facebook pixel

¥

 

 

Poetry Month Event on April 24 2025

 

In honor of ¥ Poetry Month, the ¥Children’s Poetry Awards Committeeis sponsoring a special event to support teachers in using poetry to meet a wide variety of education goals. Join award-winning poets Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong as they lead several authors in a webinar providing educators at all levels with ideas for engaging teachers and students in poetry.

Learn more

 

 

 

¥ Poetry in Practice

 

Throughout April, ¥ will share a daily poem and poet curated by author Charles R. Smith Jr., winner of the 2025 ¥ Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children, along with a classroom prompt. Be sure tofollow us on social media to get each poem as it drops, and view the blog post anytime after April 1 for the cumulative, up-to-date list.

View the daily poems

Interviews with Poets

 

 

An Interview with Poet Laureate Joy Harjo

A member of the Muscogee Creek Nation, Harjo is the first Native writer to be named US Poet Laureate.

A Conversation with Former US Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera

“When I came to school, if I hadn’t found writing, if the teacher hadn’t acknowledged me, if I hadn’t found my voice, I wouldn’t be here.”

Elizabeth Acevedo

Elizabeth Acevedo discusses the writing process and poetry and literature with young people.

Elizabeth Acevedo Shares Her Heart, Teacher to Teacher

Poetry Books

 

opens up the flourishing world of contemporary poetry to secondary teachers, giving advice on reading contemporary poetry, discovering new poets, and inviting living poets into the classroom, as well as sharing sample lessons, writing prompts, and ways to become an engaged member of a professional learning community.

The #TeachLivingPoets approach, which has grown out of the vibrant movement and community founded by high school teacher Melissa Alter Smith and been codeveloped with poet and scholar Lindsay Illich, offers rich opportunities for students to improve critical reading and writing, opportunities for self-expression and social-emotional learning, and, perhaps the most desirable outcome, the opportunity to fall in love with language and discover (or renew) their love of reading. The many poems included inare representative of the diverse poets writing today.

 

From synesthetic poems to questioning poems to the ghazal,has something fun or fascinating for every student and teacher as they explore the possibilities of poetry writing. The exercises teach and utilize technique while also focusing on and inspiring the intuitive and imaginative qualities of poetry.

Each poem type includes an introduction explaining the exercise’s goal, detailed instructions, and a student example. The 75 activities are divided into three sections: exercises that focus on different types of imagery and ways to generate fresh imagery; exercises born out of unusual prompts and ideas that engage a writer’s experiences in the real world; and exercises related to what form might look like or how it might function.

Kyle Vaughn invites every writer to explore the power of poetry, illuminating the way through the endless possibilities for inspiration.

2025 Notable Poetry Books and Verse Novels

2025 ¥ Notable Poetry Books

Here are outstanding poetry books to offer children and teens—not just this month, but throughout the year and across the curriculum. Use these books, and create connections with books fromprevious Notable Lists (2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019,,,,,,,,) to create even more poetry joy!

2025 List

Get the official 2025 ¥ Poetry Month poster.

Get the poster

 

¥ Verse: A Look Back

While ¥ Verse is no longer active, its past resources remain valuable for poetry educators. Explore the 2022 ¥ Verse postsand past calendars for ideas and inspiration on poets and poetry.