In Daddy's Arms I Am Tall

Author: Folami Abiade 

Illustrator: Javaka Steptoe

Genre: Poetry

Grade level: 2-5

Award: Coretta Scott King

This is a collection of poems honoring fathers. Different writers write poems about how they felt about their own fathers. Some recalled memories of their father's rough hands from how hard he had worked and some recalled playful games they would play with their father. Each poem reflects found memories of different fathers.

This book is good to use to teach about the role of a father. It can be used as a journal prompt where students can recall memories with their families. 

The illustrations are very interesting. They are collage styled pictures and are different pieces of fabrics cut and pasted as well as other material things. They go well with the different meanings of the poems 

The Blacker the Berry

Author: Joyce Carol Thomas

Illustrator: Floyd Cooper

Genre: Poetry

Grade level: 2-5

Award: Coretta Scott King illustration award and author 

This book is a collection of poems that celebrate a wide variety of skin colors. Each poem shows a different berry and skin color. It helps children appreciate the beauty of different skin colors. It is all conveyed through the eyes of a child. 

This book can be used as a journal response prompt where students must appreciate themselves and their own skin. It can be used during the poetry unit as well.

The pictures capture the happiness of the child and are very light and beautiful. They go along with the poem well and really demonstrate exactly what the lesson the poem is trying to get across. 

A Full Moon is Rising

Author: Marilyn Singer

Illustrator: Julia Cairns

Genre: Poetry

Grade level: 2-5

These poems celebrate the magic of a full moon and how people experience it all over the world. There are poems set in many different settings such as the city and the country. There are poems from Africa all the way to Columbia. Different religions and traditions were included in the book with different festivals involving the moon. The end poems and pages include a map and has all the locations traveled throughout the different poems. In the back of the book there is an explanation of each countries culture

This book can be used to talk about different cultures. It also can be used to talk about different religious practices or different celebrations in different parts of the world. It also can be used to talk about traditions and what they are. 

The illustrations are very colorful and detailed to show different cultures very well. The color scheme is mostly warm colors that are darker to represent the night time and the moon. 

A Poke in the I

Author: Paul B. Janeczko

Illustrator: Chris Raschka

Genre: Poetry

Grade level: 2-6

This is a collection of concrete poems by an array of different authors. Some of the poems are just one word but the design and the arrangement of the words make it interesting and beautiful. The poems are arranged by subject. The poems that are about similar things are placed next to each other in the book. 

This book can be used in the classroom during the poetry unit. It can also be used in art class because of the very interesting illustrations in the book. I can use it to do a combined art and poetry lesson and project in the classroom.

The illustrations are a combination of ink, watercolors, and collage work. They are very interesting designs are are very abstract. They coincide with the poems. Without the illustrations the poems would not be complete. 

Hi, Koo!: A Year of Seasons

Author/ Illustrator: Jon J Muth 

Genre: Poetry

Grade level: K-3

This book is about a Panda and some children that live through a year with four seasons. Each page is a haiku. It is an alphabet book and ends with the last season. 

This book can be used to teach about seasons as well as types of poetry like a haiku. 

The illustrations are cute and colorful and fun. They portray how fun and silly the panda is and help illustrate the different seasons. 

Now We Are Six

Author: A. A Milne

Illustrator: E.H Shepard

Genre: Poetry

Grade Level: K-3

This is a book of 35 children verses. This book is original Winnie-the-pooh and quote a few of the poems in this book are of them. There is also a lot of nonsense poems about kings and emperors. There are poems about the Knight Whose Armer Didn't Squeak, Alexander the Beetle, and much more. 

This book can be introduced in the poetry unit. It is very imaginative and well written. It is not an ordinary book of poem and it included Pooh walking through the poems as if he is walking through the story making appearances in some of the poems. It can be a model for children to expand their imagination.

The illustrations in this book are beautiful. They are sketches that really help bring the story to life and really make the book seem as if the book is not just a collection of poems, but an actual story. 

Dirty Beasts

Author: Roald Dahl 

Illustrator: Quentin Blake

Genre: Poetry

Grade level: K-4

This book is a collection of poems about unsuspecting animals. Each one is a story about an animal. It is very fun and kid friendly. The poems are all rhyming poems and they each tell a different story. It gets children's imaginations going and is really amusing entertainment. 

This book can be used during a poetry unit. It can also be used just for entertainment and learning purposes. It is very fun and exciting and really can help pique the interests of young readers to poetry.

The illustrations are watercolor fantasy pictures. They help the poems come to life and give the book an extra something special to make poetry less formal and more appropriate for children.

A Child's Garden of Verses 

Author: Robert Louis Stevenson 

Illustrator: Tasha Tudor 

Genre: Poetry

Grade level: K-5

This book is a collection of poetry for children. It is about darkness and solitude. The poem's are put into a kid friendly manor to teach them about the realities of life and sadness. Some poems are rhyming poems and some are not. This poems are written in the perspective of children and really relate to children and the innocence of what it's like to be a child

I could use this in the classroom during a poetry unit. I can also use this to help children relate to poems. A lot of the time poems can be hard to understand and pretty un-relatable to a small child. These poems can be used to relate to them on a personable level.

The illustrations are very beautiful. They are whimsical like and really add a lot to the poems. They capture the essence of how great it is to be a child. 

Where the Sidewalk Ends

Author/Cover Art: Shel Silverstein

Genre: Poetry

Grade level: K-6

This book is a collection of poems by Shel Silverstein. The rhyming patterns are different in each poem and therefore not predictable. They all have a very humorous tone to them and are all about different things so they do not need to be read in specific order. All the poems give very descriptive details and really helps the reader imagine what is going on in addition to some art sketches. There are many poems in the book that refer to holidays and family relationships along with friendships as well. 

This book will be used during a poetry unit in class. It is very entertaining and can give children entertaining ideas to write their own poems. It also teaches some morals in life and can be used to teach morals to students as well. 

The illustrations are very amusing. They are sketches in black and white and are very detailed. They are super animated and help add an extra something special to these great poems. 

Sing a Song of Piglets

Author: Eve Bunting

Illustrator: Emily Arnold McCully

Genre: Poetry

Grade Level: PK-1

This book is a about little pigs during the months of the year. It is a calendar in verse. It talks about what the pigs do in each month and their adventures throughout each month of the year. All these things would be fun to do alone but the pigs are glad they have each other to experience all these fun things to do during these different seasons and months of the year. 

The pictures are very vibrant and fun! The color scheme depicts each month of the year and the weather during that time of the month. The pictures describe what the pigs are doing in each of the months and go well with the description to really tie in what this poetry book is about.

I could use this in the classroom to learn about the months of the year. We could read the book and then draw out their own pigs and their favorite things to do during those months of the year.