We’ve partnered with the Academy of American Poets to celebrate National Poetry Month–check out their website if you haven’t before, but be aware you could lose a few hours reading!
Here are 15 poems selected for children, for National Poetry Month, by The Academy of American Poets. Thank you, Academy! We hope you, our readers, enjoy spending time exploring these poems, embedded below, and that you feel inspired to produce your own.
“El Florida Room” by Richard Blanco
- Richard Blanco is the Academy of American Poets’ Education Ambassador, and in 2013, he was selected to write a poem for Barack Obama’s second inauguration. In this interview from 2013, he shares his writing process, his poetic influences, and his thoughts about poetry’s place in America.
“When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities” by Chen Chen
- Find more poetry resources for teen readers, including roundups of poems about gender, relationships, and identity.
“A Way of Seeing” by Kwame Dawes
- Read more poems about family.
“Heart to Heart” by Rita Dove
- Read more poems about different kinds of love.
“A Small Needful Fact” by Ross Gay
“Knoxville, Tennessee” by Nikki Giovanni
- Find more selections of poems for kids.
“breaking away to the u.s.” by José B. González
“Remember” by Joy Harjo
- Watch a video of the poet reading this poem.
“Fast Break” by Edward Hirsch
- Read more poems about sports.
- Watch a video of the poet reading this poem.
“Three Foxes by the Edge of the Field at Twilight” by Jane Hirshfield
- Watch a video of the poet reading this poem.
“Amphibians” by Joseph O. Legaspi
- Read more poems involving nature as a subject or a metaphor.
“How to Triumph Like a Girl” by Ada Limón
- Read more poems about animals.
“Wrap” by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
- Watch a video of the poet talking about the poem that brought her to poetry.
“Famous” by Naomi Shihab Nye
- Read more poems by Naomi Shihab Nye.
“The Dogs at Live Oak Beach, Santa Cruz” by Alicia Ostriker
- Watch a video of the poet reading this poem.
Which poem do you like the most? Share your thoughts below!