It’s that time again, friends, for our weekly Children’s Poetry Blog Post Roundup! I’ve gathered the latest happenings and insights from the wonderful world of children’s poetry for the past week. It’s always inspiring to see what fellow poets and educators are sharing, so let’s take a look at what’s been new and exciting.
The Poem Farm
This week, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater hosted the Poetry Friday roundup, sharing a wonderful poem she wrote as a triolet titled Repeat What Matters to You. She explained the triolet form, which repeats lines 1, 4, and 7, and lines 2 and 8, all in iambic pentameter with an ABaAabAB rhyme scheme. Amy used this form to explore two core ideas: that we can be our best selves in many ways, and that true goodness isn’t always celebrated. She also invited readers to experiment with repetition in their own writing and to share their links, fostering a welcoming sense of community.
David L. Harrison
David L. Harrison had a particularly prolific week, offering a mix of personal reflections, new book news, and several wonderful poems. He shared thoughts on his long career as a freelance writer in How shall I spend today?, reflecting on decades of change and his gratitude to readers as he approaches 89. He revisited a fascinating piece of local history in More about the cobra story of 1953, detailing Springfield’s 1953 cobra scare and his own teenage experiences related to it. For those participating in his Word of the Month, he posted Zipped up, inviting more submissions for the “crown or crowned” theme and sharing his own weather-inspired poem, The Morning After Snow. Book news arrived with A Tree is out in paperback, announcing the arrival of paperback copies of A Tree is a Community and mentioning its promotion of other titles. Finally, he shared two poems from his 2006 book Sounds of Rain: Passage, inspired by an Amazon trip, and Nightly Concert, portraying a nocturnal rainforest symphony.
Kate Williams
Kate Williams brightened our week with several playful poems and a valuable teaching resource. She offered two tiny zebra-themed poems in Zebra Crossing, exploring wordplay and inviting families to share them with children. Educators will appreciate Teach Poetry – alliteration, which provides a fun, lion-themed alliteration activity for kids, complete with guidance and a video. She also shared her first-ever published poem, Liam is Lost, a lighthearted rhyming tale now also her debut YouTube entry. More animal fun came with Cobra gets Comfy, a snake-themed poem that sparks imagination. She also posted Feeling Fantastic… but…, a playful rhyme about a child’s boundless Sunday energy, and Pony Friend, a poignant poem from her collection Squeak! Squawk! Roar! Amazing Animal Poems about the special bond with a pet, real or imaginary.
Reflections on the Teche
Margaret Simon immersed herself in the tricube form this week. In her Poetry Friday: Tricube Challenge post, hosted by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater at The Poem Farm, she shared a tricube-inspired poem about presence, drawing from MoSt Poetry Center prompts and borrowing a line from Arthur Sze. She also recounted her first kayak adventure, tying it to her intention of being present. Earlier in the week, in This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Owl Stump, she described spotting a tree-stump owl and invited readers to post their own small tricube poems in the comments, providing an example.
Children’s Poetry Summit
The Children’s Poetry Summit featured an insightful post from Tatti de Jersey this week, titled Publicising Children’s Poetry. With over two decades of experience, Tatti de Jersey outlined a creative, multi-channel PR strategy aimed at publicizing children’s poetry effectively. The approach emphasizes engaging activities like author visits to schools and libraries, lively bookshop events, and building a strong digital presence with videos and educational resources. It also highlights the importance of collaborations with illustrators and arts organizations, along with traditional local media, to build authentic, long-term visibility for poetry among children, families, and communities, all while preserving its inherent charm.
DreamBeast Poems
Mark Bird shared a useful guide for young writers in Kenning Poem For Kids KS2. Use Hyphens to Join Nouns and Verbs. This KS2 guide helps children learn to write kennings in their poems, illustrating how to effectively join nouns and verbs with hyphens to create evocative imagery.
Imagine the Possibilities
For Poetry Friday, Rose Cappelli shared Poetry Friday: Winter Chill. Inspired by Margaret Simon and Mary Lee’s tricubes on This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Rose crafted her own “Feeder Frenzy” poem about the winter wind, a cardinal, and shared space at the bird feeder. She also recommended a cozy afternoon of bird-watching with Laura Purdie Salas’ Flurry, Float, and Fly and highlighted Amy Ludwig VanDerwater’s Poem Farm roundup, which explored the triolet form.
Joshua Seigal
Joshua Seigal shared a reflective piece titled Knowledge. In this post, he muses on the different kinds of knowledge people possess, sparked by a conversation with his wife. The poem humorously touches on the realization that we all have unique understandings of the world, acknowledging that while some facts are universal, many others are personal and specific to our individual experiences.
Live Your Poem
Irene Latham celebrated Poetry Friday with a post titled Someday You Will Become a Swan poem. She congratulated the ALAYMA winners and celebrated the final selections for the forthcoming The Periodic Table of Poetry. Her post also included reading and writing tips, featuring a two-minute tip on informed imagination, and highlighted features on Hilma af Klint in ArtSpeak and Irene Latham’s own poem, Someday :You Will Become a Swan.”
Liz Garton Scanlon
Liz Garton Scanlon shared her creative reflections in Poetry Project — January 2026. She discussed balancing the season’s darkness with creative energy, specifically experimenting with TRICUBES poetry—a form with three-stanza, three-line, three-syllable structures. Liz explored one-word-per-line versions and shared her pieces like “January by Threes,” “Paradise Found,” and “Our Job.” She invited readers to explore tricube poems by other poets and looked ahead to a focus on Arthur Sze, wishing everyone a healthier, more peaceful year filled with light and, above all, more poems.
Miss Rumphius Effect
Tricia Stohr-Hunt posted Poetry Sisters Write TriCubes, exploring the poetic form invented by Phillip Larrea. She explained that tricubes consist of three stanzas, each with three lines of three syllables. Tricia shared her own drafting process, noting how her early attempts became stronger. Her post showcased tricube examples, listed Larrea’s Poetry Sisters, and encouraged readers to join the next challenge by responding to a poem by Arthur Sze for the #PoetryPals project, with an invitation to share work and explore more poetry at The Poem Farm.
Poetry Pop
Danna Smith offered a personal reflection in Birthday Reflections: The Superpower of Aging Gracefully. As she approaches her 63rd birthday, Danna shared thoughts on the number settling in. She reflected on how, in a world that often pushes for sharpness and toughness, 63 feels like a gentler, more reflective phase of life.
Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme
Matt Forrest Esenwine shared his Poetry Friday: Looking back at 2025, thanks to Jama! post. He reflected on a challenging week marked by personal anxiety and the difficulty of finishing a manuscript, explaining why he wasn’t able to post a full Poetry Friday entry. Matt expressed gratitude to Jama Rattigan for a timely retrospective that featured Nikki Grimes’ poem “The Saturday of No” about weathering a storm, and he acknowledged other contributors. He also invited readers to connect on social media and to consider him for school visits and book promotions.
Read Write Believe
Sara Lewis Holmes contributed to the tricube conversation with Poetry Friday: A Trio of Tricubes. Her post centered on this short, non-rhyming form, highlighting the magic of the number three in storytelling. Sara provided six starter ideas for writing tricubes and showcased three of her own tricubes about the number three. She also pointed readers to fellow poets’ tricubes and noted that Poetry Friday was hosted by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater at The Poem Farm.
Salt City Verse
Janice Scully shared her HAZY TONES for Poetry Friday. Her post contemplated mistakes and political hypocrisy, featuring her poem “FARSIGHTED” and a haiku inspired by current events. Janice also gave updates on her urban sketching practice and her grandson learning to walk, along with weekend wishes.
Science Rhymes
Celia Berrell‘s newsletter, Newsletter: START WITH A SPARK!, highlighted her science-themed poem “Homely Neanderthals,” which explores how fire transformed Neanderthal life and the concept of home around a hearth. The post also promoted the Australian Children’s Poetry project with submission guidelines for teachers and parents, celebrated the Science Rhymes in the Sea launch at Cairns Aquarium, and featured aquarium-inspired poems such as “Fangs for the Viperfish” and “Meeting E.T.”
Shaun Jex
Shaun Jex offered a dose of levity with A Dose of Laughter: Poems to Make You Smile. He argued that laughter can lift spirits even in challenging times, citing Victor Hugo and medical evidence for its benefits. To prove his point, Shaun shared several playful poems, including his own “Don’t Ever Put Fish In Your Pants,” Laura E. Richards’ “Eletelephony,” Jack Prelutsky’s “Pumberly Pott’s Unpredictable Niece,” and Albert Van Hoogmoed’s “A Crime Scene,” all hoping to bring a smile to readers’ faces.
That’s all for this week. Be sure to check back next Saturday for another Poetry Roundup. In the meantime, keep on reading, writing, and sharing poetry!
- Weekly Children’s Poetry Roundup – Saturday, January 31, 2026 - January 31, 2026
- Warm or Storm? - January 26, 2026
- Weekly Children’s Poetry Roundup – Saturday, January 24, 2026 - January 24, 2026
