Thirteen Poems That Are Great To Read With Children
(1) If You Should Meet a Crocodile (Anonymous)
If you should meet a Crocodile
Don’t take a stick and poke him;
Ignore the welcome in his smile,
Be careful not to stroke him.
For as he sleeps upon the Nile,
He thinner gets and thinner;
And whene’er you meet a Crocodile
He’s ready for his dinner.
(2) Fog (By Carl Sandburg)
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
(3) Drinking Fountain (By Marchette Chute)
When I climb up
To get a drink
It doesn’t work
The way you’d think.
I turn it up.
The water goes
And hits me right
Upon the nose.
I turn it down
To make it small
And don’t get any
Drink at all.
(4) Hey, Bug! (By Lilian Moore)
Hey, bug, stay!
Don’t run away.
I know a game that we can play.
I’ll hold my fingers very still
And you can climb a finger-hill.
No, no.
Don’t go.
Here’s a wall - a tower, too,
a tiny bug town, just for you.
I’ve a cookie. You have some.
Take this oatmeal cookie crumb.
Hey, bug, stay!
Hey, bug!
Hey!
(5) Sometimes (by Mary Ann Hoberman)
Sometimes I like to be alone
And look up at the sky
And think my thoughts inside my head -
Just me, myself, and I.
(6) Bird Carpenter (By Leland B. Jacobs)
Carpenters use nails and hammers,
Planes and levels,
Saws and rules.
Birds build houses so much simpler -
Beaks are all
They have for tools.
(7) About Feet (By Margaret Hillert)
The centipede is not complete
Unless he has one hundred feet.
Spiders must have eight for speed,
And six is what all insects need.
Other creatures by the score
Cannot do with less than four.
But two are quite enough, you know
To take me where I want to go.
(8) My Nose (By Dorothy Aldis)
It doesn’t breathe;
It doesn’t smell;
It doesn’t feel
So very well.
I am discouraged
With my nose;
The only thing it
Does is blows.
(9) I’m Glad The Sky is Painted Blue (Anonymous)
I’m glad the sky is painted blue,
And the earth is painted green,
With such a lot of nice fresh air
All sandwiched in between.
(10) Who Has Seen The Wind? (By Christina Rossetti)
Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you:
But when the leaves hang trembling,
The wind is passing through.
Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I:
But when the leaves bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by.
(11) Dreams (By Langston Hughes)
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
(12) Spaghetti! Spaghetti! (By Jack Prelutsky)
Spaghetti! Spaghetti!
you’re wonderful stuff.
I love you, spaghetti.
I can’t get enough.
You’re covered with sauce
and you’re sprinkled with cheese,
Spaghetti! Spaghetti!
Oh, give me some more please.
Spaghetti! Spaghetti!
piled high in a mound.
You wiggle, you wriggle,
you squiggle around.
There’s slurpy spaghetti
all over my plate.
Spaghetti! Spaghetti!
I think you are great.
Spaghetti! Spaghetti!
I love you a lot.
You’re slishy, you’re sloshy,
delicious and hot.
I gobble you down
Oh, I can’t get enough.
Spaghetti! Spaghetti!
you’re wonderful stuff.
(13) Books (By Arnold Lobel)
Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky.
My pile of books
Are a mile high.
How I love them!
How I need them!
I’ll have a long beard
By the time I read them!
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March 28th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
LOVE #13!!! I have piles of books, but alas, no beard
March 28th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
I’m stealing #8….I need something to go along with inferencing things.
I love using poems in the classroom and “attempting” to get students to write them.
March 28th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
Those are cute poems for children. And, they are easy to learn.
Come check out my Thursday Thirteen.
March 28th, 2007 at 8:31 pm
My kids would have liked the spaghetti one when they were little. They had a thing about spaghetti … they claim thats all I ever cooked.
??:
March 28th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
“Who has seen the Wind” and “Dreams” are two of my favorites. I had never read/heard “Hey Bug!” but now it is also a favorite. How cute!
My TT is also posted.
March 28th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
No Shel Silverstein?
My favorite is:
Listen to the MUSTN’TS, child,
Listen to the DON’TS
Listen to the SHOULDN’TS
The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON’TS
Listen to the NEVER HAVES
Then listen close to me–
Anything can happen, child,
ANYTHING can be.
TMS: And THAT poem goes into my poetry folder TODAY! I love it. There are some other Shel Silverstein poems I will add, too. Thanks!
March 28th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
Wonderful list of poems. I really like who has seen the wind.
March 28th, 2007 at 10:11 pm
Great List. I jotted down the titles and authors….My little grand daughter is only 9 weeks old so I’ll have to wait a while on these.
March 29th, 2007 at 2:03 am
I admire that you are able to do this blog & keep up with all the work involved with Thursday Thirteen.
March 29th, 2007 at 6:59 am
I love these. I remember some of them. I think it is great to teach poetry to children. It is something they will have with them always.
March 29th, 2007 at 7:37 am
Awwww, I want to read these to my little guy now! The first one, we really do have crocs around here tho, I don’t want him to get any ideas, hee hee. Happy TT!
Lisa - Lil’ Duck Duck
March 29th, 2007 at 11:42 am
These are great! I love the first one. I used to read “where the sidewalk ends” and “a light in the attic” all the time as a kid.
March 29th, 2007 at 11:53 am
I think I like #4, 5, 11, and 13 best, but they’re all great!
Happy TT.
March 29th, 2007 at 11:53 am
Thanks for the fantastic poems. I especially like “Sometimes”, “Dreams” and “Fog”. I’m usually not much of a fan of poetry, but in small doses it’s great. Unfortunately I don’t have any children at hand I could read them to.
I just participated in TT for the first time and I’ve found so many interesting blogs, it’S unbelievable.
March 29th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
A great T13. I have favorited the page and will be sharing with my son.
The best I have seen today.
Wishing you well
March 29th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
How sweet of you to write them all out! I think I’m going to read those to my kids tonight
I played too
March 29th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
I love those–I haven’t seen some of them for 25 years; they’re excellent.
March 29th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
Great selection, Carol. Two (”Fog” and “Dreams”) are among the poems I had already selected to use on my “Poem to Start the Week” series.
Now I have some other candidates as well!
Anmd to Journey Woman, I have enjoyed that Shel poem and I have used it with my students. The problem with Shel is trying not to overdo it: he has so many!!
March 29th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
I knew #2 and 10, but wasn’t familiar with the rest. I enjoyed reading them!
March 29th, 2007 at 9:17 pm
Great poems. You’d do well to read them with ADULTS as well.
March 30th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
#8 and #13 are terrific. Thanks.
April 10th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
April 20th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
April 17th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
[...] Poetry is great for children who are having trouble learning to read. I’ve done a post on my favorite thirteen children’s poems - absolutely wonderful poems for [...]