Poetry Books and Collections for Every Age
Poetry connects us to our history, to one another, and to ourselves. Poetry is an art form that has been in existence for millennia, often passed down through oral tradition, used in religious ceremonies, or set to music as song. It's ability to adapt and remain meaningful to generations throughout history alone make it worth the time to read and study.
Introduce your students and readers to the beauty and versatility of poetry with these new collections and stories.
Poetry for Young Readers
By David Elliott
A celebration of the extraordinary and ordinary power of dogs of all kinds, in sly and cheerful verse from celebrated poet David Elliott. Features artwork from an all-star cast of eighteen bestselling and award-winning illustrators.
In so many hearts you’re number one! Agile! High-spirited! Obedient! Fun! You hunt. You fish. You search and find. You cheer the old. You guide the blind.
In this ode to our most loyal companions, you’ll meet the Labrador Retriever and sixteen other remarkable dogs. There's the Bloodhound, who has a sense of smell one thousand times better than yours or mine. And there’s the Irish Wolfhound, the world’s tallest dog, who was once the companion of royalty. And we can’t forget the mutt.
By Joan Bransfield Graham
Illustrated by Tania Garcia
The Earth’s crust shakes, water swells, lava flows, and glaciers advance. In this ingenious picture book, the landforms created by Earth's powerful forces are examined through compelling concrete poetry. From canyons to volcanos, archipelagoes to hoodoos, take a tour of the many fascinating forms and features of our awesome planet.
By Lisa Varchol Perron
Illustrated by Nik Henderson
Giant sky, brightest blue,
like an artist painted you.
How I wonder, wonder why,
why are you so blue, big sky?
Enchanting and educational! This picture book takes the young reader through the arc of the day and answers “Why?” in beautiful verse that begs to be read aloud. Pitch-perfect rhyming text from author Lisa Varchol Perron and stunning illustrations from rising-star Nik Henderson combine in an incredible picture book for children to treasure.
By Kwame Alexander and Randy Preston
Illustrated by Melissa Sweet
Hush.
Now, turn up your ears
and listen
to the concert happening
all around you.
As this quiet overture builds to a full symphony, Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander and singer-songwriter Randy Preston conduct a melody of a poem. Colorful notes are played by Caldecott Honoree Melissa Sweet’s distinctive artwork.
Surrounded by nature’s chorus and guided by words that vibrate like thunder, let the groove lead you on, until you can’t help but sing out from your soul!
Poetry for Older Readers
By Naomi Shihab Nye
With themes of family, love, kindness, empathy, grief, growing up, and resilience, these one hundred never-before-published poems by the beloved poet, speaker, and teacher Naomi Shihab Nye will resonate with a wide audience.
National Book Award finalist and former Young People’s Poet Laureate Naomi Shihab Nye’s Grace Notes: Poems about Families celebrates family and community. This rich collection of one hundred never-before-published poems is also the poet’s most personal work to date. With poems about her own childhood and school years, her parents and grandparents, and the people who have touched and shaped her life in so many ways, this is an emotional and sparkling collection to savor, share, and read again and again.
Edited by Amber McBride, Taylor Byas, and Erica Martin
Come, claim your wings.
Lift your life above the earth,
return to the land of your father’s birth.
What exactly is it to be Black in America?
Well, for some, it’s learning how to morph the hatred placed by others into love for oneself; for others, it’s unearthing the strength it takes to continue to hold one’s swagger when multitudinous factors work to make Black lives crumble. For some, it’s gathering around the kitchen table as Grandma tells the story of Anansi the spider, while for others it's grinning from ear to ear while eating auntie’s spectacular 7Up cake.
Black experiences and traditions are complex, striking, and vast—they stretch longer than the Nile and are four times as deep—and carry more than just unimaginable pain—there is also joy.
Featuring an all-star group of thirty-seven powerful poetic voices, including such luminaries as Kwame Alexander, James Baldwin, Ibi Zoboi, Audre Lorde, Nikki Giovanni, and Gwendolyn Brooks, this riveting anthology depicts the diversity of the Black experience by fostering a conversation about race, faith, heritage, and resilience between fresh poets and the literary ancestors that came before them.
By Tony Keith Jr.
dear Knucklehead,
perhaps you are like me:
always figuring out if your soul and your skin
are thick enough to protect your body from sticky stones
thrown from the mouths of those who know
that spoken words have the power to spit out freedom
and break-in bones.
While society often assigns the label “knucklehead” to kids with attitude problems, this brilliant and electric poetry collection by spoken word poet and hip-hop educator Tony Keith Jr. subverts that narrow way of thinking and empathizes with young people who are misunderstood and unheard.