If you’ve been around Story Warren for long, you know that poetry is valued and celebrated here. You may have read Liz Cotrill’s article “What’s in a Poem?” or Julie Silander’s “The Serious Play of Poetry – Selected Resources” or Laura Peterson’s “Poems to Learn by Heart.” (If you’ve not read them yet, I commend them to you!)
I myself have long loved poetry, from my early memories of Robert Louis Stevenson’s poems (as illustrated by Eloise Wilkin), to Shel Silverstein’s absurd collections in elementary school, to memorizing Wordsworth and Shakespeare in high school, to studying the Victorian and Romantic poets in college.
As a poet, I have become friends with many other poets over the years, and I’ve discovered that a great many of them first found their joy in poetry as children, just like I did. The poems that delighted us back then—from authors like Silverstein, Milne, Prelutsky, and Lear—still delight us now; our tastes have simply expanded to include names like Eliot, Rilke, Donne, Angelou, Hopkins, Oliver, and Guite.
One of my favorite ways to introduce my own children to poetry has been through illustrated poetry books and anthologies. Art gives young children a scaffold for their understanding as they listen to a cadence of words they might or might not yet understand. The illustrations draw their attention and hold them there long enough to hear phrases and lines that will bury deep. With any repetition at all, those lines and stanzas and poems become a part of them that will resurface as they age, and if all goes well, those poems will be a gateway to weightier, lovelier, more profound words that will enrich their lives as they navigate the complexities of this world. It might even spark them to write a few lines of their own—a practice that has been proven to benefit mental health.
Here are some of our family’s favorite illustrated poetry books, in no particular order:
- I’m Just No Good at Rhyming and Other Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grownups, by Chris Harris, illustrated by Lane Smith – This collection makes the children laugh and is tattered from being pulled off the shelf so many times.
- Gnomes of the Cheese Forest, by Ken Priebe – Ken’s poems and art give me ’80s kid nostalgia vibes, and his brand of humor is a favorite around here.
- A Child’s Book of Poems, by Gyo Fujikawa – A thick and lovely collection that’s perfect for introducing young children to poetry.
- A Poke in the I: a Collection of Concrete Poems, by Paul Janeczko, illustrated by Chris Raschka – Delightful poetic forms and artwork that inspire play and imitation.
- Poems for the Very Young, by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Bob Graham – This contains one of my favorite poems to read to young children: “If you ever ever ever ever ever, if you ever ever ever meet a whale…”
- Falling Up, by Shel Silverstein – Does this need an introduction? It’s a classic.
- A Family of Poems, by Caroline Kennedy, illustrated by Jon J. Muth – One of the most beautiful books of poems I’ve ever read. Muth’s paintings are exquisite.
- Poetry for Young People: Maya Angelou, edited by Edwin Graves Wilson, illustrated by Jerome Lagarrigue – One of a series introducing children to famous poets. The illustrations are pure art.
- Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child’s Book of Poems, illustrated by nine Caldecott Medal artists – Delightful collaboration between famous artists and poets, designed with children in mind.
A few years ago, when the pandemic had us all homebound, our family began participating in a poetry tea time Zoom call with other homeschool families, and our children took great delight in reading and reciting poetry to one another, from “Ooey Gooey Was a Worm” to “I’m No Good at Rhyming.” Each week they’d all bring new (old) poems to share as they enjoyed tea and snacks, and we moms were able to interject lovely favorites as well.
In that same season, I was also regularly participating in online workshops with poets who were busy honing their craft. These adults still loved playing with words and the turn of a phrase, and they were in the process of writing good, beautiful, and sometimes hilarious things. I wished I could introduce these delightful poets to the children I knew who were delighting in poetry.
And that’s where the idea for I’ve Got a Bad Case of Poetry first took root. It’s a new anthology of poetry written by a new generation of poets for a new generation of children. With 170 poems penned by 62 poets, this collection is full of the same fun and whimsy and sweet nostalgia that exuded from the collections we enjoyed as children. The whole collection will be fully illustrated by the incredibly talented Emily J. Person, whose work captures the wonder and whimsy of both the natural and imaginary worlds.
Bandersnatch Books is running a Kickstarter to help bring this anthology into the world, and once we meet our base goal to make this project happen, every stretch goal we meet will allow us to upgrade the book for everyone, adding a ribbon marker, printed end pages, foil on the cover, embossing on the cover, and (if we hit the last one!) gilded edges on the pages. We want this book to be big and beautiful and something our children will fondly share with their own children, spreading the love of poetry to future generations.
Will you help us spread that love?
To help bring I’ve Got a Bad Case of Poetry into the world, back the Kickstarter campaign before March 11. Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing platform. Once the base goal is met to make this book a reality, each stretch goal met before the deadline will add features designed to make it into a true heirloom book. Every single backer gets the upgrades to the physical book, so spread the word to all your friends!
- I’ve Got a Bad Case of Poetry - February 26, 2025
- Introducing Zao’s Tales - February 9, 2022
- Play Therapy - August 2, 2021
So exciting! Can\’t wait to see this new poetry anthology come to life!
Rachel, this is such a beautiful and helpful post. The new Bandersnatch poetry anthology is going to be a TREASURE! I\’m sharing it everywhere I can. This book will be such a blessing to kids and their families…it needs to be out in the world!