by Marjorie Priceman Suggested
Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart by Vera B. Williams Suggested


Independent Reader

Poems and Other Writings by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and illustrated by J. D. McClatchy Highly Recommended
Silver Pennies by Blanche Jennings Thompson Highly Recommended
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse Recommended
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein Recommended
Falling Up by Shel Silverstein Recommended
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein Recommended
Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake Suggested
Rhymes and Verses by Walter De LA Mare and illustrated by Elinore Blaisdell Suggested
The Oxford Illustrated Book of American Children's Poems by Donald Hall Suggested
Hailstones and Halibut Bones by Mary O'Neill and illustrated by John Wallner Suggested
I Saw Esau by Iona Archibald Opie and Peter Opie and illustrated by Maurice Sendak Suggested
Goblin Market and Other Poems by Christina Georgina Rossetti Suggested


Young Adult

As I Walked Out One Evening by W. H. Auden and illustrated by Edward Mendelson Recommended
Beowulf by Seamus Heaney Recommended
Collected Poems of A. E. Housman by A. E. Housman Recommended
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam by Omar Khayyam and Edward Fitzgerald and illustrated by Edmund J. Sullivan Recommended
Rudyard Kipling Complete Verse by Rudyard Kipling Recommended
The Lady of Shalott by Alfred Tennyson and illustrated by Genevieve Cote Recommended
Songs of Innocence and of Experience by William Blake Suggested
Nine Horses by Billy Collins Suggested
Sailing Alone Around the Room by Billy Collins Suggested

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