Poetry for children

Allow me the pleasure of directing you to one of my favorite blogs. Redeemed Reader reviews and recommends literature for young people based on a Christian worldview. Recently the authors invited subscribers to share their favorite poetry for children. I want to compile a list for easy reference. Here goes:


1. Christina Rosetti's The Caterpillar


2. Robert Louis Stevenson's


The Swing

How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside–

Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown–
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!

3. From reader Jess: the Slugs & Bugs albums by Randall Goodgame and Andrew Peterson absolutely nail kid awesomeness. “Oh, polar bears don’t need Frigidaires / to keep their carcasses cold / Low temperatures keep leftovers / no flies, no maggots, no mold."


4. Joyful Noise: Poems for two voices by Paul Fleishman

5. Ogden Nash. 'nuf said? Here's an online collection!
    Click here for audio read by Nash himself! Look for the animal titles: The fly, the caterpillar, the panther, the duck.

6. Maggie and Millie and Mollie and May by E.E. Cummings

7. Thanks to Sherry for this list:

Who Has Seen the Wind by Christina Rossetti
I Meant to Do My Work Today by Richard LeGallienne
Spring Song from Pippa Passes by Robert Browning
The Pasture by Robert Frost - audio by the author?
The Snake by Karla Kuskin
A bird came down the walk by Emily Dickinson
The Reason for the Pelican by John Ciardi
April Rain Song by Langston Hughes
The Woodpecker by Elizabeth Maddox Roberts
The Wasp by William Sharp
What Is Pink by Christina Rossetti
Night Creature by Lilian Moore
Mice by Rose Fyleman