9 best kids’ poetry books to fire up their imagination

Best: Overall

Score: 10/10

This anthology is one of those books that just feels special. From the strokeable cloth-bound cover to the gorgeous illustrations by Lesley Barnes, it’s quite honestly a joy to look at and hold. Our five-year-old tester loved the glow-in-the-dark designs on the front and back of the book – so much so, that switching off the lights to look at the pictures before we read the poems has become a regular part of bedtime!

Visual appeal aside, this book absolutely delivers on fun, inspiring and engaging content that had our young tester excited to find out which poems were coming next. Booker Prize-winning author Penelope Lively introduces a wonderful collection of poems from old favourites including Seamus Heaney and William Blake, with classics like Sara Coleridge’s “The Garden Year” and T.S Eliot’s “Macavity: The Mystery Cat” both proving very popular with our five-year-old. There are over 80 poems to choose from, and we think there’s definitely something for all ages of children, right up to early teens.

Enjoyable to read and something that will look beautiful on your bookshelf, this is the ideal introduction to the world of poetry. A beautiful keepsake that would make an excellent new baby present for families to enjoy together for years to come.

Best: For nature lovers

Score: 8/10

Nothing quite captures a child’s imagination like a trip to The National History Museum – guaranteed minds blown! This book is inspired by and themed around some of the treasures that have been displayed at the London museum over the years, and it’s as awe-inspiring and thoughtful as you’d hope. Curated by author Ana Sampson, the book is split into chapters covering everything from space and earth to mammals and dinosaurs, all with serious kid appeal. Each chapter begins with a bit of detail about the various exhibits in the museum, and the book is scattered with photographs of objects or illustrations from the archives.

We particularly liked how many contemporary poets were included in the anthology, many of which really appealed to our young testers – “On Forgetting That I Am a Tree” by Ruth Awolola and “A Real Live Fossil” by Rachael M Nicholas are now firm favourites.

The book is a celebration of our planet and the natural world, and there’s plenty here to inspire children (and adults) to do all that we can to keep it safe, with Gerard Benson’s “A Small Star” and Pascale Petit’s “#ExtinctionRebellion” providing great talking points with our older readers about climate change and what we can all do to help make a difference.

Best: For performing

Score: 9/10

If anyone is going to convince a child that poetry is cool, it’s award-winning children’s author, playwright and performance poet, Joseph Coelho. In this lively collection, he encourages kids to read aloud and perform the poems, whether it’s alone, with friends or to an audience, offering tips and advice throughout. The biggest rule of all? That “poetry is fun and ultimately there are no rules!” This was certainly something our independent readers aged 7 and up could get on board with.

Everything from the bold and colourful illustrations by Daniel Gray-Barnett to the “red chilli” scale (signalling which of the poems might include some tricky words or complicated themes), is designed with kids in mind and, as a result, it was a book our testers revisited again and again.

There’s a good mix of short poems for younger children to begin with and longer ones for older kids to get their teeth into. Particular favourites are the “Objects with Voices” collection, where Coelho imagines what a phone, pencil case and slime might say if they could talk (slime obviously a major hit with our readers!), and “Hide-and-Seek”, which usually ended up with the kids in fits of laughter. If you want to show your children how fun poetry can be, this book is the one for you.

Best: For older teens

Score: 9/10

Poet and writer Nikita Gill believes that “poetry is not a luxury, certainly not in the world we live in today. It is a war cry – a battle song. And you’re gonna wanna hear this”. In this celebration of slams – “a competition where poets perform their verse on stage in a set amount of time and are marked by judges from the audience” – Nikita brings together a collection of contemporary, rallying, compelling and empowering poems, telling stories that deserve to be heard.

With the overarching themes of Home, Kin, Duality, Protest, Desire and Acceptance, these inclusive works by slam poets are vital reads for older teens and adults. Our testers hadn’t heard of slam poetry before and, if they’re honest, were a little hesitant that a book of poetry could speak to them, but their preconceptions were soon proved wrong and they were blown away by the powerful prose in this book.

In Nikita’s words, this is “a manifesto for compassion and how important it is in a world that is ever more divided.” Buy for your teenager, buy for yourself – basically buy a copy for everyone you know and introduce them to the incredible talent of voices that urgently need to be heard.

Best: For bedtime reading

Score: 8/10

We love the concept of this book, which is a collection of beautiful artworks and poetry to be read at bedtime. Dreamy prose like “Golden Slumbers” by Thomas Dekker sits alongside paintings to help tell a story – in this case, a musical angel by Rosso Fiorentino – and we can vouch for its magical, sleep-inducing powers, as reading this book to our five-year-old each night has worked a treat!

Many of the poems are by well-known names such as Walt Whitman, William Shakespeare and Maya Angelou, while the artwork is provided by favourites such as Georgia O’Keeffe and Henri Rousseau. The pictures and words work so well together, especially as young children so often want something visual when it comes to bedtime stories, and it’s a clever way to introduce them to the world of poetry and art at the same time. This is a relaxing anthology that would appeal to four years and up, depending on which poems you read and they read. A word of warning though – there is a section that includes some slightly darker artwork and eerie poems and folktales, which younger kids might not be so keen on. Our five-year-old is still recovering after spotting Henry Fuseli’s creepy painting “The Nightmare”…

Best: For the whole family

Score: 8/10

The idea of having a poem to read each day really appealed to our testers, who loved racing through the book to find the poem to match the right date. Each prose has been perfectly chosen to represent the season, or themed to a special day. Of course, there’s a festive choice for Christmas Day, and clever selections for everything from April Fool’s Day to Mother’s Day, but there are also other important dates in the calendar, such as Holocaust Remembrance Day and the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, that are marked with thoughtful choices.

We found the poems in this book were a great way of starting conversations around important world events, especially as each poem came with a little bit of detail about the poet and (if relevant) the occasion.

Suitable for all age groups, it’s a good choice for the whole family with everything from classics like Lewis Carroll’s “The Walrus and the Carpenter” and “Remember” by Christina Rossetti, to more contemporary choices like “’Crab-Apples” by Imtiaz Dharker and Michaela Morgan’s “Malala”. We also enjoyed the addition of song lyrics by the likes of George Harrison and Bob Dylan, too.

As Allie Esiri explains in her introduction, these are “the very best of words in their very best outfits, poems which will clothe you with brilliant lines to wear always, and which will clad your heart with beauty”. We found it bursting with inspiration and an accessible way to introduce a bit of poetry into your child’s everyday life.

Best: For young children

Score: 9/10

Toddlers and pre-schoolers love rhyme, and this charming book goes to show it’s never too early to nurture a love of poetry. Packed with delightful illustrations by Freya Hartas, this sweet book takes you on a journey through the seasons at Brown Bear Woods, focusing on the key events or rites of passage in a child’s day. Touching on things like going to school, swimming lessons and picnics, each poem is short and easy-to-read – a must when you’re trying to hold a young child’s attention!

As well as a poem, each occasion is richly illustrated with woodland characters and, as an extra bit of fun, has a checklist of things to spot in the picture. Our five-year-old loved pointing these out to their little sister and they both were completely captivated with the poems. It’s a simple introduction to poetry, perfectly aimed at young children, that will be loved and enjoyed for a long time.

Best: For inspiring hope

Score: 9/10

Former UK Children’s Laureate and popular children’s author and artist, Chris Riddell has curated this inspiring anthology to “ignite your inner activist and provide comfort in uncertain times.”

Classic work by William Wordsworth and Rudyard Kipling sit alongside contemporary prose by Anne Sexton and Emily Berry, with Riddell’s compelling illustrations adding a real energetic force to the words. It feels like a very modern collection, tackling themes around the planet, the government, the pandemic and kindness, and our young teens were hooked.

“What You Need To Be Warm” by Neil Gaiman, the Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, written in support of their Winter Emergency Appeal, in particular, is incredibly moving, as is “Lockdown”, Riddell’s own reflections on last year. Great poetry has the power to galvanise, inspire and soothe – this anthology does it all.

Best: Gifts for teenage girls

Score: 9/10

Every teenage girl needs this honest, powerful and supportive collection of poetry in their life. Featuring work by a stellar line-up of diverse poets including Amanda Gorman (who delivered that knock-out performance of her own poetry at Joe Biden’s inauguration), Maya Angelou, Naomi Shihab Nye and Melody Lee, it’s a rallying call to girls to embrace self-acceptance as they navigate the tricky coming-of-age years.

As Diana Whitney explains in her introduction, “I wanted to collect the voices I wish I’d heard when I was a teen,” and this anthology certainly delivers. The poems are incredibly relevant and can help provide some reassurance to older girls who are trying to navigate growing up in these times. With poems covering loneliness, periods, sexuality, mental health and expectations, this book was adored by our teenage tester, and by us too.

Sometimes a book comes along that you want to shout about from the rooftops. This is one of them. Contemporary poetry at its best.