It’s time again for this week’s Children’s Poetry Blog Post Roundup! I hope you’re all having a marvelous week. Here’s the latest news and updates from the wonderful world of children’s poetry for the past seven days.
Children’s Poetry Summit
The Children’s Poetry Summit blog brought us Joshua Seigal: Two Poetry Recommendations, a fantastic post celebrating two outstanding poetry collections. They praised Kathryn Bevis’ The Butterfly House, a collection written with remarkable candor during terminal cancer, and Caroline Bird’s Rookie, which skillfully blends playful language with deeper themes like mental illness. The post also gave us a heads-up about Joshua Seigal’s upcoming Bloomsbury title, I Tell Myself I’m Awesome, which focuses on mental health.
Danna Smith Book Blog
Over at Danna Smith’s blog, we found a delightful post titled Celebrate Penguin Awareness Day with Zenguin. This “Celebrate Picture Books” feature highlighted the book Zenguin in honor of Penguin Awareness Day, offering a review and some calming tips for navigating our sometimes-noisy world.
David L. Harrison
David L. Harrison had a busy week sharing wonderful reflections and poems. He began by offering Rhythms upriver, a short run of poems from warmer times, including “Sounds of Rain,” inspired by his journey into the Peruvian Amazon. He then touched on the incoming winter storm with I wish you warm, revisiting his lifelong dislike of winter by recalling a harsh 1945 Missouri winter and sharing his poem “Welcome to Missouri.” Thank you, Linda offered insights into the “think–talk–write” process, emphasizing how vivid memories aid writing. He also shared a candid moment about the challenges of submission in Editors are so mean!, discussing frustration over rejections. For educators and writers, Know your audience explored the importance of tailoring writing to different age groups and shared an eight-step approach to early reading. He also compiled a list of his co-authored education books in My education books, mentioning upcoming titles. Finally, January on Goose Lake offered a reflective look at nature enduring the quiet, icy grip of winter.
DreamBeast Poems
Mark Bird at DreamBeast Poems shared a very personal and poignant poem in Losing A Dog Poem. Written Just After She Crossed The Rainbow Bridge, a heartfelt tribute to a beloved pet.
Imagine the Possibilities
Rose Cappelli celebrated Poetry Friday: Preparing for the Storm, featuring Tabatha hosting the roundup at The Opposite of Indifference. Her post contemplated an approaching Northeast winter storm and shared a new poem, “Ready for Winter,” contrasting human resilience with that of birds. The post also highlighted Denise Levertov’s thoughtful poem “Concurrence.”
Joshua Seigal
Joshua Seigal treated us to a trio of his distinctive poems this week. First up was Shop Til You Drop, a humorous piece about the frustration of a lost shopping list. He then shared Pigeon, another funny poem recalling a chaotic classroom moment involving a flapping bird. Rounding out his posts was Got My Number, a reflective poem about the act of counting and the value of thought.
Live Your Poem
Irene Latham’s A Good Morning for Giddo by Dahlia Constantine and Irene Latham shared exciting book news this week, including updates on For the Win and a forthcoming picture book, A Good Morning for Giddo, co-authored by Dahlia Hamza Constantine and Irene Latham and illustrated by Basma Hosam. She also highlighted “The Crochet Lesson” featured in ArtSpeak: WOMEN.
Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme
Matt Forrest Esenwine shared some wonderful news on his blog with Poetry Friday: “Fire Dance,” the haiku that never made it into “Rainbows”. He celebrated receiving the NCTE Notable Poetry Book honor for his collection A Universe of Rainbows: Multicolored Poems for a Multicolored World, and included a beautiful haiku, “Fire Dance,” inspired by the aurora borealis.
Reflections on the Teche
Margaret Simon had several engaging posts this week. Poetry Friday: Found Poetry from MLK, Jr’s How Long? Not Long Speech detailed her experience leading a ninth-grade writing workshop where students created found poetry from a lesser-known MLK Jr. speech, sharing four student poems. In This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Enchanted, she shared an intriguing photo and invited readers to respond with poetry, along with her own Zeno-style poem, “Enchanted.” Finally, Slice of Life: New Year, Renewed Writing recounted her rejuvenating experience at a picture book writing retreat, where she met Robyn Hood Black and found renewed purpose for her writing journey.
Salt City Verse
Janice Scully at Salt City Verse shared some personal good news about a poem acceptance and then turned our attention to landforms with AWESOME EARTH by Joan Bransfield Graham, Illustrated by Tania Garcia and GREENLAND. She praised Joan Bransfield Graham‘s picture book Awesome Earth, which offers engaging landform poems, and also featured Greenland-themed poems like “GLACIER” and “ISLAND,” along with a New Year’s Postcard exchange poem, “IF I WERE A MONTH.”
Shaun Jex
Shaun Jex shared thoughtful insights in A Brand New Word, and Other Poems About Learning. Reflecting on how learning is a constant in life, he invited readers to write poems about learning—be it a new word, a strange fact, or a personal experience—and provided several excellent sample poems, including “A Brand New Word,” “Learning,” “Grammar Lesson,” and “My Sister’s Taking Lessons.”
Steam Powered Poetry
Heidi B. Roemer’s Wee Steamers: The Penguin Family invited us to join a playful penguin song and explore the fascinating world of these amazing seabirds, learning how they waddle, glide, and stay warm in their icy habitats.
The Poem Farm
And finally, with Explore a Question or Concern, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater discussed how distractions can make writing challenging and suggested exploring personal questions or concerns as a source of inspiration, even by turning them into fiction. She highlighted how a poem can conclude with a question, offering “No One Knows” as an example, and reminded us to care for our minds while writing.
- Weekly Children’s Poetry Roundup – Saturday, January 24, 2026 - January 24, 2026
- A Cheesy Story - January 19, 2026
- Weekly Children’s Poetry Roundup – Saturday, January 17, 2026 - January 17, 2026
