Category: News

“Your presentation was the best we have ever had.”

“You by far surpassed our expectations.”

“Our students are still buzzing about it! The enthusiasm you generated is phenomonal!”

These are just a few comments from schools who have had me visit with their students. If you are considering having an author visit your school, I would love the opportunity to get your students excited about reading and writing.

My school visit calendar is filling up for the spring, but I still have dates available for an author visit to your school, whether in-person or online.

I will be visiting the following cities this spring and still have open days:

• January 9-13 – Spokane, WA
• February 13-17 – West Texas
• February 20-24 – Portland, OR
• March 13-17 – Baltimore, MD & Washington, DC
• March 27-31 – San Antonio, TX
• April 3-7 – Central California
• April 17-21 – Connecticut
• April 24-27 – Eastern Oregon
• May 8-12 – Cedar Rapids, Iowa City & Davenport, IA

If your school is interested in booking an author visit during one of these trips, or any other week this school year, please contact me by filling out the information request form on this page.

You will find my calendar online here. Any dates not otherwise marked are probably available.

I look forward to hearing from you.

I’m thrilled to announce the release of my newest book, One Minute Till Bedtime. This is the first anthology that I have put together, and it has already received starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal, plus it has been selected by Publishers Weekly as a Best Book of 2016.

One Minute Till Bedtime contains over 140 brand-new poems from more than 130 poets from around the world, including such luminaries as Jack Prelutsky, Jane Yolen, Jon Scieszka, Joyce Sidman, Judith Viorst, Lemony Snicket, Marilyn Singer, Nikki Grimes, and many, many others. Each of the poems in this collection–all perfect for bedtime–can be read in about a minute. With seven sections, each with roughly twenty poems, One Minute Till Bedtime holds a full week of 20-minute sleepytime readings.

The beautiful hardcover book is whimsically illustrated by the incomparable Christoph Niemann, whose witty, minimalist drawings compliment and enhance the poems, giving readers even more to ponder as they get ready to dream.

One Minute Till Bedtime is now available in the US wherever books are sold, including:

• Amazon.com
• BarnesandNoble.com
• Indiebound.com

It is also available for purchase now in Australia:

• Booktopia
• QBD

In the UK, it will be available on December 8, 2016:

• Amazon.co.uk
• Waterstones
• W.H. Smith

I hope you had a wonderful summer and are settling into the new school year nicely. With the 2016-17 school year underway, I’m now booking school author visits, both in-person and online.

If your school is looking for a way to inspire your kids to want to read and write, my high-energy poetry writing programs are just the ticket. You don’t need to take my word for it, though. Click here to see what other schools have said about my visits.

Upcoming Visits

You don’t need to wait for me to be in your area to book a visit. I cap my travel expenses, regardless of what it costs me to get there, so it won’t cost you extra if you are the first school in your area to book a visit.

However, here are some of the places I’m already scheduled to be this school year. I still have dates available each of these weeks.

• WA, Bellingham – September 26-30, 2016
• ID, Bonner’s Ferry – October 10-14, 2016
• OR, Portland – October 24-26, 2016
• TX, Odessa/Andrews – February 13-17, 2017
• TX, San Antonio – March 27-31, 2017
• CA, Porterville – April 3-7, 2017

You can view my full event calendar here. Any dates not otherwise marked are probably available for a visit to your school.

More Information

For more information about my programs and fees, simply fill out this form and I will contact you with further details. I look forward to hearing from you!

Next Wednesday, September 21, 2016, I will be performing live at the Barnes & Noble in the Northtown Mall in Spokane, Washington at 6:30pm. This event is free and open to the public. If you are in the area, please join me, along with musician Carlton Oakes and poet Merideth Jeffries for a fun evening of poetry and music.

I will be reading from several of my books, including The Biggest Burp Ever, Revenge of the Lunch Ladies, and my forthcoming anthology, One Minute Till Bedtime. Books will be available for purchase, and I will be signing them after the performances.

This program is produced by Stephen Pitters, host of the Spokane Open Poetry Program on KYRS 92.3 FM, Thin Air Commuity Radio.

Poetry4kids has had “Poems by Category” for a few years now, but I recently added a brand new category: Songs. If you like poems that are intended to be sung to popular tunes such as “The Itsy-Bitsy Spider,” “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” or “Frere Jacques,” — what my friend Alan Katz calls “Silly-Dilly Songs” — you’ll want to check out this new section on Poetry4kids.com to find them all in one place.

And, of course, you can see all of the categories, including sports poems, monster poems, school poems, and even funny love poems on the Poems by Topic page.

Psst! Want to read a funny book? You can preview the Kindle edition of my book The Biggest Burp Ever by clicking on Preview button below. Happy reading!

Calling all poets! TIME For Kids has a challenge for you: Write a funny, rhyming poem. It must be an original poem that does not copy another poet’s work. Enter it in the TIME For Kids Poetry Contest. The grand-prize winner will receive an online class visit from Children’s Poet Laureate Kenn Nesbitt. The grand-prize winner and three finalists will each get a signed copy of Nesbitt’s newest book of poetry, Bigfoot Is Missing!, and their poems will be published at timeforkids.com.

WHAT: Write a funny, rhyming poem and enter it in the TFK Poetry Contest. Poet Kenn Nesbitt will look for originality, creativity, humor and rhyme in the style of his own poetry. To read some of Nesbitt’s poems, go to poetry4kids.com.

HOW: Enter your original poem in the online entry form at www.timeforkids.com/2016poetrycontest. Be sure to include your first name only, your e-mail address and your parents’ e-mail address. Contest is open to students who are 8 to 13 years old.

DEADLINE: February 15, 2016

Read the official rules here and a Q&A about the contest here.

I’m so excited to finally be able to announce the release of my newest book, Believe it or Not, My Brother Has a Monster, published by Scholastic and illustrated by the incomparable David Slonim, the illustrator of such gems as He Came with the Couch, I Loathe You, and How to Teach a Slug to Read.

Believe it or Not, My Brother Has a Monster is of two brothers’ Halloween adventure, and my first rhyming picture book. The older brother finds a monster and brings it home, along with many, many other creepy-crawly creatures, including spiders, rats, toads, black cats, ravens, and more.

It happened just last Halloween,
the weirdest thing you’ve ever seen:
My brother went out after dark
and found a monster in the park.

He led it home and snuck it in
which gave me goose bumps on my skin
to see a monster standing there.
Those giant claws! That shaggy hair!

I had to struggle not to shout.
I hope our parents don’t find out.

With each creature the brother brings home, the mayhem in his room only increases, much to the dismay of the younger brother. What will happen when the parents finally discover what these boys have been up to? Without giving away the ending, let’s just say it’s a joyful surprise with a satisfying twist.

Here are links to a few reviews of Believe it or Not, My Brother Has a Monster:

• Dad of Divas
• Young Adult Books – What We’re Reading Now