About Kenn Nesbitt

Several times a day, most days of the week, I receive email from students requesting biographical information for a school paper. I love getting email from kids who enjoy reading my poetry, so feel free to drop me a line and say "hi." As you can imagine, though, I get a lot of email. So please let me save you a little time by telling you a bit about myself. If you have any questions that aren't answered here, please feel free to contact me. I will be happy to answer any specific questions that are not answered here.

• Who I Am
• My Poetry
• School Visits
• Publications
• Organizations
• Miscellany
• Kids Frequently Asked Questions about Kenn Nesbitt

Who I Am

I am 47 years old and I was born on February 20, 1962 in Berkeley, California. I grew up in Fresno and San Diego, California.

I now live in a big old house in Spokane, Washington, with my wife Ann, our son Max and our daughter Madison. We have a dog (a black pug named Jesse), two cats named Raki and Sambuca, and a rabbit named Lola.

My Poetry

My first children's poem -- Scrawny Tawny Skinner -- was written in 1994 after having dinner with a friend whose 4-year-old daughter did everything she could to get out of eating her dinner. Shortly after that, I wrote two more poems, My Foot Fell Asleep and Binkley. During 1995 and 1996, I wrote about three or four poems a year (including You Can Never Be Too Careful and A Meloncholy Tale, whenever the mood struck me. (All of these poems, by the way, appear in the book My Foot Fell Asleep.)

In early 1997 I decided I would like to write an entire book of children's poems. In 1998, I published my first collection of poetry, entitled My Foot Fell Asleep. I published a sequel called I've Seen My Kitchen Sink in 1999 and a third book, Sailing Off to Singapore, in 2000. The Aliens Have Landed at Our School! was published by Meadowbrook Press and is distributed by Simon and Schuster. My first collection of poems about school, When the Teacher Isn't Looking: and Other Funny School Poems was published by Meadowbrook Press in 2005. In 2006 Meadowbrook also published a of Christmas poems I co-authored with Linda Knaus entitled Santa Got Stuck in the Chimney. My newest book is another collection of funny school poems entitled Revenge of the Lunch Ladies. My next book, My Hippo Has the Hiccups: And Other Poems I Totally Made Up is coming out in spring, 2009.

My poems have also appeared in magazines, school textbooks, and numerous anthologies of funny poetry, as well as on television, audio CDs and even restaurant placemats.

I have put together this web site to share some of my poems with kids around the world. I try to post a new poem every weekday for you to read and grade, so please check back regularly to read new, funny poetry.

Publications

Books

I have written the following books:

• My Hippo Has the Hiccups: And Other Poems I Totally Made Up (In Press, Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, 2009)
• Revenge of the Lunch Ladies (Meadowbrook Press, 2007)
• Santa Got Stuck in the Chimney (with Linda Knaus, In Press, Meadowbrook Press, 2006)
• When the Teacher Isn't Looking and Other Funny School Poems (Meadowbrook Press, 2005)
• The Aliens Have Landed at Our School! (Meadowbrook Press, 2001)
• Sailing Off to Sinagapore (Purple Room Publishing, 2001)
• I've Seen My Kitchen Sink (Purple Room Publishing, 1999)
• My Foot Fell Asleep (Purple Room Publishing, 1998)

Anthologies

My poems appear in the following anthologies:

• I Hope I Don't Strike Out! (Meadowbrook Press, 2008)
• I've Been Burping in the Classroom (Meadowbrook Press, 2007)
• My Teacher's in Detention (Meadowbrook Press, 2006)
• Dinner with Dracula (Meadowbrook Press, 2006)
• Peter, Peter, Pizza Eater (Meadowbrook Press, 2006)
• If I Ran the School (Scholastic, 2005)
• My Dog Does My Homework (Scholastic, 2004)
• Rolling in the Aisles (Meadowbrook Press, 2004)
• If Kids Ruled the School (Meadobrook Press, 2004)
• I Like it Here at School (Scholastic, 2003)
• Miles of Smiles: Kids Pick the Funniest Poems Book #3 (Meadowbrook Press, 1998)
• No More Homework! No More Tests! (Meadowbrook Press, 1996)
• A Bad Case of the Giggles: Kids Pick the Funniest Poems Book #2 (Meadowbrook Press, 1994)
• Kids Pick the Funniest Poems (Meadowbrook Press, 1991)

Audio CDs

I have written lyrics for the following music CDs:

• Snail's Pace by Eric Herman and the Invisible Band (Butter-Doc Productions, 2007)
• Snow Day by Eric Herman and the Invisible Band (Butter-Dog Productions, 2006)
• Monkey Business by Eric Herman and the Invisible Band (Butter-Dog Productions, 2005)
• The Kid in the Mirror by Eric Herman and the Invisible Band (Buter-Dog Productions, 2003)

Textbooks

My poems appear in the following textbooks:

• All-Star Phonics and Word Studies (K-6) (SRA/McGraw-Hill, 2003)
• Go Ahead, Bavarian Schools 8th Form English-language Textbook (Cornelson & Oxford University Press GmbH&Co., Berlin, 2002)
• Go Ahead, Bavarian Schools 7th Form English-language Textbook (Cornelson & Oxford University Press GmbH&Co., Berlin, 2001)
• Elements of Language, Grade 8, (Holt Rinehart and Winston, 2001)
• Discover 10th Grade Coursebook, (Eric Cohen Books Ltd., Israel, 2000)
• English for Life S/E/NA and NT Coursebook 1, (Times Media Private Limited, Singapore, 2000)
• English Language Focus (ELF) Bk 1A, (Times Media Private Limited, Singapore, 2000)
• Stepping Stones 3, English-language Textbook, (Wolters-Noordhoff, Netherlands, 2000)
• Progress in Mathematics, Grades 3 and 5, (William H. Sadlier, Inc., 2000)

Magazines

My poems have been published in these magazines:

• Highlights for Children (March, 2006)
• Friends (Singapore, January 2005)

Television

My poems have aired on the following television programs:

• Jack Hanna's Wildlife Adventures: The Thrill of the Hunt (The Family Channel)

Organizations

I am a full member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

Miscellany

I met my wife, Ann, in Prague during a one-year trip around Europe.

I'm proud to admit, I love Marmite.

I'm also a big fan of They Might Be Giants Here's a picture of me with John Flansberg of TMBG.