Hello, poetry pals and wonderful teachers! It’s time again for our weekly Children’s Poetry Blog Post Roundup. I’ve gathered the latest happenings from the world of children’s poetry from the past week, bringing you news, new poems, and exciting updates from your favorite poets.
Children’s Poetry Summit
The Children’s Poetry Summit recently shared an insightful post, Jon Biddle: Using Poetry to Build a Classroom Reading Culture. This piece explores how to embed poetry in schools, with Jon Biddle demonstrating ways to create a rich reading culture through poetry, and Roger Stevens offering practical ideas for students to write their own poems. Using Moorlands Primary Academy as a model, the article describes everyday practices like Poem of the Day, poet visits, cross-class poetry displays, and even a village Poetry Post, showing how poetry can be inclusive, visible, and a powerful driver for literacy and enjoyment for all.
Danna Smith Book Blog
Danna Smith welcomed the sunshine with her post, Top Spring Reads for Kids. This delightful collection gathers sweet spring reads perfect for little ones, featuring garden adventures, vibrant colors, woodland haiku, and a visit from the Easter Bunny, making sure there’s a captivating story for every budding reader.
David L. Harrison
David L. Harrison had a remarkably busy and eventful week! He shared exciting news about his friend and colleague, Dr. Sam Bommarito, who is delivering a keynote at the State of Maryland Literacy Association Conference, discussing his six decades in education and his weekly Literacy Podcast, in a post titled Dr. Sam speaks. David also celebrated the arrival of spring with Happy first day of Spring, reintroducing two spring-themed poems, “Whistling in Spring” and “Talking to the Woods in Spring,” from his first free-verse book. A big announcement came with The official press announcement is out, where he revealed he has been named the Poet Laureate for the National Route 66 Centennial Kickoff Celebration, with plans to read five poems at various events. He extended St. Patrick’s Day greetings in Happy St. Patrick’s Day, reflecting on a previous leprechaun poem. The week also included book signing events and his birthday celebration, which he shared in Good signing, great birthday, and a heartfelt THANK YOU! to everyone for their birthday wishes.
Imagine the Possibilities
For Poetry Friday, Rose Cappelli shared a lovely post titled Poetry Friday: Welcome Spring. She opened with a beautiful line from Mary Oliver, paired with a photo of a crocus, and included a previously unpublished nonet titled “Welcoming Spring.” This poem imagines woodland creatures awakening and gathering to celebrate the new season, inviting all northern hemisphere readers to welcome spring.
Kate Williams
Kate Williams announced the exciting launch of a brand-new YouTube channel, TeachWriteTips. This channel offers two-minute shorts with simple ideas and tips for teaching literacy and poetry to primary and EYFS learners, with new content three times a week. The inaugural post highlighted a fun “I SPY” activity perfect for phonics and letter recognition.
Laura Purdie Salas
Laura Purdie Salas welcomed Poetry Friday with a reflective post called The Roiling. In it, she beautifully blended memories of a trip to Disney World, where a haunted mansion portrait inspired a poem draft, with musings sparked by Brandi Carlile’s live performance of “The Story,” all while sharing a revised draft of her own poem.
Live Your Poem
Happy Poetry Friday from Irene Latham! In her post, Poetry + Art = Some Starry Night by Irene Latham, she shared several updates. These included a Tuesday 2-Minute Writing Tip about Writers & AI, news of an Inked Voices webinar called “8 Ways to Wake Up Your Poetry,” and an exciting announcement about her upcoming adult novel, Some Starry Night, which explores the lives of Vincent van Gogh and Emily Dickinson, currently available for a special 99-cent preorder.
Poetry Pop
Danna Smith’s Poetry Pop featured a wonderful Guest Pop: The Poetry of Bakhtiyar Hidayat. This post highlighted Bakhtiyar Hidayat, a dedicated subscriber and poet from Azerbaijan, showcasing how the digital age allows poets to share their work and build community across continents and time zones, beautifully contrasting online connection with the physical world.
Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme
Despite braving a record-cold winter in New Hampshire, Matt Forrest Esenwine shared a heartwarming Poetry Friday post, Poetry Friday: Welcome, spring! He described a memorable sunrise that spoke to him during a five-day writer-in-residency at a local elementary school, where he shared poetry and taught various writing approaches. He looks forward to sharing the students’ work in the coming weeks and also promoted the Poetry Friday ovillejo challenge.
Reflections on the Teche
Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche had a very busy and insightful week participating in SOLC26! She began her week with a revitalizing Morning Walk that sparked new ideas. On Poetry Friday, she joyfully announced the launch of her picture book, What’s That Sound? Birds of the Bayou, in her post Poetry Friday Book Baby, and extended an invitation to join the April Kidlit Progressive Poem. Margaret also recounted an unexpected neighborhood outage after an 18-wheeler hit a power pole in Powerless, and invited readers to write a small poem of presence inspired by a photo of bluebonnets in This Photo Wants to be a Poem. She shared small, sensory moments from her morning in her Currently post, reflected on learning painting and writing techniques from artist Charlie Hunter in Greyscale, and explored spiritual questions inspired by a Rumi poem in Where is your light?, woven with reflections on art and nature.
Salt City Verse
Janice Scully hosted a special Poetry Friday post, BOOK GIVEAWAY! THE SOUNDS OF FREEDOM COMING, A Picture book by By Valarie Short. This post spotlighted the picture book The Sounds of Freedom Coming, which powerfully recounts the Jerry Rescue of 1851. Created by playwright Valarie Short and illustrator Valencia Short, the book aims to introduce this significant historical event to children, and the post included a book giveaway and an interview with the authors.
Science Rhymes
Celia Berrell shared a fascinating personal journey through poetry in her post, World Poetry Day. She traced her path from studying poets like Burns and MacCaig to having her own work included in anthologies that blend science and poetry. Her post celebrated how poetry and science can beautifully complement each other, mentioning other poets like Norazha Paiman and Courtney Williams, and highlighting the “Sturdy Mulga Trees” as part of the “Seeds to Scenery” call for National Science Week.
Shaun Jex
Shaun Jex offered an exciting sneak peek of his upcoming poetry collection in Scary Monsters and Super Creeps (A Sneak Peek of “A Catalog of Curious Creatures”). This collection will delve into the mythical creatures and folklore of the United States, and the post shared two captivating examples: “The Boo Hag” and “The Plat-Eye,” inviting readers to explore America’s wild and eerie beings.
The Poem Farm
And Amy Ludwig VanDerwater celebrated the first day of spring from her Western New York garden in her post, Celebrate Something! She shared lovely photos of grape hyacinths and daffodils sprouting outside her writing shed, along with a wonderful pantoum poem about welcoming new sprouts. She also mentioned a mentor book on poetry and invited everyone to join the Poetry Friday celebrations, closing with a wish for warmth, peace, and kindness.
- Weekly Children’s Poetry Roundup – Saturday, March 21, 2026 - March 21, 2026
- Spring 2026 Author Visits Available - March 19, 2026
- Larry the Leprechaun - March 16, 2026
