Poetry for Kids

Every once in a while, I find myself coming back to one of my favorite kinds of poems to write. I especially enjoy creating characters who are terrible at the one thing they are supposed to be good at. There is something inherently funny about that idea. Over the years, I have written poems like “The Pirate of Pickletown,” “Lorenzo Liszt, Non-Scientist,” and “Steve the Superhero,” all featuring characters who somehow manage to get ...

Some poems begin with a big idea, and others start with something small and simple. This one began when I was out for a walk on a beautiful day. The weather was just right—not too hot, not too cold—and everything felt bright and cheerful. Without even thinking about it, I realized I had a little extra bounce in my step.

That expression, “a spring in my step,” has always made me smile. It’s such a happy way to describe that feeling ...

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved poems and stories that build on themselves—ones where each new line adds something to what came before. You might know stories like “The House That Jack Built” or “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.” They’re fun because you can almost predict what’s coming next, and sometimes you can even join in as they go along.

I’ve always wanted to write a poem like that, something that stacks one idea...

Most of the time, when I write a poem, the idea sneaks up on me. It might come from something I see, something I hear, or just a silly thought that pops into my head and refuses to leave. But every now and then, I get a very specific assignment.

That’s what happened with this poem. An editor at Storyworks 4–6, a magazine for students in grades four through six, asked me to write about a kid who tries to do something nice for their ...

With St. Patrick’s Day coming up, I thought it might be fun to write a poem about the holiday. Over the years I’ve written a number of poems about wearing green clothing on March 17th, because green is the color most people associate with St. Patrick’s Day. As it happens, green is also my favorite color.

But while I was thinking about the holiday, I began to wonder what it might be like if someone didn’t like green at all. What if ...

When I was a kid, I often imagined what it would be like to have superpowers. But the powers I dreamed about weren’t the usual ones you see in comic books. I didn’t spend much time imagining myself flying through the air or lifting cars over my head. Instead, I wondered what it would be like if I could stop time, or magically change things around me.

For example, what if you could make something disappear just by wishing it away? W...

Kids often ask me to write a poem about their favorite sport. Just as often, they ask me what my favorite sport is. That got me thinking… do I really have just one?

Instead of choosing a single sport, I decided to imagine a kid who loves all of them. A sports fanatic! Someone who gets excited about baseball and soccer and surfing and skiing and everything in between. The result is this poem, a big, energetic list of games, races, m...

Have you ever seen a shape in the dark but couldn’t quite make out what it was? Maybe you caught something out of the corner of your eye—a shadow, a lump, a blur—and for just a second your imagination ran wild.

This time of year, even though the days are starting to get a little longer, it’s still winter. It’s still the darkest season. The sun rises late. The evenings stretch on. And when the light is low, ordinary things can look…...

I wrote this poem because Valentine’s Day was coming up, and I wanted a silly love poem that felt a little different from the usual ones. I played around with a few ideas first—like a teacher being in love with homework and quizzes, or my cat falling in love with my dog—but none of them quite clicked. Then I started thinking about how some people, especially teenagers, spend a lot of time checking their reflection, and it made me l...