Hello, fellow poets and wonderful teachers! It’s that time of the week again for our Children’s Poetry Blog Post Roundup. I’ve been perusing the internet, and I’m happy to share some of the latest news and updates from the world of children’s poetry from the past week. Let’s see what our favorite poets have been up to!
Children’s Poetry Summit
The Children’s Poetry Summit recently shared a fascinating post titled Pie Corbett: Observing and Capturing Experience. This piece details a classroom method for crafting poetry from hands-on encounters. It emphasizes close observation, quick brainstorms, a brief shared writing model, and time-limited independent drafting to encourage focused, descriptive writing. The post also includes student poems and valuable teaching insights, highlighting the use of specific nouns and local details, with inspiration drawn from poets like Brautigan and Ted Hughes. It even connects Pie Corbett‘s practical approaches to his Dragon Cat collection.
David L. Harrison
David L. Harrison had a busy week with several engaging posts! In Interview on Monday, he gave us a sneak peek into an upcoming interview with Sam Bommarito and Mary Jo Fresch. This interview is for a reading program involving 3,000 third- and fourth-grade students in Limpopo, South Africa, and explores how poems written for American children can resonate across cultures, and how teachers can empower students to create their own poetry. He followed this with South Africa project, where he shared more details about joining this wonderful initiative to help teachers in South Africa improve student reading, highlighting the texts and upcoming presentations. On a more personal note, David shared a glimpse into his writing process in When starting at the end, discussing how a new story idea emerged and how he plans to refine a draft that has a strong ending but a weak beginning. He also reminisced about a vivid childhood memory from when he was six in Why did I wake up remembering this?, recounting an encounter with a Gila monster in Ajo, Arizona. Additionally, he celebrated his grandson Tyler Williams’ fiancée, Josie Shute (Olga), earning her MFA from Missouri State University and accepting a faculty position in Josie did it!, and offered a warm Mother’s Day greeting to all mothers in Speaking of miracles….
DreamBeast Poems
Over at Mark Bird‘s DreamBeast Poems, readers found a delightful Rhyming Poem About Animals. Creative Poetry Prompts for KS1 and KS2. This post featured a charming rhyming poem about various animals, along with a helpful set of creative poetry prompts perfect for primary students in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.
Imagine the Possibilities
Rose Cappelli‘s blog, Imagine the Possibilities, celebrated Poetry Friday with a post titled Poetry Friday: A Cascade of Peonies. This entry featured a garden meditation on the blooming of peonies and shared tender memories of her mother. The post included a beautiful cascade poem, A Cascade of Peonies, which honors her mother by tracing the journey of buds transforming into blossoms, guided by sun, rain, and memory. She also mentioned Patricia‘s Reverie roundup.
Joshua Seigal
Joshua Seigal shared two exciting updates. In A Marriage, he mused on a wedding poem he gifted, noting how it sat wonky in its frame and the obvious metaphor it presented. Even more excitingly, Joshua announced that his debut poetry collection with Bloomsbury, My book I DON’T LIKE POETRY is TEN YEARS OLD! He shared that Bloomsbury has added a special sticker to the cover to mark this wonderful milestone and encouraged readers to stay tuned for upcoming anniversary activities and events. A big thank you went out to Bloomsbury and all his readers for their support!
Kate Williams
Kate Williams brought us two engaging posts this week. In Latest SQUEAKback, she kindly shared a lovely comment from fellow children’s poet Victoria Gatehouse about her book, Squeak! Squawk! Roar!, and gave a shout-out to Victoria’s new poetry collection, Aardvark Day. Kate also promoted a fun hamster-themed poem in Hamster on the Loose, now available on YouTube. This playful poem, illustrated by Hannah Asen and drawn from her Squeak! Squawk! Roar! collection, imagines the wild adventures a runaway hamster might have and is offered as a fantastic springboard for creative writing in the classroom.
Live Your Poem
Irene Latham made an exciting announcement in her post Introducing WORDSPINNERS…and Welcome, Amy Hevron! She shared that she will be joining the faculty at SCBWI Wisconsin’s fall conference, Engaging Stories, and will be presenting an intensive on how to apply poetic elements to all forms of writing. In the same post, Irene introduced her upcoming 66-poem collection, Come In! Come In! Wordspinners to Welcome You Home, beautifully illustrated by Amy Hevron, set to be released on October 20, 2026, complete with an accompanying audio edition. She also delved into the intriguing concept of “wordspinners” and the illustration process.
My Juicy Little Universe
Heidi Mordhorst shared a delightful Oregon-inspired post this week. She recounted a recent trip that included attending a Lewis & Clark graduation in Portland, visiting with Jone Rush MacCulloch in Happy Valley, and experiencing an unforgettable gray-whale sighting off Yachats. Heidi reflected on the whales’ feeding habits, migration patterns, and endangered status, presenting a new definito poem about being in community with other beings. She also teased a forthcoming TILT review and extended her thanks to host Patricia at Reverie.
Poetry Pop
For Mother’s Day, Danna Smith penned a heartfelt post on Poetry Pop titled Mom-ories: A Poetic Tribute for Mother’s Day. In it, she wished all incredible women—moms, grandmas, aunts, and other mother figures—a truly wonderful day, celebrating the heart and soul they pour into everything they do. Danna also expressed how incredibly blessed she feels to have two wonderful grown children.
Reflections on the Teche
Margaret Simon offered several reflective pieces on her blog this past week. For Poetry Friday, hosted by Patricia Franz, she shared Poetry Friday: Sail Away, describing her journey with watercolor and a yoga-and-sound-bath session that inspired a vision of ocean waves, which she captured in a shadorma poem. She also mentioned a thoughtful Mother’s Day gift of oracle cards. In This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Power of the Oracle, Margaret recounted a power outage that led to a meaningful Mother’s Day gift – a snake-themed Healer oracle card, inspiring reflections on healing, scars as strength, and inviting readers to share their own short poems about fears and healing. Finally, in Slice of Life: Should you touch student work?, she pondered the delicate balance of when teachers should intervene or alter a student’s work, drawing on personal experiences and inviting readers’ thoughts.
Science Rhymes
Celia Berrell, from Science Rhymes, posted a thoughtful The World From Here: book review. She reviewed The World From Here by Cassy Polimeni and Mel Armstrong, an Australian CSIRO Publishing picture book that encourages 5- to 9-year-olds to imagine clouds and explore weather from different perspectives. Celia appreciated its majestic illustrations, narrative, and factual pages, though she offered some suggestions for minor additions to enhance the book further.
Shaun Jex
Shaun Jex celebrated the vibrant energy of farmers markets in his post Farm Fresh Poems: Poetry Inspired by Markets. He recounted a weekend visit to the downtown Oklahoma City Farmers Market, highlighting how these lively places are rich with stories that spark poetry. The post featured three market-themed poems, including At the Market, Is It Ripe? by Michelle Schaub, and Market Square by A. A. Milne. Shaun also included a prompt to inspire readers to write their own market-inspired verse and gave a quick mention of a new poetry collection.
Steam Powered Poetry
And finally, Over at Steam Powered Poetry, Heidi B. Roemer brought us Wee Steamers: Spoons. This post delightfully celebrated the many uses of an ordinary spoon—from scooping ice cream and stirring cocoa to tapping out a catchy rhythm—and featured a playful video demonstrating these fun tricks.
- Weekly Children’s Poetry Roundup – Saturday, May 16, 2026 - May 16, 2026
- Mother’s Day Disasaster - May 11, 2026
- How to Drink a Slushy - May 4, 2026
