POETRY & SHAKESPEARE: Our Favorite Picture Book Read-alouds

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I read a bit of poetry most days with my three kids ages 12, 10, and 8. We often stick with one poet for 1 or 2 months. We like to read one or two poems from a collection each school day, and add in any picture books I can find of individual poems (love these), as well as poet biographies. We also read from anthologies created just for children. Sometimes instead of poetry we study a Shakespeare play. This list includes only the very best poetry and Shakespeare picture books we have read together. And while all the books below are wonderful and highly recommended, I have starred (*) our very favorites, many of which we purchased to enjoy again and again. We hope you enjoy all these books as much as we have!

This list is continually updated (newest books at the top of each section). 


Maya Angelou

 

• Poetry for Young People Maya Angelou
• Maya Angelou (Little People, Big Dreams)
• My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken, and Me
• Kofi and His Magic

E. E. Cummings

 

• Hist Whist and Other Poems for Children
• Enormous Smallness: A Story of E. E. Cummings
• I Carry Your Heart With Me, illustrated by Mati McDonough
• Little Tree* illustrated by Deborah Kogan Ray (I added this one to our Advent countdown!)

Pablo Neruda

• Pablo Neruda: Poet of the People
• Ode to an Onion: Pablo Neruda and his Muse
• To Go Singing Through the World: The Childhood of Pablo Neruda*
• El Libro de las Preguntas
• Odes to Common Things, Bilingual Edition (for adults, but I read some of the shorter poems to my kids)
• The Dreamer (chapter book by Pam Munoz Ryan loosely based on Neruda's life, has a great selection of his poetry at the end)
• Also don't miss this terrific Ted-Ed animated video on Neruda (appropriate for kids)

William Carlos Williams

• William Carlos Williams: Poetry for Young People
• 16 Words: William Carlos Williams and "The Red Wheelbarrow"*
• Forgive Me, I Meant to Do It: False Apology Poems

Lewis Carroll

• Lewis Carroll: Poetry for Young People
• One Fun Day with Lewis Carroll*
• Jabberwocky, illustrated by Christopher Myers (there are many illustrated versions of the Jabberwocky - check out a bunch from the library and compare!)

Edward Lear

Some poets should be studied just because there are so many incredible picture books about them or featuring their poetry. Edward Lear is one of those. His silly poems and nonsense words have a ton of appeal for children, but they are so clever and meaningful that adults will find a lot to love as well. In addition to the kids' books below, we also checked out a large volume illustrated by Lear himself. It wasn't my favorite of his poetry volumes (too many poems, not enough illustrations), but we did enjoy looking at his own illustrations of his poems.

• Daffy-Down-Dillies*
• The Owl and the Pussycat by Paul Galdone* (we read 6 different illustrated versions of this poem and this was my favorite!) 
• Nonsense! illustrated by Valorie Fisher
• Poetry for Young People: Edward Lear
• His Shoes Were Far Too Tight: Poems by Edward Lear

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Note: In retrospect, I wish I would have waited longer to introduce Tennyson. A huge part of Tennyson's work is about loss and mourning (after the death of a close friend). I ended up reading only some of the Poetry for Young People collection with all three of my kids, and reading additional poems with just my 12yo at other times.

• Poetry for Young People: Alfred, Lord Tennyson
• The Charge of the Light Brigade, Illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen
• The Lady of Shalott (Visions in Poetry), Illustrated by Geneviève Côté 

Gwendolyn Brooks

• Bronzeville Boys and Girls* (fabulous - one of my favorite books of children's poetry)
• A Song for Gwendolyn Brooks
• Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks
• We Are Shining (note: preview first, some disturbing descriptions)

A. A. Milne

• When We Were Very Young
• Now We Are Six
• The Complete Poems Of Winnie-The-Pooh* - includes both of the above poetry books with full color illustrations
• Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear

Robert Frost

• Poetry for Young People: Robert Frost*
• Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening
• Papa Is a Poet

Langston Hughes

        

  Find additional information about the books below in this post devoted to Hughes' poetry.

• The Dream Keeper and Other Poems* (my all-time favorite book of poetry for young people)
• I, Too, Am America
• My People

• The Negro Speaks of Rivers
• Coming Home: From the Life of Langston Hughes (picture book biography)

Emily Dickinson

• Poetry for Young People: Emily Dickinson
• Poetry for Kids: Emily Dickinson*
• Emily by Bedard
• Emily and Carlo*
• My Uncle Emily

Carl Sandburg

• From Daybreak to Good Night: Poems for Children*
• Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg
• Poetry for Kids: Carl Sandburg

Robert Louis Stevenson

• A Child's Garden of Verses* by Brian Wildsmith (my favorite illustrations)
• A Child's Garden of Verses illustrated by Tasha Tudor (includes more poems than above)
• Land of Nod
• The Moon

Christina Rossetti Find additional information about the books we used to study Rossetti, see this post.

• Fly Away, Fly Away Over the Sea*
• What Can I Give Him?

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

• Paul Revere's Ride: The Landlord's Tale
• The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere illustrated by Christopher Bing
• Hiawatha

Shakespeare

• Tales from Shakespeare
• William Shakespeare & the Globe by Aliki
• Shakespeare's Seasons*
• A Midsummer Night's Dream retold by Bruce Coville
• Shakespeare: His Work and His World
• Shakespeare Stories I and II by Leon Garfield by Garfield

Other Poets

• Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan
• A Child's Calendar by John Updike*
• Flutter and Hum by Julie Paschkis 
• A First Book of the Sea by Nicola Davies
• Hailstones and Halibut Bones: Adventures in Poetry and Color* by Mary O'Neill
• Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors by Joyce Sidman
• insectlopedia by Douglas Florian
• Outside Your Window: A First Book of Nature by Nicola Davies
• Read, Read, Read! by Amy Ludwig Vanderwater 
• You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Scary Tales to Read Together by Mary Ann Hoberman
• Polkabats and Octopus Slacks: 14 Stories by Calef Brown 
• The Dragons Are Singing Tonight by Jack Prelutsky

Poetry Anthologies for Children

• Ashley Bryan's ABC of African American Poetry
• National Geographic Book of Nature Poetry (nature poetry paired with gorgeous photographs)
• Once Upon A Poem : Favorite Poems That Tell Stories (preview: some mature themes)
• The Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog and Other How-to Poems
• Sing a Song of Seasons: A Nature Poem for Each Day of the Year*
• A Child's Introduction to Poetry (includes history of poetry, poetic forms, biographical information about poets, as well as poetry selections grouped by poet - audio of poems only also included)
• Sing a Song of Popcorn
• The Random House Book of Poetry for Children
• Once Upon a Poem
• Poetry for Young People: African American Poetry
• Eric Carle's Animals Animals 
• Eric Carle's Dragons Dragons and Other Creatures That Never Were
• Winter Poems
• Pio Peep! Traditional Spanish Nursery Rhymes (bilingual)
• Mother Goose's Little Treasures* 
• My Very First Mother Goose and Here Comes Mother Goose by Opie and Wells - perfect for the youngest listeners, wonderfully fun illustrations

Other Poetry-related Picture Books

• Poem in Your Pocket*
• The Word Collector

Poetry for Young People and Poetry for Kids are two series of poetry books for children that we have enjoyed. Poetry for Young People is more appropriate for older elementary and Poetry for Kids is better for middle school and up, in my opinion, but we have enjoyed using both. With Carl Sandburg, for example, we read all of the Poetry for Young People volume but only selections from Poetry for Kids. You might also choose a volume based on the illustrations you like better. Both include biographical information and definitions for unfamiliar words. Poetry for Kids includes explanations about what each poem means in the endnotes (which you may or may not appreciate).

Here are links to all our favorite picture book read-alouds by subject: 

• History & Social Science Picture Books (includes biography) 
• Math Picture Books
• Science & Nature Picture Books
• Poetry & Shakespeare Picture Books
• Art & Music Picture Books
• Audiobooks for the Whole Family

What are your favorites?

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