Essential Children's Collection: Classic Poetry
Two respected children’s literature consultants recommend poetry for school and public library collections.
BY The Editors
CLASSIC POETRY
Ahlberg, Allan and Janet. Each Peach Pear Plum. New York: Penguin, 1979.
Brooks, Gwendolyn. Bronzeville Boys and Girls. New York: HarperCollins, 1967.
Carroll, Lewis. Jabberwocky. Illus. by Stephane Jorisch. Tonawanda, NY: Kids Can Press, 2004.
Ciardi, John. You Read to Me, I'll Read to You. New York: HarperCollins, 1961.
De la Mare, Walter. Peacock Pie: The Collected Works of Walter de la Mare. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger, 1989.
DiTerlizzi, Tony. The Spider and the Fly. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002.
Field, Eugene. The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat. New York: Penguin, 1990.
Field, Eugene. Wynken, Blynken, and Nod. New York: Scholastic, 2004.
Frost, Robert. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. Illus. by Susan Jeffers. New York: Dutton, 2001.
Greenfield, Eloise. Honey, I Love and Other Love Poems. New York: HarperCollins, 1978.
Hughes, Langston. The Dream Keeper and Other Poems. New York: Random House, 1996.
Lear, Edward. The Complete Nonsense of Edward Lear. New York: Dover, 1951.
Lear, Edward. The Owl and the Pussycat. Illus. by Jan Brett.New York: Putnam, 1991.
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere. New York: Handprint, 2001.
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. Paul Revere's Ride. Illus. by Ted Rand.New York: Dutton, 1990.
Milne, A.A. Now We Are Six. New York: Penguin, 1961.
Milne, A.A. When We Were Very Young. New York: Dutton, 1988.
Moore, Clement Clarke. The Night Before Christmas. New York: HarperCollins, 1999.
Nash, Ogden. The Adventures of Isabel. New York: Little Brown, 1994.
Nash, Ogden. The Tale of Custard the Dragon. New York: Little Brown, 1995.
Opie, Iona and Peter. I Saw Esau: The Schoolchild's Pocket Book. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick, 1992.
Sandburg, Carl. Sandburg Treasury: Prose and Poetry for Young People. New York: Harcourt, 2000.
Silverstein, Shel. A Light in the Attic. New York: HarperCollins, 1981.
Silverstein, Shel. Where the Sidewalk Ends. New York: HarperCollins, 1974.
Stevenson, Robert Louis. Block City. Illus. by Daniel Kirk. Simon & Schuster, 2005.
Stevenson, Robert Louis. A Child's Garden of Verses, Volume 2: A Collection of Scriptures, Prayers, and Poems. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999.
Taback, Simms. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. New York: Viking, 1997.
Thayer, Ernest Lawrence. Casey at the Bat. Illus. by Christopher Bing. New York: Handprint Books, 2000.
Udry, Janice May. A Tree Is Nice. New York: HarperCollins, 1957.
Updike, John. Child's Calendar. New York: Holiday House, 1999.
LITERATURE
CONSULTANTS
Sylvia Vardell, Ph.D.
Professor
Texas Women's University
School of Library and Information Studies
Bernadette Nowakowski
Director, Children and Young Adult Services
Chicago Public Libraries
More from the Essential Children’s Collection
Anthologies
Contemporary Poetry
Classic Poetry
Out-of-Print Poetry
Poetry Books with Audio
Poetry Written by Children
Research
The editorial staff of the Poetry Foundation. See the Poetry Foundation staff list and editorial team masthead.