Weekly Children’s Poetry Roundup – Saturday, August 1, 2026

Welcome, fellow poets, teachers, and lovers of verse! It is time once again for our weekly Children’s Poetry Blog Post Roundup, bringing you a comfortable collection of the latest news, poems, and reflections from around the children’s poetry community over the past week.

Children’s Poetry Summit

This week, the team at the Children’s Poetry Summit highlights staff recommendations from the National Poetry Library in Lorraine Mariner: Staff Summer Picks from the National Poetry Library Children’s Collection 2026. The curated list features wonderful titles for young readers by creators such as Grant Snider, Laura Theis, Brian Bilston, and Eve Bunting, along with details on visiting hours and accessing the library’s ebook collection.

David L. Harrison

David L. Harrison was active this week, sharing a variety of updates across six posts. In Resting Word of the Month, he announces a temporary pause on his monthly writing prompt until November, while Four days to go looks back at the closing days of July’s challenge and a playful new invented word. Celebrating upcoming publications, Pumpkin on a Vine offers an exciting update on early book samples illustrated by Alice Feagan, reflecting on his publishing journey alongside Jane Yolen and sharing dedications to Terrell Young and Amy White. On a personal note, On the road again outlines a relaxing trip with family and new writing sales, while About Jeff Harrison celebrates his son’s election as president of the Oregon Coast Alliance. Finally, in Writers at Work, he looks back on his long-standing creative collaboration with Sandy Asher and highlights an archive of their joint essays compiled by her son Ben Asher.

DreamBeast Poems

Poet Mark Bird shared three thoughtful posts aimed at bringing poetry to young audiences. In Poems for Kids: A New Place to Begin, he offers guidance for families and teachers looking to introduce poetry to children. He also brings science into verse with Dying, Dying Massive Star: A Science Poem for Kids, which explores stellar life cycles, and A Greenwich Poem for Kids: The Non-Octagonal Room, connecting place and astronomy.

Laura Purdie Salas

In her weekly update, Laura Purdie Salas shares an early creative attempt in The Park Was Having a Plant Sale (pantoum draft). Responding to a prompt by Pádraig Ó Tuama as part of the Poetry Sisters challenge, she presents a draft about a houseplant alongside plans for upcoming poetic form explorations and a brief note on a recent family getaway.

Live Your Poem

Over at Live Your Poem, Irene Latham and Dahlia Hamza Constantine offer travel notes and creative inspiration in Hide and Seek poem. They discuss their trip through the Midwest, reflect on a local theatrical production and artist Berthe Morisot, and present a new child-voiced poem titled Hide and Seek.

Miss Rumphius Effect

Writing about poetic forms and childhood memories, Tricia Stohr-Hunt presents Poetry Sisters Write Pantoums Inspired by Pádraig Ó Tuama. She shares her eight-line poem centered on quiet summer nights, spotlights contributions from fellow writers such as Tabatha Yeatts, and invites readers to join in the next community challenge.

Reflections on the Teche

Margaret Simon shares both poetic collaboration and peaceful observations of wildlife. In Poetry Friday: July Pantoum, she details an in-person writing retreat with fellow poets including Tabatha Yeatts and Heidi Mordhorst, sharing a pantoum prompted by Pádraig Ó Tuama alongside photography by John Gibson. In Slice of Life: Sitting with Nature, she writes about watching a family of ducklings hatch and take their first journey into the water.

Shaun Jex

Looking to the summer weather for inspiration, Shaun Jex reflects on a welcome break in the heat in Cloudy With a Chance of Poetry. He encourages readers to write verse about rain and highlights classic and modern rain poems by authors including Val Harris, Kay Medway, and Robert Louis Stevenson.

Kenn Nesbitt
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