When sharing poetry with children, you need to make sure the poetry is on their level. Today, I'm sharing my favorite poets for preschool and kindergarten age children.
David Elliott
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| Screenshot from David Elliott's website |
His poetry series from Candlewick is storytime gold. The poems are short and lyrical and I love Elliott's word choice. Each title in this series could inspire a storytime theme or an in-depth study of types of animals. There are farm animals, wild animals, sea creatures, birds, extinct animals, forest animals, pond animals, polar animals, and desert animals. The latest book in the series, At the Edge: Curious Creatures of Planet Earth, will be available on May 19th. (Side note: Elliott has also written some fascinating verse novels for teens.)
Douglas Florian
He has so many poetry collections on so many topics. When planning a storytime theme, I almost always check if Florian has a poetry book about the theme. For example, my theme for this past week was bugs so I shared four poems from Insectlopedia. His poetry collections are humorous, witty, and often punny. In my opinion, his illustrations are appealing because they look like something a kid could or would create. His most recent poetry collections are Thank You, Sun (March 2026), Windsongs: Poems about Weather, and Zoobilations: Animal Poems and Paintings.
Nicola Davies
A UK import, Davies' three poetry collections are filled with simple poems and gorgeous illustrations. As with Elliott and Florian, I often use poems from these collections in storytime. Don't miss Outside Your Window: A First Book of Nature, Song of the Wild: A First Book of Animals, and A First Book of the Sea.
Resources
- David Elliott's website
- Teacher's guide to David Elliott's poetry series on the publisher's website
- Educator's guide to Ice: Poems about Polar Life on the publisher's website
- Activities for Windsongs: Poems about Weather from RIF Literacy Central
- Teacher's notes and activity kit for A First Book of Animals from the UK publisher's website
- Activities for Song of the Wild: A First Book of Animals from RIF Literacy Central
Links to My Reviews
David Elliott
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