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BY MARILYN SINGER

Hugging you takes some practice.

So I'll start out with a cactus.

Marilyn Singer, "Porcupines" from Twosomes. Copyright © 2011 by Marilyn Singer.  Reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

Source: Twosomes (Alfred A. Knopf, 2011)

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Read Aloud with Ms. Heard: Breathe and Be

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Charles Waters

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Gazing at this
Never gets old,

Splashes of color
On a toucan's bill.

Copyright © 2012 From the book Charles Waters. National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry: 200 Poems with Photographs That Squeak, Soar, and Roar. National Geographic Children's Books. Reprinted by permission of the author.

About this Poem

This poem was courtesy of J. Patrick Lewis e-mailing me asking for poem concerning a toucan and/or an elephant. I sent one of each, he didn't choose the elephant poem though he picked the toucan one and I was thrilled. Honestly, not because my poem's in it, this book is one of the most beautiful visual feasts I've ever seen. When a Children's Poet Laureate (like Pat was at the time) asks you for poems and you come through with one that they like, there are few better feelings as a writer.

About The Author

Charles Waters' poems appear in the following anthologies: Amazing Places (2014) edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins, The National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry edited by J. Patrick Lewis (former Children's Poet Laureate of the United States), The Poetry Friday Anthology and The Poetry Friday Anthology for Middle School both edited Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong, The Arrow Finds It's Mark: A Book of Found Poems edited by Georgia Heard and And the Crowd Goes: A Global Gathering of Sports Poems edited by Carol-Ann Hoyte and Heidi Bee Roemer. He performs his one man show POETRY TIME to elementary and middle school audiences and you can check out his youtube channel at www.youtube.com/thecharleswaters

Where to Buy this Book

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Gazing at this Never gets old, Splashes of color On a toucan's bill. Copyright © 2012 From the book Charles Waters. National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry: 200 Poems with Photographs That Squeak, Soar, and Roar . National Geographic Children's Books. Reprinted by permission of the author. This poem was courtesy of J.

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Hundreds of Short Poems by Categories, Authors, Titles

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Welcome to PoetryMinute, poems for elementary school students for every day of the school year, written by today’s best children’s poets.

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Read Aloud with Ms. Heard: I Wish You More

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Grade 2 - Page 2 - Kenn Nesbitt's Poetry4kids.com

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BY FRANCISCO X. ALARCÓN

my shoes

rest

all night

under my bed

tired

they stretch

and loosen

their laces

wide open

they fall asleep

and dream

of walking

they revisit

the places

they went to

during the day

and wake up

cheerful

relaxed

so soft

Francisco X. Alarcon, "Ode to My Shoes" from Bellybutton of the Moon. Copyright © 1998 by Francisco X. Alarcon.  Reprinted by permission of Lee & Low Books.

Source: Bellybutton of the Moon and Other Summer Poems (Lee & Low Books, 1998)

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By Kate Combs

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Rolling your belly like a tide,

sweeping the little fish aside,

billow and swell of midnight blue,

you're as grand as a planet

passing through.

Copyright © 2012 From the book Kate Coombs. Water Sings Blue. Chronicle Books. Reprinted by permission of the author.

About this Poem

I think it's kind of funny that I used such a little poem to describe something so big, but you'll find big images inside the lines. You will also find lots of L's in the first three lines and three short A sounds in the last two lines. Poets don't just use end rhymes; they use letters and sounds within words, too.

Write Your Own Poem: Did you notice that this descriptive poem is addressed to a blue whale? Pick a specific animal, plant, rock, or manmade object you'd like to describe and address it with "you are." You can write 4 lines or 10 lines, whatever works. And you don't have to rhyme. But you should brainstorm to come up with a bunch of metaphors for your topic. Some of them can be nouns, but also include some verbs (actions). Then pick the very best ones for your poem. Try wording your lines in different ways till you can get the sounds to roll or plod or scamper-whichever fits your topic.

About The Author

Kate Coombs writes picture books, middle grade fiction, and poetry. She grew up in California near the ocean, where she used to boogie board with her brothers and sisters. She likes to step on dry autumn leaves and thinks frogs are really funny. Her first poetry book, Water Sings Blue, won the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award for 2012.

Where to Buy this Book

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Rolling your belly like a tide, sweeping the little fish aside, billow and swell of midnight blue, you're as grand as a planet passing through. Copyright © 2012 From the book Kate Coombs. Water Sings Blue . Chronicle Books. Reprinted by permission of the author.

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By Gorgia Heard

Quickly and quietly,

the bat patrols the night,

sending an invisible song

echoing like ripples on a pond,

chasing moths around a streetlight.

Quickly and quietly,

the bat patrols the night.

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BY JACK PRELUTSKY

I’m fond of frogs, and every day

I treat them with affection.

I join them at the FROG CAFE—

We love the Croaking Section.

Text © 2000 Jack Prelutsky. Used by Permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

Source: It's Raining Pigs and Noodles (HarperCollins Publishers Inc, 2000)

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Printable Version

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Printable Version

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Printable Version

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BY ELOISE GREENFIELD

It takes more than a wish

to catch a fish

you take the hook

you add the bait

you concentrate

and then you wait

you wait     you wait

but not a bite

the fish don’t have

an appetite

so tell them what

good bait you’ve got

and how your bait

can hit the spot

this works a whole

lot better than

a wish

if you really

want to catch

a fish

“To Catch a Fish” from Under the Sunday Tree. Copyright © 1988 by Eloise Greenfield, used by permission of S©ott Treimel NY.  Source: Under the Sunday Tree (Harper & Row, 1988)

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Printable Version

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BY CHRISTINA ROSSETTI

Mix a pancake,

Stir a pancake,

Pop it in the pan;

Fry the pancake,

Toss the pancake—

Catch it if you can.

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Nikki Grimes

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Some words
sit still on the page
holding a story steady.
Those words
never get me into trouble.
But other words have wings
that wake my daydreams.
They fly in,
silent as sunrise,
tickle my imagination,
and carry my thoughts away.
I can't help
but buckle up
for the ride!

Copyright © 2013 Nikki Grimes. From the book "Words with Wings." Wordsong/Boyds Mills. Reprinted by permission of the author.

About this Poem

I have always been a daydreamer. I got into lots of trouble for it, in school, just like the girl in this poem. Daydreaming is a wonderful gift, though, and I wrote this poem, and this book, to celebrate it. If it weren't for daydreaming, I wouldn't be much of a writer!

About The Author

New York Times bestselling author Nikki Grimes is the recipient of the 2006 NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. Her distinguished works include ALA Notable book What is Goodbye?, Coretta Scott King Award winner Bronx Masquerade, the novels Jazmin's Notebook, Dark Sons, and The Road to Paris (Coretta Scott King Author Honor Books). Creator of the popular Meet Danitra Brown, Ms. Grimes lives in Corona, California.

Where to Buy this Book

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Some words sit still on the page holding a story steady. Those words never get me into trouble. But other words have wings that wake my daydreams. They fly in, silent as sunrise, tickle my imagination, and carry my thoughts away. I can't help but buckle up for the ride!

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By Jaqueline Amanda Woodson

without anybody's help

on a clean white page in my composition notebook,

I know

if I wanted to

I could write anything.

Letters becoming words, words gathering meaning,

becoming

thoughts outside my head

becoming sentences

written by

Jacqueline Amanda Woodson

Jacqueline Woodson, "on paper" from Brown Girl Dreaming. Copyright © 2014 by Jacqueline Woodson. Used by permission of Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

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Printable Version

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This site has audio recordings of poems read aloud by a variety of people.

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Read aloud with Ms. Heard: Feel the Beat