A selection of poems kids love by poets like Lewis Carroll, Jack Prelutsky, Shel Silverstein, Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes, and more.
Many of these poems are especially suitable for younger children and students in elementary school.
“Antigonish [I met a man who wasn't there]” by Hughes Mearns
Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn’t there...
“ At the Zoo” by William Makepeace Thackeray
First I saw the white bear, then I saw the black;
Then I saw the camel with a hump upon his back;...
“Be Glad Your Nose Is on Your Face” by Jack Prelutsky
Be glad your nose is on your face,
not pasted on some other place,...
“Bleezer's Ice Cream” by Jack Prelutsky
I am Ebenezer Bleezer,
I run BLEEZER’S ICE CREAM STORE,...
“Clouds” by Anonymous
White sheep, white sheep,
On a blue hill,...
“Dream Variations” by Langston Hughes
To fling my arms wide
In some place of the sun,...
“Eletelephony” by Laura Elizabeth Richards
Once there was an elephant,
Who tried to use the telephant—...
“Fishmonger” by Marsden Hartley
I have taken scales from off
The cheeks of the moon....
“Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll
‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;...
“maggie and milly and molly and may” by E. E. Cummings
maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach(to play one day)...
“Mary's Lamb” by Sarah Josepha Hale
Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow,...
“Mother Doesn't Want a Dog” by Judith Viorst
Mother doesn’t want a dog.
Mother says they smell,...
“My Shadow” by Robert Louis Stevenson
I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see....
“Nonsense Alphabet” by Edward Lear
A was an ant
Who seldom stood still,...
“Sick” by Shel Silverstein
“I cannot go to school today,"
Said little Peggy Ann McKay....
“Since Hannah Moved Away” by Judith Viorst
The tires on my bike are flat.
The sky is grouchy gray....
“The Crocodile” by Lewis Carroll
How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,...
“The Duel” by Eugene Field
The gingham dog and the calico cat
Side by side on the table sat;...
“The Eagle” by Lord Alfred Tennyson
He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,...
“The Good Moolly Cow [excerpt]” by Eliza Lee Follen
Come! supper is ready;
Come! boys and girls, now,...
“The Land of Counterpane” by Robert Louis Stevenson
When I was sick and lay a-bed,
I had two pillows at my head,...
“The Purple Cow” by Gelett Burgess
I never saw a Purple Cow,
I never hope to see one,...
“The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—...
“The Tyger” by William Blake
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,...
“Trees” by Joyce Kilmer
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree...
“We never know how high we are (1176)” by Emily Dickinson
We never know how high we are
Till we are called to rise;...
“Wynken, Blynken, and Nod” by Eugene Field
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden shoe,—...