How to choose poetry anthologies for kids
+ Recommended poetry anthologies
What is a poetry anthology? What’s the difference between a book of poetry and a poetry anthology?
A book of poetry is a collection of poems written by a single author. The poems in these titles are sometimes topically unrelated, especially when they are for adults, but for children, they are more often focused on a single subject. You can usually tell from the titles of these books, like With My Hands: Poems About Making Things by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, Courage Out Loud: 25 Poems of Power by Joseph Coelho, or Knock on Wood: Poems About Superstitions by Janet Wong.
A poetry book by a single author can also be a single poem — like Remember by Joy Harjo, Voyage by Billy Collins, or Round and Round the Year We Go by Carter Higgins.
A poetry anthology is a collection of poems written by multiple or many authors.
An anthology can be general, covering a wide variety of subjects — like The Random House Book of Poetry for Children, selected by Jack Prelutsky — or it can be specific, focusing on just one topic, like Animals, Animals by Eric Carle or Construction People, selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins.
How do I assess a poetry anthology?
There are always going to be poems in an anthology that don’t hit the mark — not every poem can be a banger, nor can every poem appeal to everyone. A good one for you is one where you and your kiddos enjoy most or many of the poems.
That said, there are strategies for assessing them:
Does this anthology look appealing, attractive, and inviting?
Does it include a variety of types and forms of poetry?
Are the poems about things and topics that are fun and interesting for (your) kids?
Is there a mix of classic and modern poems? (It’s okay if you don’t know enough about poetry to judge this! It isn’t super important, but is something to be aware of)
Do the poems have a lasting and timeless appeal? (Can you see yourself reading this one again and again, or returning to it more than once?)
Sometimes, though, my highly unscientific approach is to simply ask myself: is this a book I want to read? If I’m holding it in my hands and paging through it, that’s usually enough for me to know, right then and there, the answer. If I’m browsing online, I rely on the age-old procedure of 100% judging a book by its cover. I rarely, if ever, purchase books based on their cover, but among countless other reasons, that’s what the library is for.
Some general poetry anthologies to get you started (or keep you going)
Voices: Poetry and Art from Around the World, selected by Barbara Brenner
101 Poems for Children by Carol Ann Duffy
Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart, selected by Mary Ann Hoberman
Talking to the Sun: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems for Young People, selected by Kenneth Koch
A Whale of a Time: Funny Poems for Each Day of the Year, selected by Lou Peacock
For Laughing Out Loud: Poems to Tickle Your Funnybone, selected by Jack Prelutsky
Read-Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young, selected by Jack Prelutsky
Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child’s Book of Poems, selected by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers
And the Green Grass Grew All Around: Folk Poetry from Everyone by Alvin Schwartz
This Same Sky: A Collection of Poems from Around the World, selected by Naomi Shihab Nye
As always, this list is not exhaustive — do you have any anthologies to add?
I’ve reviewed many poetry anthologies over the years, but there are a handful that I can pretty much guarantee are a hit every time, whether you’ve been reading poetry with your kids since they were tiny, or you’re just starting to try now (it’s never too late!)
National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry: 200 Poems with Photographs that Squeak, Soar, and Roar!, edited by J. Patrick Lewis (2012)
The poets in this gorgeous title are well-known — their body of work certainly leans toward the last 50-60 years, and the language is all completely accessible to contemporary children and adults — so much of what normally scares people away from poetry doesn’t exist here.
This book is exactly as advertised — beautifully curated animal poetry accompanied by visually stunning National Geographic photographs — which together capture the wonder and majesty of the animal kingdom and offer an evocative feast for the eyes and ears alike. I highly recommend this if you don’t know where to start with children’s poetry.
Hip Hop Speaks to Children: A Celebration of Poetry with a Beat edited by Nikki Giovanni, illustrated by Kristen Balouch, Michele Noiset, Jeremy Tugeau, Alicia Vergel de Dios, and Damian Ward (2008)
“Poetry with a beat. That’s hip hop in a flash. One part story, one part rhythm.” So says master poet Nikki Giovanni in her introduction to this upbeat (pun intended, of course) and comprehensive collection of poetry from a wide variety of Black voices.
Poems from iconic writers like W.E.B. DuBois, Martin Luther King, Jr., Langston Hughes, and Paul Laurence Dunbar are offered side by side with more recent authors like Gwendolyn Brooks, Lucille Clifton, Maya Angelou, and Eloise Greenfield — along with perhaps more famous names like Kanye West, Lauryn Hill, and Tupac Shakur. What sets this collection apart is its superior quality — it is, to a poem, excellent — as well as its ability to please a broad range of ages and tastes.
The accompanying audio, featuring many poets reading their own work, and the six illustrators who lent their varied talent to the images in a mishmash of media and styles, works well in bringing each piece to life. This is a long-lasting, stunning addition to any home, classroom, or library.
Beastly Verse by JooHee Yoon (2015)
Here not only has Yoon assembled 16 short animal poems from various authors — some very well-known, some entirely new to me — she has brought each animal itself to spectacular, vivid life with her hand-drawn and then digitally finished illustrations. Specially printed with three overlapping Pantone spot inks, the results, which are very close to printmaking, feel as vibrant if the book had been made by hand, and just as exciting as if it had.
This is a great choice to read if you have little ones with short attention spans, or you’ll still new to poetry and haven’t quite figured out how to enjoy it. Each page is a tiny party you’ll want to attend again and again.
The Llama Who Had No Pajama: 100 Favorite Poems by Mary Ann Hoberman, illustrated by Betty Fraser (1998)
Mary Ann Hoberman’s poetry is enjoyable, relatable, frequently hilarious, and reliably crowd-pleasing to a wide variety of ages, adults included — you can be sure, whenever you spot a book of hers, that it’s worth snatching up.
This anthology, which includes 100 outstanding poems and Fraser’s charming gouache and watercolor illustrations, is one of those books to add to your shelves immediately and without compunction: it’s delightful, it will serve you again and again, and it never gets old. Open and indulge in it any time you need a surefire poetry win — it won’t disappoint.
If you need an outstanding adult poetry anthology, the one I read most recently is This is the Honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets, edited by Kwame Alexander, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.)
Read good books and take good care 😘
Sarah
I love your tips on what to look for in an anthology. Also, I didn’t know that one of Billy Collins’ poems was made into a picture book! I must get my hands on it.
Love love love.