The following selections of poems are curated around specific themes and are appropriate for young readers.
Find poetry lesson plans, essays about teaching, a glossary of poetry terms, and other educator resources on our Materials for Teachers page. Visit our Poetry for Teens page to find more selections of poems tailored to a high school audience. Encourage students to participate in the Dear Poet project. And, celebrate Poem In Your Pocket Day virtually on April 30.
Poems Kids Like
Browse this selection of poems kids love, including favorites by E. E. Cummings, Emily Dickinson, Jack Prelutzky, and Shel Silverstein. Many of these poems are especially suitable for younger children.
Animals: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems about animals, including favorites like William Blake’s “The Tyger” and Marianne Moore’s “A Jelly-Fish.” Many of these poems are especially suitable for younger children.
Arab American Heritage Month: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems by classic and contemporary Arabic poets, include Naomi Shihab Nye, Mahmoud Darwish, Kahlil Gibran, and more.
Autumn: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems about autumn, including classics like Robert Frost's "After Apple-Picking" alongside contemporary poems like Brenda Hillman's "Autumn Ritual with Hate Turned Sideways."
Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems for Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, including poems by Li-Young Lee, Joseph O. Legaspi, and Jenny Xie.
Black History Month: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems for Black History Month by classic and contemporary poets, including Jericho Brown's "The Tradition" and Marilyn Nelson's "1905."
Cities: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems about cities, including "The Tropics of New York" by Claude McKay and "August Morning, Upper Broadway" by Alicia Ostriker.
Family: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems about parents, children, siblings, and families, including "Knoxville, Tennessee" by Nikki Giovanni and "Refugio's Hair" by Alberto Ríos.
Father's Day: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems about fathers and fatherhood, including "The Gift" by Li-Young Lee and "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke.
Friendship: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems about friendship and comradery, including poems by Lucille Clifton, Naomi Shihab Nye, and William Wordsworth.
Holidays: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems for the holiday season, with poems about Christmas, Chanukah, and New Year's Day. Among the holiday classics featured are “The Feast of Lights” by Emma Lazarus and “Christmas Bells” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Immigration: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems about immigration and heritage, including “Veterans of Foreign Wars” by Edward Hirsch and “The Buttonhook” by Mary Jo Salter.
LGBTQ Pride Month: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems from the rich tradition of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer poetry, including poems by Frank O'Hara and May Swenson.
Libraries: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems about libraries, librarians, and the joys of reading, including Nikki Giovanni's "My First Memory (of Librarians)" and Mark Strand's "Eating Poetry."
Love: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems about love, affection, romance, and devotion, including “Resignation” by Nikki Giovanni and “Having a Coke with You” by Frank O'Hara.
Mother's Day: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems about mothers and motherhood, including "The Blue Dress" by Saeed Jones and "Mother's Day" by David Young.
Myths and Fairy Tales: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems related to fables, fairy tales, folklore, legends, and myths, including poems by Homer, Dorianne Laux, and Robert Louis Stevenson.
Native American Heritage Month: Poems for Kids
Browse the following poems from the rich tradition of Native American poetry, including "The Clans" by Richard Calmit Adams and "Remember" by Joy Harjo.
Nature: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems about nature and the outdoors, including “Patience Taught by Nature” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning and “maggie and milly and molly and may” by E. E. Cummings.
Reading and Writing: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems about reading, writing, books, and poetry, featuring “The Republic of Poetry” by Martín Espada, “Valentine for Ernest Mann” by Naomi Shihab Nye, and more.
School: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems about school, learning, and the classroom, including “Girl Sleuth” by Brenda Hillman and “Sick” by Shel Silverstein.
Social Justice: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems to help facilitate discussions about social justice, equality, and human rights, including poems by Juan Felipe Herrera, Naomi Shihab Nye, and Claudia Rankine.
Spanish: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems in Spanish, alongside their English translations, including classics like "Arbolé, Arbolé..." by Federico García Lorca and contemporary poems like "Imágenes" by Jaime Manrique.
Sports: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems about baseball, basketball, track, horse racing, soccer, wrestling, and other sports, including “American Pharoah” by Ada Limón and “Casey at the Bat” by Ernest Lawrence Thayer.
Spring: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems about spring, growth, and renewal, including “To the Thawing Wind” by Robert Frost and “Crisscross” by Arthur Sze.
Summer: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems about summer and warm weather, including "Fishing on the Susquehanna in July" by Billy Collins and "Summer Morn in New Hampshire" by Claude McKay.
Technology: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems about technology, invention, and information, including poems by Matthea Harvey, Matthew Rohrer, and Jenny Xie.
Thanksgiving: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems about gratitude and the Thanksgiving holiday, featuring Richard Blanco’s “América,” Marilyn Nelson’s “Dusting,” and more.
Travel: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems about vacation, travel, and transportation, including "Vacation" by Rita Dove and "Song of the Open Road" by Walt Whitman.
Visual Art: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems about painting, sculpture, and other forms of visual art, including poems by Billy Collins and Phillis Wheatley.
Winter: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems about winter, snow, and cold weather, including “Dust of Snow” by Robert Frost, “When the Year Grows Old” by Edna St. Vincent Millay, and “Ode to My Socks” by Pablo Neruda.
Women's History Month: Poems for Kids
Browse this selection of poems celebrating women by classic and contemporary women poets, including June Jordan, Ada Limón, and Anne Waldman.