Read the funny poetry from these books and watch your child devolve into giggles! In fact, as you introduce poems into your family life you will find that poetry can play a special part in your relationship with your child and you'll never think of poetry as boring, again!
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No More Poems! A Book in Verse that Just Gets Worse by Rhett Miller. "No more poems!" is the last thing your kids will be shouting after you share these verses with them! This collection focuses on poems about everyday life experiences: siblings, baths, karate, bedtime. There is bathroom humor (of course), fun word play and enough crazy illustrations that kids will be constantly looking over your shoulder during poetry time.
I'm Just No Good at Rhyming: And Other Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups by Chris Harris (without William Shakespeare). My youngest LOVED this book! Even though he enjoys telling me he hates poetry to torment me (what? that's a lie!) he kept asking me to read these hilarious poems. What does it have to do with life? Everything! Harris and Lane team up to bring you super wacky poems, deconstructed poetry and all around silly-ness. This is one of my favorite children's poetry books, ever.
MORE: Make reading poems even more fun with Poetry Bingo!
The Complete Nonsense Books of Edward Lear. Most classic poetry for kids is not humorous, but Lear is one of the exceptions. His limericks range from the ludicrous to the droll and we love them so much we used them for our poetry advent calendar. The short poems stand the test of time as do some of his long stanza-based poems like "The Owl and the Pussycat," a poem I can still recite by heart after learning it as a kid.
MORE: Introduction to Limericks for kids!
Oops by Alan Katz. We had great fun with this book of over-the-top humorous, rhyming poems. My son especially enjoyed the comic tale about how two brothers traded underwear, ha ha. Poet Alan Katz has many more poetry collection to choose from. All of them are hilarious so get thee to the library!
Tap Dancing on the Roof: Sijo (Poems) by Linda Sue Park. This is a more subtly humorous book of poetry than, say, Dahl's (below). Nevertheless, I wanted to include it as it introduces children (and grown-ups!) to a uniquepoetry form. Sijo is traditional Korean verse. It has a set number of syllables, and the content is typically humorous, often with a ironic or droll twist at the conclusion. The poems are short, which also makes them easily digestible. Enjoy!
Vile Verses by Roald Dahl. Did you know Dahl had a book of verse? It all makes sense now, doesn't it? As you can imagine, his poems are filled with fantastical inventive words, deliciously gruesome characters and playful rhythmic compositions. The verses are accompanied by Quentin Blake's iconic illustrations.
MORE: Books like Roald Dahl
Pick up any poetry book by Jack Prelutsky! I absolutely adore Prelutsky's poetry. He was the first U.S. Children's Poet Laureate and in addition to his own numerous books, he has edited quite a few collections of verse by other poets. He has odes, ballads, and poesies for every occasion as well as a good selection of themed poetry available in easy reader book format so even the youngest independent reader can enjoy a good chuckle.
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. You are likely familiar with this classic tome of children's poetry. Who can forget Sarah Cynthia Silvia Stout, who did not take the garbage out? Your copy of this book of funny poems will be come well-loved, and well-worn.
A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers by Nancy Willard. This short, award-winning picture book is full of funny poems that tell the story of a group of human, animal and sunflower visitors to an imaginary inn run by the poet William Blake. The inn is staffed by quirky characters; dragons and angels keep the place running. To be perfectly honest, I did not think my 10-year -ld would like this book so I started reading it out loud to myself. But he came running right over and immersed himself in the illustrations and the fantastical tale the poems tell.
More poetry your kids (and you!) will love:
Diana says
Don''t forget Runny Babbit !