Children's Poems

Delightful poems selected especially for young children to build confidence learning to read! Enjoy Children's Stories, Foodie Stories for Kids, and Fairy Tales

For older students & adults: Poetry for the Well-Read Student, 100 Great Poems

• The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Robert Browning
  
  How will the Pied Piper solve this town's problem of menacing rats?
• Sing a Song of Sixpence by Mother Goose
  
  "A pocketful of rye, four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie. When the pie was opened, the birds began to sing; Wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the king?"
• Afternoon on a Hill by Edna St. Vincent Millay
  
  "I will be the gladdest thing under the sun!"

• Star Light, Star Bright
  
  "Star light, star bright, the first star I see tonight; I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight!"
• Little Orphant Annie by James Whitcomb Riley
  
  The poem that inspired the "Annie" comics, musicals, books, and movies!
• Casey at the Bat by Ernest Lawrence Thayer
  
  "It looked extremely rocky for the Mudville nine that day..."
• Riding in My Car by Woody Guthrie
  
  Kids love Guthrie's song, sing along with the video link at the bottom: "Take you riding in the car, car; I'll take you riding in my car; Brrrm brm brm brm brm brm brm, brrrm b' brrrm..."

• Ship in the Sky by Woody Guthrie
  
  A nostalgic war song kids will get: "My daddy works at the place where they land, so you tell your mama don't be afraid, 'cause dad'll bring your daddy back home again."
• Laughing Corn by Carl Sandburg
  
  You're going to laugh as you read this "corny" poem!
• This Old Man featured in Pre-K Wordplay!
  
  "With a knick-knack paddywhack, Give the dog a bone, This old man came rolling home."

• A Bird Came Down the Walk by Emily Dickinson
  
  A celebration of the everyday: a detailed description of a bird enjoying a worm.
• Three little birds in a row by Stephen Crane
  
  Curious, what do these three birds talk about, all in a row?
• Five Little Speckled Frogs
  
  "Five little speckled frogs sat on a speckled log, eating the most delicious bugs (yum yum)"
• The Cat and the Fiddle by L. Frank Baum
  
  What a bonus! The Mother Goose nursery rhyme followed by L. Frank Baum's story behind the rhyme!

• Mary Had a Little Lamb by Mother Goose
  
  Sing, chant, or dance to the entire collection of Mother Goose nursery rhymes!
• How Cinderella Disposed of Her Shoe by Guy Wetmore Carryl
  
  "And Cinderella, fitted out regardless of expense, made both her sisters look about like thirty-seven cents!"

• The Great Figure by William Carlos Williams
  
  Among the rain and lights I saw the figure 5 in gold on a red firetruck..."
• Assault by Edna St. Vincent Millay
  
  "Who will walk between me and the crying of the frogs?"
• Trees by Joyce Kilmer
  
  "I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree."
• Spider, say again by Matsuo Basho
  
  "Spider, say again! It’s so hard to hear your voice in the autumn wind."
  Such an elegant delivery of syllables-- enjoy more Haiku poems
• The Bashful Earthquake by Oliver Herford
  
  "Oh, what a crash! Oh, what a smash! How could I ever be so rash?"

• The Owl and the Pussy-Cat by Edward Lear
  
  A lovely adventure with predictable rhyming verse to build confidence in early readers. Illustrated by William Foster.
• The Railway Train by Emily Dickinson
  
  You can rename it I Like to See It Lap the Miles in case you want to read it to someone as a riddle.
• The Echoing Green by William Blake
  
  An old man's remembrance of the joy of childhood play. Blake's poems from a children's perspective are in Songs of Innocence.
• The Children's Hour by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
  
  "I hear in the chamber above me, the patter of little feet, the sound of a door that is opened, and voices soft and sweet."

• The Caterpillar by Robert Graves
  
  "I crawl on my high and swinging seat, and eat, eat,eat-- as one ought to eat."
• Yankee Doodle featured in American Patriotic Songs
  
  "Yankee Doodle went to town a-riding on a pony, stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni."

• This Land Is Your Land by Woody Guthrie, featured in American Patriotic Songs
  
  "This land is your land, this land is my land, from California to the New York Island..."
• Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
  
  "Listen, my children, and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere..."
• Swing Song by Laura E. Richards
  
  Butterfly flutters: "Little child, come work with me. Learn to make a perfect nest, that of all things is the best."
• I'd Love to Be a Fairy's Child by Robert Graves
  
  "They live on cherries, they run wild-- I'd love to be a Fairy's child."

• Foreign Lands by Robert Louis Stevenson
  
  "Up into the cherry tree who should climb but little me? I held the trunk with both my hands and looked abroad on foreign lands."
• Eletelephony by Laura E. Richards
  
  "Once there was an elephant, Who tried to use the telephant— No! No! I mean an elephone Who tried to use the telephone—"
• The Telephone by Robert Frost
  
  "There was an hour, all still, when leaning with my head against a flower, I heard you talk."
• The Land of Counterpane by Robert Louis Stevenson
  
  Best known for his adventure novel Treasure Island, Stevenson's poem is about a child amusing himself while sick in bed.





• Mother Earth's Children
  
  Clever rhymes about all kinds of fruits and vegetables to make eating fresh food more fun! Also enjoy Bird Children and Flower Children
• Once Upon a Time by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
  
  Find out what happens to the nest of fairies.
• Monosyllabics by Laura E. Richards
  
  "The black cat sat in the fat man’s hat; 'Oh, dear!' the fat man said.'May the great gray bat catch the bad black cat who has left me no hat for my head!'"

• Child-Songs by Alfred Lord Tennyson
  
  Children could almost skip rope chanting Tennyson's cheery verses.
• Just So Stories Poems by Rudyard Kipling
  
  Enjoy the poems to discover how the elephant, camel, whale, leopard, armadillo and more got their animal characteristics in Just So Stories.
• A Song from the Suds by Louisa May Alcott
  
  "Queen of my tub, I merrily sing, while the white foam rises high, and sturdily wash, and rinse, and wring, and fasten the clothes to dry."
• The Making of the Long Serpent by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
  
  Longfellow's tribute to the Viking boat-builder, Thorberg Skafting.
• The Village Blacksmith by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
  
  "And children coming home from school look in at the open door; They love to see the flaming forge, And bear the bellows roar."

• Waltzing Matilda by Banjo Paterson
  
  Learn the meaning of billabong, jumpbuck, coolibah and swagman in Australia's unofficial anthem!
• Autumn by Emily Dickinson
  
  Dickinson introduces children to personification.
• Jack-O-Lantern Song in Halloween Stories for Children
  
  "We, Jacks, our lanters did all light--" A specially Halloween collection just for kids!
• Our Little Ghost by Louisa May Alcott
  
  Not the least bit spooky, "For, in this happy little soul, shines a sun that never sets."
• Phantasmagoria by Lewis Carroll
  
  "I turned to look in some surprise, and there, before my very eyes, a little Ghost was standing!"

• Twas the Night Before Christmas featured in Christmas Stories for Children
  
  This classic poem is a must-read on Christmas Eve!
• The Christmas Ball by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, featured in Christmas Stories for Children
  
  Children and fairies sure know how dance under the shade of the Christmas-tree!
• Pippa's Song by Robert Browning
  
  It's a perfect spring day: "All's right with the world!"
• Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost
  
  "The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep."

• The Snowflake Tree by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
  
  Freeman celebrates the beauty of winter, and the joy of coming home to a warm hearth.
• A Snow Man in Winter Sports Stories
  
  All good snowmen eventually melt, but they are so fun to enjoy while they last!
• Winter Sport in Winter Sports Stories
  
  "A horse or cart I do not fear. For past them both my sled I steer."
• Dust of Snow by Robert Frost
  
  Who knew crows could be kind?

• The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus
  
  "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."
• America the Beautiful by Katharine Lee Bates
  
  "Oh beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain!"
• The Bean-Stalk by Edna St. Vincent Millay
  
  "Ho Giant, this is I! I have built me a bean-stalk into your sky!"

Middle school and older students may enjoy Poetry for Students and 100 Great Poems.
Looking for stories? Enjoy Children's Stories, Pre-K Read-Aloud Stories and Yummy Stories.

Return to American Literature Home Page

Follow @amlitreader