Celebrate Poetry with Out of Wonder

 

Poetry gets a good amount of attention in April during National Poetry Month, but poetry can (and should!) be experienced year-round. For a great resource to sample and celebrate a wide range of poets, take a look at Out of Wonder, the 2018 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award Winner. It's a great jumping off point, and to further investigate the poets featured in Out of Wonder, check out the rest of this list.

Also available in: e-audiobook | video | e-video

Presents a collection of twenty poems written in tribute to well-known poets from around the world. Browse the list below to find additional resources on each of the twenty poets featured -- there are both poetry collections and a few short biographies.

My First Book of Haiku Poems introduces children to inspirational works of poetry and art that speak of our connection to the natural world. Includes poems from Matsuo Basho.

Voyage by Billy Collins

Voyage is an illustrated poem of fantasy, imagination, and magical transformations by Billy Collins

Book Cover of Chief Dan George - Poet, Actor & Public Speaker

 

Chief Dan George - Poet, Actor & Public Speaker, available on Hoopla

Read the story of one of the best storytellers of Canada's Six Nations. Chief Dan George entered the silver screen to represent the indigenous people. He was Tsleil-Waututh actor and poet through and through. He turned down stereotypical roles. Learn about the colorful life of Chief Dan George. 

Lively and informative, the book also presents some of Cummings's most wonderful poems, integrating them seamlessly into the story to give the reader the music of his voice and a spirited, sensitive introduction to his poetry. An introduction to e.e. cummings' life and work.

With Dickinson's own inimitable poetry woven throughout, this lyrical biography is not just a tale of prodigious talent, but also of the power we have to transform ourselves and to reach one another when we speak from the soul. Learn more about Emily Dickinson's life and work.

A song for Gwendolyn Brooks by Alice Faye Duncan

A collection of poems profiles the Chicago author who gave voice to the urban African American experience in the twentieth century. Learn more about poet Gwendolyn Brooks.

I, too, am America by Langston Hughes

Read the poem "I, Too," which creates a breathtaking reminder to all Americans that we are united despite our differences. Poem by Langston Hughes.

A biography of African American writer, performer, and activist Maya Angelou, who turned a childhood of trauma and emotional pain to become one of the most inspiring voices of our lifetime. 

Beloved and acclaimed poet Naomi Shihab Nye is the Young People's Poet Laureate, serving until August 2021. This celebratory book collects in one volume her most popular and accessible poems from the past forty years.

I am loved by Nikki Giovanni

There is nothing more important to a child than to feel loved, and this gorgeous gathering of poems written by Nikki Giovanni celebrates exactly that. 

The dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan

A fictionalized biography of the Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who grew up a painfully shy child, ridiculed by his overbearing father, but who became one of the most widely-read poets in the world.

The road not taken by Robert Frost

Heartwarming illustrations of a young boy journeying through a yellow wood accompany the original text of Robert Frost's poem. When a fork in the road arises for the boy, so too does the first of life's many choices. And as the poem progresses, so does the boy's life: college, career, marriage, family, loss, and, by journey's end, the sweet satisfaction of a life fully lived. 

In this version of the blind men and the elephant, based on a poem by Rumi, Persian villagers try to figure out what strange animal in a dark barn has arrived from India

Jazz [kit] by Walter Dean Myers

From the award-winning father and son team who delivered Blues Journey, this new presentation of poetry and paintings explores the history and development of jazz music. Text by Walter Dean Myers.

An illustrated biography of American poet William Carlos Williams, who studied to become a doctor, but still found time to write poetry.

Beyond Content for Kids

Some poets have not written specifically for kids, but for those who are interested in exploring more, here are some adult titles by the featured poets.

Book Cover of Collected Poems by Judith Wright

 

Collected Poems by Judith Wright, available on Hoopla

Whether she is read for her rich evocation of the Australian land, for the truth, sensitivity and profundity of her meditations on the great themes of love, death and eternity, or for the beauty of her lyric style, Judith Wright is always supremely rewarding.

"Joy is not made to be a crumb," writes Mary Oliver, and certainly joy abounds in her new book of poetry and prose poems. 

Hare and Hornbill by Okot pBitek cover

 

Hare and Hornbill by Okot p'Bitek, available through MeL

Poetic folktale by Okot p'Bitek.

Features "My wicked wicked ways" and "Little clown, my heart " by Sandra Cisneros

Lighthead by Terrance Hayes

In his fourth collection, Terrance Hayes investigates how we construct experience. With one foot firmly grounded in the everyday and the other hovering in the air, his poems braid dream and reality into a poetry that is both dark and buoyant.