FAQ Category: Questions about Kenn Nesbitt

I like many different poets, but I am especially fond of the books of Jack Prelutsky, Dennis Lee, and Colin West.

I don’t actually know the exact number. I have been writing children’s poems since 1994, and it’s very difficult to keep an exact count. There are more than 900 poems just on this website, but I have written many hundreds more that I never posted here. Last I checked, I had written about 1500 poems, but I keep writing new ones every week so that number is always increasing.

Yes, I am married and we have two children. My wife’s name is Ann, and we have two grown children, Max and Asher.

My first poem was “Scrawny Tawny Skinner.”

My ideas for poems come from many different places, including:

• Things I see around me
• Things that happen to me
• Places I go
• Things I like
• Things I don’t like
• Things from my imagination

If you would like to see how you can come up with your own ideas for poems, try reading some of the poetry-writing lessons on this site.

I am an author, and not a publisher, editor, or literary agent, so I can’t personally help you get published. However, I can recommend the following resources:

If you have written poems that you would like to have published, click here here for a list of places where kids can get their poems published online.

If you would like to get your poems published by a traditional children’s book publisher, I recommend the following resources:

• The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Children’s Books by Harold Underdown
• The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators

Also, for most prospective children’s poets, I recommend you read a good book on meter, such as this one:

• Poetic Rhythm: An Introduction by Derek Attridge

I’m sorry to say that I don’t have a favorite poem. I have written so many hundreds of poems that it would be impossible to pick just one as my favorite.

I do like some poems more than others, though. For example, while most kids seem to like my poems that involve bodily functions, such as Swimming Ool, I tend to prefer poems that are more imaginative and impossible, such as One Warm Sunny Day, and tongue twisters such as Shelley Sellers.

Yes. My main hobby is learning new languages. Currently, I am learning to read, write, and speak Brazilian Portuguese using a combination of DuoLingo, Pimsleur, and Uncle Brazil.

In addition to language learning, I also enjoy cooking and going to the movies.

I guess I have this strange notion that anyone can change the world if they really want to. Even you. Even me. I know it always makes me feel good when I read a funny poem or hear a funny song. So, in my own small way, I’m trying to do my part to help people laugh, and just maybe make the world a happier place.

Yes. I am the middle child of three boys, so I have an older brother and a younger brother. My older brother’s name is Ross and my younger brother is Danny.