Twenty Timeless Poems: An Owl's Nest Anthology for Teen and Middle Grade Readers

by Devin Brown

Twenty Timeless An Owl’s Nest Anthology is a perfect introduction to a wide range of beloved poetry. Each chapter guides readers through a different poem using conversational essays and sections that define vocabulary and poetic devices. Author Devin Brown also provides historical context, gives a brief biography of each poet, encourages discussion through questions that illuminate and dig deeper, makes personal and contemporary connections for the readers, and much more.


This Owl’s Nest Classic is ideal for parents, teachers, librarians, homeschoolers, and anyone looking to grow in enjoyment, knowledge, and understanding of poetry across the ages.

Genres: Teen, Middle Grade, Poetry

296 pages, Paperback

Published November 25, 2025

About the author

Devin Brown (PhD, University of South Carolina) is a Lilly scholar and professor of English at Asbury University. A C. S. Lewis aficionado, Brown has written, taught, and lectured on Lewis extensively for more than ten years. He has written a number of books related to Lewis, including Inside Narnia and Inside Prince Caspian, and lives in Kentucky. In 2008 Brown was invited to serve as scholar-in-residence at the Kilns, Lewis's home in Oxford.

Reviews

[Beth Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve had the pleasure of diving deep into this book and it is an incredible resource, both as an introduction to poetry and as a way to dive deeper into specific classic poems. Each poem has its own chapter that includes definitions of challenging words or older language, explanation of literary terms, historical connections, details about each poet, plus reflection questions. Author Devin Brown is a literature professor and his expertise and love of teaching is so evident.

I’ve never read anything quite like this book and page after page I learned something new! This is an incredibly valuable resource for anyone looking to explore poetry, but especially for homeschoolers, teachers, and librarians. The conversational tone makes this book accessible to a wide range of ages, though clearly its intended audience is teen and middle grade readers.

Twenty Timeless Poems would make a perfect teacher gift this Christmas! And it is part of the Owl’s Nest Classics line which is truly top notch and like nothing else being published today. Most classic reprints have some sort of updated cover and maybe a brief new introduction, but each Owl’s Nest Classic has literally pages upon pages of extra material via discussion of themes and why we read classics today, footnotes throughout the unabridged texts, and reflection questions designed for young readers.

I hope you considering ordering a copy for your family or gifting this new release this holiday season!

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an excellent and enjoyable resource!

I have never read an anthology quite like this before. This is a fantastic resource for any homeschooler, teacher, librarian, or anyone interested in a wonderful introduction to poetry. This would be absolutely perfect for a poetry unit or as a beautiful addition to any literature study.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this wonderful collection of twenty classic poems. Each chapter features a poem, biographical and historical information, explanation of poetic terms and techniques, discussion questions, and interesting and helpful teaching related to the poem’s meaning. Devin Brown is an author and literature professor who presents all of this in a clear, thorough, readable and very interesting manner. Beautifully done!

Twenty Timeless Poems is the latest addition to the Owl’s Nest Publishers line of annotated classic works. Each book in that series is just excellent and unlike anything else being produced for adolescent readers. I highly recommend them all.

[K.B. Hoyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most unique anthologies I have ever read! Author and professor Devin Brown guides the reader through twenty poems—many that are well known but some that will be new to the poetry novice—and breaks each one down conversationally, by poetic devices, by poet biographies, and much more! I learned so much from reading this, and I’m not even the target audience (adolescents are). If you have a teenager interested in poetry, if you homeschool, if you are an educator looking for classroom resources, or if YOU just want to learn more about some classic timeless poems, I highly recommend this text!