Poems for Kids

This is a collection of great poems for kids from famous poets. These enjoyable poems cover topics that include animals, clouds, monsters, the alphabet, shadows, mountains and feeling too sick for school. They are a great way to introduce children to the work of renowned poets. You might also be interested in the page featuring classic children's short stories.

Kids' Poems

"A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement Clarke Moore
This poem is sometimes known as 'Twas the night before Christmas" because of the famous first line. The poem begins:
"'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;"
"Macavity The Mystery Cat" by T.S. Eliot
T.S. Eliot's awesome cat poem includes the lines:
"He’s broken every human law, he breaks the law of gravity.
His powers of levitation would make a fakir stare,
And when you reach the scene of crime - Macavity's not there! "
"At the Zoo" by Kids'
William Makepeace Thackeray wrote this poem in the 1840s. It covers zoo animals, a topic children are fond of. It begins:
"First I saw the white bear, then I saw the black;
Then I saw the camel with a hump upon his back;"
"Cloud" by Christina Rossetti
Is that a cloud or a sheep? Rossetti's poem begins: "White sheep, white sheep, On a blue hill, When the wind stops, You all stand still."
"Eletelephony" by Laura Elizabeth Richards
Elephant and telephones are twisted in Richards' clever poem. The lines include: "Entangled in the telephunk; The more he tried to get it free, The louder buzzed the telephee—"
"Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll
Carroll's poem involves a battle against the Jabberwock monster. It includes the lines:
"The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!"
"Nonsense Alphabet" by Edward Lear
Kids will love Lear's rhyming alphabet. This is the entry for F: "F was a fish Who was caught in a net; But he got out again, And is quite alive yet."
"The Purple Cow" by Gelett Burgess
Burgess makes a good point in this short poem. "I never saw a Purple Cow, I never hope to see one, But I can tell you, anyhow, I’d rather see than be one!"
"Sick" by Shel Silverstein
Silverstein wrote a fun poem about being too sick to go to schol. It includes the lines: "And don’t you think my face looks green? My leg is cut—my eyes are blue— It might be instamatic flu."
"I’m Nobody! Who are you?" by Emily Dickinson
Dickinson's poem begins with the lines:
"I'm Nobody! Who are you?
Are you – Nobody – too?
Then there’s a pair of us!
Don’t tell! they’d advertise – you know!"
"Now We Are Six" by A.A. Milne
Winnie the Pooh author A.A. Milne discusses aging in his poem that begins: "When I was One, I had just begun. When I was Two, I was nearly new."
"The Spider and the Fly" by Mary Howitt
Howitt's famous poem begins: ""Will you walk into my parlor?" said the spider to the fly; "'Tis the prettiest little parlor that ever you may spy."
"My Shadow" by Robert Louis Stevenson
Stevenson's fun shadow poem begins with the lines: "I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me, And what can be the use of him is more than I can see. He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head; "
"The Moon" by Robert Louis Stevenson
Stevenson's moon poems begins: "The Moon has a face like the clock in the hall She shines on thieves on the garden wall. On streets and fields and harbour quays, And birdies asleep in the forks of the trees.'
"The Mountain and the Squirrel" by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Emerson's children's poem begins, "The mountain and the squirrel Had a quarrel,And the former called the latter "Little prig."
"Caterpillar" by Christina Rossetti
The Caterpillar poem begins: "rown and furry Caterpillar in a hurry, Take your walk To the shady leaf, or stalk,"
"Little Things" by Julia A. Carney
This poem talks about how little things make big things. It begins: "Little drops of water, Little drains of sand, Make the mighty ocean And the beauteous land."
"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" by Jane Taylor
This classic children's poem was first published by Taylor in 1806. begins:
"Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky."
"There Was a Little Girl" by Henry Wadsworth Longfello
You will likely recognize this poem after you read it. It begins: "There was a little girl Who had a little curl Right in the middle of her forehead."
"The Fieldmouse" by Cecil Frances Alexander
Alexander's poem with advice for a small mouse contains the lines: "Scarcely moving the long grass, Fieldmouse, I can see you pass. Little thing, in what dark den, Lie you all the winter sleeping?"
"Little Robin Redbreast" by Anonymous
This famous poem begins: "Little Robin Redbreast Sat upon a tree; Up went Pussy-cat, Down went he. "
"Old Mother Hubbard" by Sarah Catherine Martin
This famous poem was first published in 1805. It begins: "Old Mother Hubbard Went to the cupboard, To give the poor dog a bone;"
"The Jumblies" by Edward Lear
Lear's poem about the Jumblies begins: "They went to sea in a Sieve, they did, In a Sieve they went to sea: In spite of all their friends could say, On a winter’s morn, on a stormy day,"
"Poor Old Lady" by Anonymous
An old lady has increasingly serious problems in this famous poem. It begins: "Poor old lady, she swallowed a fly. I don't know why she swallowed a fly. Poor old lady, I think she'll die."

You can find more poems in our Poems section