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The Random House Book of Poetry for Children
The Random House Book of Poetry for Children offers both funny and illuminating poems for kids personally selected by the nation's first Children's Poet Laureate, Jack Prelutsky. Featuring a wealth of beloved classic poems from the past and modern glittering gems, every child who opens this treasury will find a world of surprises and delights which will instill a lifelong love of poetry. Featuring 572 unforgettable poems, and over 400 one-of-a-kind illustrations from the Caldecott-winning illustrator of the Frog and Toad series, Arnold Lobel, this collection is, quite simply, the perfect way to introduce children to the world of poetry.
248 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1983
71 people are currently reading
1929 people want to read
About the author
Jack Prelutsky
149 books235 followersJack Prelutsky is an American poet. He attended New York public schools, and later the High School of Music and Art and Hunter College. Prelutsky, who has also worked as a busboy, furniture mover, folk singer, and cab driver, claims that he hated poetry in grade school because of the way it was taught. He is the author of more than 30 poetry collections including Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep< and A Pizza the Size of the Sun. He has also compiled countless children's anthologies comprised of poems of others'. Jack Prelutsky was married to Von Tre Venefue, a woman he had met in France. They divorced in 1995, but Jack remarried. He currently lives in Washington state with his wife, Carolyn. He befriended a gay poet named Espiritu Salamanca in 1997 and both now work together in writing poems and stories for children and adults alike.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 195 reviews
March 23, 2013
This Poetry Was Music to My Students' Ears (And Don't Be Turned Off by the Title!)
A Review by Daniel L. Berek
Most young children love poetry, especially for its musical qualities, rhythm, imagery. And with famed children's poet Jack Prelutsky as editor, add "fun, funny, witty, and wise." When I taught young children (K through grade 3), I used this book extensively, and my students kept asking for more, more, more poetry, please. Do not let the awful title of this book, "The Random House Book of Poetry for Children," turn you off. The publishers should have used the subtitle instead, "A Treasury of 572 Poems for Today's Child." Why use the publisher's name as the title. This is not a dictionary, after all. Besides, there is already too much commercialism in books for children. Then again, to use a tired cliche, "You cannot judge a book by its cover." So open the book and sample what's inside. Arranged in themes (which is very useful for teachers looking for a poem for a special occasion), an immense selection of poems by poets of all walks of life awaits. Best of all, most of the poems are not ditties written for kiddies - they are honest-to-goodness poems by respected authors such as Christina Rosetti, Robert Frost, Walter de la Mare, John Updike, Walter Crane, Nikki Giovanni, John Ciardi, Gwendolyn Brooks, Hilaire Belloc, Joyce Kilmer, Langston Hughes, and William Butler Yeats to name but a sample, poems for readers of all ages. Of course, there are also verses by traditional writers of quality children's literature, such as Lewis Carroll, Mary Ann Hoberman, Charlotte Zolotow, Robert Louis Stevenson, Edward Lear, Ogden Nash, Eve Merriam, Judith Viorst, and the two Lillians, Moore and Morrison. There is something for everyone to like in a variety of themes, including nature, the seasons, animals wild and tame, children, the city, the home, food, people, and just plain silliness, something children and adults alike could always use more of. As an educator, I highly favor the use of poetry in all classes, not just language arts. The children will love it! Just don't let them know that it is also good for them....
A Review by Daniel L. Berek
Most young children love poetry, especially for its musical qualities, rhythm, imagery. And with famed children's poet Jack Prelutsky as editor, add "fun, funny, witty, and wise." When I taught young children (K through grade 3), I used this book extensively, and my students kept asking for more, more, more poetry, please. Do not let the awful title of this book, "The Random House Book of Poetry for Children," turn you off. The publishers should have used the subtitle instead, "A Treasury of 572 Poems for Today's Child." Why use the publisher's name as the title. This is not a dictionary, after all. Besides, there is already too much commercialism in books for children. Then again, to use a tired cliche, "You cannot judge a book by its cover." So open the book and sample what's inside. Arranged in themes (which is very useful for teachers looking for a poem for a special occasion), an immense selection of poems by poets of all walks of life awaits. Best of all, most of the poems are not ditties written for kiddies - they are honest-to-goodness poems by respected authors such as Christina Rosetti, Robert Frost, Walter de la Mare, John Updike, Walter Crane, Nikki Giovanni, John Ciardi, Gwendolyn Brooks, Hilaire Belloc, Joyce Kilmer, Langston Hughes, and William Butler Yeats to name but a sample, poems for readers of all ages. Of course, there are also verses by traditional writers of quality children's literature, such as Lewis Carroll, Mary Ann Hoberman, Charlotte Zolotow, Robert Louis Stevenson, Edward Lear, Ogden Nash, Eve Merriam, Judith Viorst, and the two Lillians, Moore and Morrison. There is something for everyone to like in a variety of themes, including nature, the seasons, animals wild and tame, children, the city, the home, food, people, and just plain silliness, something children and adults alike could always use more of. As an educator, I highly favor the use of poetry in all classes, not just language arts. The children will love it! Just don't let them know that it is also good for them....
November 16, 2022
Prelutsky has chosen a wide and whimsical selection of poems for children, most of them rather short with a heavy metrical focus. The usuals are here (meaning Lear, my dear), but also some lesser-anthologized-for-children poets and a variety of styles. Lobel's illustrations highlight imagery from the poems, often several on a page, and in this book his human figures remind me a bit of dePaola, which is throwing me for a loop.
There is a complete table of contents (naming every poem), and indices of titles, first lines, authors, and subjects, making this a wonderful resource for teaching.
I found a new favorite:
"One Day When We Went Walking," Valine Hobbs (129)
One day when we went walking,
I found a dragon's tooth,
A dreadful dragon's tooth.
"A locust thorn," said Ruth.
One day when we went walking,
I found a brownie's shoe,
A brownie's button shoe,
"A dry pea pod," said Sue.
One day when we went walking,
I found a mermaid's fan,
A merry mermaid's fan.
"A scallop shell," said Dan.
One day when we went walking,
I found a fairy's dress,
A fairy's flannel dress.
"A mullein leaf," said Bess.
Next time that I go walking--
Unless I meet an elf,
A funny, friendly elf--
I'm going by myself!
There is a complete table of contents (naming every poem), and indices of titles, first lines, authors, and subjects, making this a wonderful resource for teaching.
I found a new favorite:
"One Day When We Went Walking," Valine Hobbs (129)
One day when we went walking,
I found a dragon's tooth,
A dreadful dragon's tooth.
"A locust thorn," said Ruth.
One day when we went walking,
I found a brownie's shoe,
A brownie's button shoe,
"A dry pea pod," said Sue.
One day when we went walking,
I found a mermaid's fan,
A merry mermaid's fan.
"A scallop shell," said Dan.
One day when we went walking,
I found a fairy's dress,
A fairy's flannel dress.
"A mullein leaf," said Bess.
Next time that I go walking--
Unless I meet an elf,
A funny, friendly elf--
I'm going by myself!
September 21, 2017
loved this book when I was a kid.
October 25, 2016
1. This collection of poems has not received any awards.
2. The target audience are 2nd grade and up.
3. This collection of poems from many great, well-known authors is organized based on different themes such as nature, home, and children. There are many different types of poems in this book such as sad and funny ones. There are also many illustrations to go along with the poems.
4. I really enjoyed reading poems in the book because of how vastly different they are. I like how some are long poems while others are very short. I also really liked how the poems were categorized based on their theme, so that if someone is teaching a lesson on nature, the teacher knows right where to go in the book, rather than searching for it.
5. One way that this could be used in class is by having students pick a poem, rewriting it on a page with their own illustration to go along with it. Another way which this book could be used in the classroom is by using it for poem(s) of the week.
2. The target audience are 2nd grade and up.
3. This collection of poems from many great, well-known authors is organized based on different themes such as nature, home, and children. There are many different types of poems in this book such as sad and funny ones. There are also many illustrations to go along with the poems.
4. I really enjoyed reading poems in the book because of how vastly different they are. I like how some are long poems while others are very short. I also really liked how the poems were categorized based on their theme, so that if someone is teaching a lesson on nature, the teacher knows right where to go in the book, rather than searching for it.
5. One way that this could be used in class is by having students pick a poem, rewriting it on a page with their own illustration to go along with it. Another way which this book could be used in the classroom is by using it for poem(s) of the week.
April 15, 2025
This is a treasure trove of poems and I have enjoyed reading them with my son. I really like how it is separated into categories so you can find a poem that suits the season or mood you’re in. Some are simply beautiful and others are silly, but all of them are wonderful! The illustrations are delightful too.
Highly recommend!
My favorite selected poems:
The Library
by Barbara A. Huff
It looks like any building
When you pass it on the street,
Made of stone and glass and marble,
Made of iron and concrete.
But once inside you can ride
A camel or a train,
Visit Rome, Siam, or Nome,
Feel a hurricane,
Meet a king, learn to sing,
How to bake a pie,
Go to sea, plant a tree,
Find how airplanes fly,
Train a horse, and of course
Have all the dogs you'd like,
See the moon, a sandy dune,
Or catch a whopping pike.
Everything that books can bring
You'll find inside those walls.
A world is there for you to share
When adventure calls.
You cannot tell its magic
By the way the building looks,
But there's wonderment within it,
The wonderment of books.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Measurement
By: A.M. Sullivan
Stars and atoms have no size
They only vary in men’s eyes
Men and instruments will blunder
Calculating things of wonder
A seed is just as huge a world
As any ball the Sun has hurled
Stars are quite as picayune
As any splinter of the moon
Time is but a vague device
Space can never be precise
Stars and atoms have a girth
Small as zero, ten times Earth
There is, by God’s swift reckoning
A universe in everything.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All Things Bright and Beautiful
by Cecil Frances Alexander
All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful, The Lord God made them all.
Each little flower that opens, Each little bird that sings, He made their glowing colors, He made their tiny wings.
The purple headed mountain, The river running by, The sunset and the morning, That brightens up the sky;
The cold wind in the winter, The pleasant summer sun, The ripe fruits in the garden, He made them every one.
The tall trees in the greenwood, The meadows where we play, The rushes by the water, We gather every day;
He gave us eyes to see them, And lips that we might tell How great is God Almighty, Who has made all things well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My son’s favorite…
The Star
by Jane Taylor
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
As your bright and tiny spark,
Lights the traveler in the dark—
Though I know not what you are,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star
Highly recommend!
My favorite selected poems:
The Library
by Barbara A. Huff
It looks like any building
When you pass it on the street,
Made of stone and glass and marble,
Made of iron and concrete.
But once inside you can ride
A camel or a train,
Visit Rome, Siam, or Nome,
Feel a hurricane,
Meet a king, learn to sing,
How to bake a pie,
Go to sea, plant a tree,
Find how airplanes fly,
Train a horse, and of course
Have all the dogs you'd like,
See the moon, a sandy dune,
Or catch a whopping pike.
Everything that books can bring
You'll find inside those walls.
A world is there for you to share
When adventure calls.
You cannot tell its magic
By the way the building looks,
But there's wonderment within it,
The wonderment of books.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Measurement
By: A.M. Sullivan
Stars and atoms have no size
They only vary in men’s eyes
Men and instruments will blunder
Calculating things of wonder
A seed is just as huge a world
As any ball the Sun has hurled
Stars are quite as picayune
As any splinter of the moon
Time is but a vague device
Space can never be precise
Stars and atoms have a girth
Small as zero, ten times Earth
There is, by God’s swift reckoning
A universe in everything.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All Things Bright and Beautiful
by Cecil Frances Alexander
All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful, The Lord God made them all.
Each little flower that opens, Each little bird that sings, He made their glowing colors, He made their tiny wings.
The purple headed mountain, The river running by, The sunset and the morning, That brightens up the sky;
The cold wind in the winter, The pleasant summer sun, The ripe fruits in the garden, He made them every one.
The tall trees in the greenwood, The meadows where we play, The rushes by the water, We gather every day;
He gave us eyes to see them, And lips that we might tell How great is God Almighty, Who has made all things well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My son’s favorite…
The Star
by Jane Taylor
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
As your bright and tiny spark,
Lights the traveler in the dark—
Though I know not what you are,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star
February 16, 2022
So. Many. Poems. (572!) Among them many old favorites I had more or less forgotten. And the Lobel illustrations are so funny and dear.
April 12, 2025
This volume is probably my favourite Little Free Library find.
July 7, 2013
“The Random House Book of Poetry for Children” is a compilation of 572 poems for children. Jack Prelutsky who wrote “Good Sport’s and “Scranimals” selected the poems. Many of the poems are done in rhyme which (I think) is more palatable to children. Form, the arrangement of words, is also noticeable in some poems. For example in the poem “My Mouth” by Arnold Adoff is written as follows:
My Mouth
stays shut
but
food just
finds
a way
my tongue says
we are
full today
but
teeth just
grin
and
say
come in
i am always hungry
Additionally, what is interesting is that Adoff uses a lowercase i in describing himself at the end of the poem.
The poems in the book are arranged by nature, the four seasons, the ways of living things, dogs and cats and bears and bats, as well as other categories. I selected a few of the poems to read with my students and they liked them. The poems are short and specific and for those reasons I think children will enjoy reading them and selecting their favorite.
My rating for this book is five stars. I liked the many of the poems selected for the book. I also liked the arrangement and the selection of categories for the poems. This is a great book for teachers of primary students to have in their classroom library.
My Mouth
stays shut
but
food just
finds
a way
my tongue says
we are
full today
but
teeth just
grin
and
say
come in
i am always hungry
Additionally, what is interesting is that Adoff uses a lowercase i in describing himself at the end of the poem.
The poems in the book are arranged by nature, the four seasons, the ways of living things, dogs and cats and bears and bats, as well as other categories. I selected a few of the poems to read with my students and they liked them. The poems are short and specific and for those reasons I think children will enjoy reading them and selecting their favorite.
My rating for this book is five stars. I liked the many of the poems selected for the book. I also liked the arrangement and the selection of categories for the poems. This is a great book for teachers of primary students to have in their classroom library.
March 14, 2013
The Random House Book of Poetry for Children collection of poetry is a rich and comprehensive anthology that has something for children of all ages.
The Random House Book of Poetry for Children has roughly 500 plus poems, some written by Jack Prelutsky but the majority of the poem are collected by Jack Prelutsky. These poems range from nursery rhymes to more serious poetry, all of which are separated into 14 illustrated thematic sections. Poems about nature, seasons, life, animals, food, and people as well as nonsense poems, scary poems, and fantasy fill its pages. The author includes an index in the back of the book that makes it easier for the reader to locate a particular or favorite poem or poems on a particular theme.
The illustration a simple and cute and will help the reader connect to illustration to the poem. A wonderful book for children of all ages and can be used in the classroom to cover an assortment of themes. There are so many poems on one page which make to book appeared crowded but nevertheless a wonderful book full of great poems.
The Random House Book of Poetry for Children won the following award: Booklist Books for Youth Editors' Choice, 1983, School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, 1983, Horn Book Children's Classics, 1983, Library of Congress Children's Books of the Year, 1983, and Kentucky Bluegrass Master List, 1985
The Random House Book of Poetry for Children has roughly 500 plus poems, some written by Jack Prelutsky but the majority of the poem are collected by Jack Prelutsky. These poems range from nursery rhymes to more serious poetry, all of which are separated into 14 illustrated thematic sections. Poems about nature, seasons, life, animals, food, and people as well as nonsense poems, scary poems, and fantasy fill its pages. The author includes an index in the back of the book that makes it easier for the reader to locate a particular or favorite poem or poems on a particular theme.
The illustration a simple and cute and will help the reader connect to illustration to the poem. A wonderful book for children of all ages and can be used in the classroom to cover an assortment of themes. There are so many poems on one page which make to book appeared crowded but nevertheless a wonderful book full of great poems.
The Random House Book of Poetry for Children won the following award: Booklist Books for Youth Editors' Choice, 1983, School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, 1983, Horn Book Children's Classics, 1983, Library of Congress Children's Books of the Year, 1983, and Kentucky Bluegrass Master List, 1985
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November 10, 2016Title: The Random House Book of Poetry
Author: Collected by Jack Prelutskey
Illustrator: Arnold Lobel
Genre: Poetry
Theme(s): The four seasons, Nature, Children, Home, City, Self, Hunger, People I know, Nonsense, etc.
Opening line/sentence: Nature is the endless sky, the sun of golden light, a cloud that floats serenely by, the silver moon of night.
Brief Book Summary:
In this poetry anthology, Jack Prelutsky has compiled over 500 poems from a variety of authors. The poems vary in topic, rhythm, and length as well as seriousness but all are enjoyable. Illustrations by Lobel, some in color and some not, accompany almost every poem in the anthology and are sprinkled in and around the printed poems.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
Susie Wilde (Children's Literature)
Prelutsky is one of the most trusted names in children's poetry. During the school year he probably gets a hundred letters a week from kids. Kids know that Prelutsky is their friend because he writes about the things they care about--outer space, monsters, dragons, sports, food fights, sibling rivalry, and weird friends. He never condescends. Prelutsky tell things in unique, interesting ways. He's compiled anthologies like this one where he draws on many current writers who he believes are some of the best children's poets who ever lived. 1983, Random, $19.00 and $21.99. Ages 6 to 10.
(PUBLISHER: Random House (New York:), PUBLISHED: c1983.)
Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
Sylvia M. Vardell; BookLinks 15.6, 2006
K-Gr. 6. With more than a half-million copies in print, this comprehensive anthology has become a staple. Its more than 500 poems are organized into 14 broad sections including nature, seasons, animals, cities, home, self, nonsense, and more. The variety of poets is still impressive, including classic and anonymous authors from Emily Dickinson to Dennis Lee, and the selections range from playground verse to more serious fare. Illustrations by Caldecott medalist Lobel abound on every page, executed in color and sepia tones or monochromatic green shades and always perfectly placed and uncrowded, even with as many as four poems on a page. Several helpful indexes make it easier to find and choose just the right poem.
The Random House Book of Poetry for Children. Selected by Jack Prelutsky. Illus. by Arnold Lobel. 1983. 256p. Random, $19.95 (0-394-85010-6).
Response to Two Professional Reviews:
I like that both professional reviews discuss the immense variety in this text and (evidently) in much of Prelutsky’s work— the variety in this book is a large part of what made it interesting to me. Wilde comments that Prelutsky chose the authors for this anthology based on “who he believes are some of the best children’s poets who ever lived.” I find it heartening that Prelutsky does not only write poetry, but consumes it and has favorites. Additionally, Wilde’s comments about Prelutsky’s kind nature is unusual in a professional review, which tells me his personality must really be strong.
Evaluation of Literary Elements:
By nature of being an anthology of poetry, The Random House Book of Poetry has a plethora of formats and rhyme schemes present in the poems. I did notice that most of the poems rhyme, however, perhaps reflecting that this book is intended for children. There is a variety of themes and a variety of positive and negative poems about the themes, which sets up an interesting discussion on values.
Consideration of Instructional Application:
I would love to use this book and other collections of poetry to create a Poem in My Pocket day. Children could choose a poem from The Random House Book of Poetry or create their own poems and keep it in their pockets all day. When someone comes up to them and asks what they have in their pocket, if they can recite back the poem or give their opinion of what the poem is about/why it is important, they receive a Pocket Point. Poem in My Pocket Day can occur not only in my classroom, but at lunch, at recess, etc.
Author: Collected by Jack Prelutskey
Illustrator: Arnold Lobel
Genre: Poetry
Theme(s): The four seasons, Nature, Children, Home, City, Self, Hunger, People I know, Nonsense, etc.
Opening line/sentence: Nature is the endless sky, the sun of golden light, a cloud that floats serenely by, the silver moon of night.
Brief Book Summary:
In this poetry anthology, Jack Prelutsky has compiled over 500 poems from a variety of authors. The poems vary in topic, rhythm, and length as well as seriousness but all are enjoyable. Illustrations by Lobel, some in color and some not, accompany almost every poem in the anthology and are sprinkled in and around the printed poems.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
Susie Wilde (Children's Literature)
Prelutsky is one of the most trusted names in children's poetry. During the school year he probably gets a hundred letters a week from kids. Kids know that Prelutsky is their friend because he writes about the things they care about--outer space, monsters, dragons, sports, food fights, sibling rivalry, and weird friends. He never condescends. Prelutsky tell things in unique, interesting ways. He's compiled anthologies like this one where he draws on many current writers who he believes are some of the best children's poets who ever lived. 1983, Random, $19.00 and $21.99. Ages 6 to 10.
(PUBLISHER: Random House (New York:), PUBLISHED: c1983.)
Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
Sylvia M. Vardell; BookLinks 15.6, 2006
K-Gr. 6. With more than a half-million copies in print, this comprehensive anthology has become a staple. Its more than 500 poems are organized into 14 broad sections including nature, seasons, animals, cities, home, self, nonsense, and more. The variety of poets is still impressive, including classic and anonymous authors from Emily Dickinson to Dennis Lee, and the selections range from playground verse to more serious fare. Illustrations by Caldecott medalist Lobel abound on every page, executed in color and sepia tones or monochromatic green shades and always perfectly placed and uncrowded, even with as many as four poems on a page. Several helpful indexes make it easier to find and choose just the right poem.
The Random House Book of Poetry for Children. Selected by Jack Prelutsky. Illus. by Arnold Lobel. 1983. 256p. Random, $19.95 (0-394-85010-6).
Response to Two Professional Reviews:
I like that both professional reviews discuss the immense variety in this text and (evidently) in much of Prelutsky’s work— the variety in this book is a large part of what made it interesting to me. Wilde comments that Prelutsky chose the authors for this anthology based on “who he believes are some of the best children’s poets who ever lived.” I find it heartening that Prelutsky does not only write poetry, but consumes it and has favorites. Additionally, Wilde’s comments about Prelutsky’s kind nature is unusual in a professional review, which tells me his personality must really be strong.
Evaluation of Literary Elements:
By nature of being an anthology of poetry, The Random House Book of Poetry has a plethora of formats and rhyme schemes present in the poems. I did notice that most of the poems rhyme, however, perhaps reflecting that this book is intended for children. There is a variety of themes and a variety of positive and negative poems about the themes, which sets up an interesting discussion on values.
Consideration of Instructional Application:
I would love to use this book and other collections of poetry to create a Poem in My Pocket day. Children could choose a poem from The Random House Book of Poetry or create their own poems and keep it in their pockets all day. When someone comes up to them and asks what they have in their pocket, if they can recite back the poem or give their opinion of what the poem is about/why it is important, they receive a Pocket Point. Poem in My Pocket Day can occur not only in my classroom, but at lunch, at recess, etc.
Read
December 25, 2020The Random House Book of Poetry
A mixture of children’s poems that cover nature poems, the four seasons, animals, the ways of living things, the city, children, me poems, poems about siblings, food poems, people you know poems, nonsense poems, and many other sections that are hard to categorize in one specific topic, but have to do with transportation, mythical creatures, and some scary. Even tho this was supposed to be an easy, light, book of kid’s poetry, it took me a long time to read both times. Although I did find more poems that I liked on this read and I counted 28. The first sections that had to do with nature and animals honestly went ok but forgettable. It didn’t start to get good until about page 90 when the poems started to go into city life. On my first initial read I seemed to favor the *Some People I know* and the *Nonsense* poems. But on this read, I really liked the poems about the invisible creatures like “Wimples” “Miss Whatchamacallit Thingamajig* and *The Creature in the Classroom* (that if you liked that one then you should check out Sideway Stories from Wayside School because there’s a character named Miss Gorf that will remind you SO much of this poem). Some of the illustrations were cute also. I liked “The Duck* (where a human man is being held on a plate by a duck), “The Folks Who Lived in a Backwards Town (I really liked the upside-down imagery of the buildings) and *Three Ghostess* (which was just a simple adorable image of three ghost eating toast). There were also some that I recognized somewhere in the shadows of my childhood mind like all the ones from Alice and Wonderland, “Poor Old Lady” “One Misty Morning* (the October verse from Chicken Soup), The Owl and the Pussy Cat, and The Dual. But these were all my top picks for this book
The Flying Fish
The Shark
The Duck
Rainy Nights
Changing
Me
Me I Am
Don’t Tell Me That I Talk To Much
If We Didn’t Have Birthdays
I’m Nobody
One Day When I Went Walking
Leave Me Alone
Chocolate Cake
Some People I Know
Some People
One Misty Morning
The Folk Who Lived In Backwards Town
Feelings About Words
Wanted A Witches Cat
Three Ghostess
Wimples
Miss Whatchamacallit Thingamajig
The Creature in the Classroom
Orange
What Is Red?
The Library
Train Song
Dreams
The Paint Box
Rating: 6 and a half. Still a loooong read but more enjoyable the 2nd time around
A mixture of children’s poems that cover nature poems, the four seasons, animals, the ways of living things, the city, children, me poems, poems about siblings, food poems, people you know poems, nonsense poems, and many other sections that are hard to categorize in one specific topic, but have to do with transportation, mythical creatures, and some scary. Even tho this was supposed to be an easy, light, book of kid’s poetry, it took me a long time to read both times. Although I did find more poems that I liked on this read and I counted 28. The first sections that had to do with nature and animals honestly went ok but forgettable. It didn’t start to get good until about page 90 when the poems started to go into city life. On my first initial read I seemed to favor the *Some People I know* and the *Nonsense* poems. But on this read, I really liked the poems about the invisible creatures like “Wimples” “Miss Whatchamacallit Thingamajig* and *The Creature in the Classroom* (that if you liked that one then you should check out Sideway Stories from Wayside School because there’s a character named Miss Gorf that will remind you SO much of this poem). Some of the illustrations were cute also. I liked “The Duck* (where a human man is being held on a plate by a duck), “The Folks Who Lived in a Backwards Town (I really liked the upside-down imagery of the buildings) and *Three Ghostess* (which was just a simple adorable image of three ghost eating toast). There were also some that I recognized somewhere in the shadows of my childhood mind like all the ones from Alice and Wonderland, “Poor Old Lady” “One Misty Morning* (the October verse from Chicken Soup), The Owl and the Pussy Cat, and The Dual. But these were all my top picks for this book
The Flying Fish
The Shark
The Duck
Rainy Nights
Changing
Me
Me I Am
Don’t Tell Me That I Talk To Much
If We Didn’t Have Birthdays
I’m Nobody
One Day When I Went Walking
Leave Me Alone
Chocolate Cake
Some People I Know
Some People
One Misty Morning
The Folk Who Lived In Backwards Town
Feelings About Words
Wanted A Witches Cat
Three Ghostess
Wimples
Miss Whatchamacallit Thingamajig
The Creature in the Classroom
Orange
What Is Red?
The Library
Train Song
Dreams
The Paint Box
Rating: 6 and a half. Still a loooong read but more enjoyable the 2nd time around
February 11, 2026
I would rate The Random House Book of Poetry for Children a 4 out of 5 because of the large number and variety of poems it includes. There are 572 poems in the book, offering many different types and themes for children to enjoy. At the beginning, I was not looking forward to reading these poems because poetry has challenged me in the past and I have not always enjoyed it. However, as I continued reading, I found myself enjoying many of the poems. Some of them made me question my own thoughts, while others helped me relate to the ideas or experiences being described. The book includes poems about St. Patrick’s Day, the seasons (spring, summer, fall, and winter), famous figures such as Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr., months of the year, and everyday childhood experiences. The collection also features poems by well-known authors, including writers connected to Frog and Toad and Where the Wild Things Are, along with many others. In addition to the wide range of themes, the book includes many types of poetry, such as rhyming poems, free verse, narrative poems, silly poems, lyric poems, limericks, haiku, concrete poems, ballads, and nonsense poetry. The illustrations throughout the book vary and include color illustrations, black-and-white drawings, and real images, such as photographs of Martin Luther King Jr. The drawings are very detailed and help readers visualize the meaning of the poems. While there were a few poems I would not use in a classroom setting, there were only a small number compared to the large collection overall.
I would use this book in a second-grade classroom, reading one poem each day so students can become familiar with poetry and begin to enjoy it. During poetry lessons, I would select poems from this book to model and demonstrate different types of poetry. For a lesson, I would read a poem aloud and ask students what they think certain parts of the poem mean. After reading, I would ask questions such as: What do you think the poem is about? Did it remind you of something in your life? Did it bring up a memory or feeling? When teaching a poetry unit, I would use poems from this book along with other poetry books to focus on specific poetry types. After learning about the characteristics of each type of poem, students would create their own poems and include an illustration. Later, students could work on creating a class poetry book about themselves, their families, their friends, and things they enjoy. For example, when teaching concrete poetry, I would show students an example from the book and ask what they notice about its structure and shape. This would serve as a hook before doing a guided reading of the poem and creating one together as a class.
I would use this book in a second-grade classroom, reading one poem each day so students can become familiar with poetry and begin to enjoy it. During poetry lessons, I would select poems from this book to model and demonstrate different types of poetry. For a lesson, I would read a poem aloud and ask students what they think certain parts of the poem mean. After reading, I would ask questions such as: What do you think the poem is about? Did it remind you of something in your life? Did it bring up a memory or feeling? When teaching a poetry unit, I would use poems from this book along with other poetry books to focus on specific poetry types. After learning about the characteristics of each type of poem, students would create their own poems and include an illustration. Later, students could work on creating a class poetry book about themselves, their families, their friends, and things they enjoy. For example, when teaching concrete poetry, I would show students an example from the book and ask what they notice about its structure and shape. This would serve as a hook before doing a guided reading of the poem and creating one together as a class.
December 4, 2017
The Random House Book of Poetry for Children by Jack Prelutsky falls under the genre poetry and children's book and is intended for children 7-15 years of age, but can also be enjoyed for young adults as well. The book has not won any awards. The book is compiled with many different poems written by many different poets and authors. Jack Prelutsky collected the poems used in the book and even wrote a couple of them too. There are many different topics throughout the book including nature, animals, food, and different characters. Most of the poems are accompanied by an illustration. There are short simple poems, as well as longer, more in-depth poems. I gave this book a four-star rating because overall, they had some very good, interesting poems. The whole book is made up of 500+ poems and it just took a while for me to read the whole thing. Some poems I found a little boring and could not relate too. However, this book would be an excellent introduction to poetry for kids ranging from multiple ages. There are poems included that children beginning to read could easily read aloud and understand. There are also more complex works of poetry that could be used for older students learning about poetry and how to start writing poems themselves. There were some illustrations that really stood out, and others were simple doodles and pictures. I think some of these poems would appeal to young readers and I think the older they got, the more they would enjoy and appreciate them. One of my favorite things about this book of poetry was the categories. They kept each category of poems together that ranged from nature to animals as well as scary to fantasy. This book of poems really has anything you could be looking for and they did an excellent job of keeping it very organized.
12/02/17
12/02/17
November 29, 2019
Summary: This poetry is full of classics poems that everyone will love. From traditional popular poems to hidden gems, this book has them all. With over 500 poems this poetry book is a great addition to any book collection. This collection of poems shows all different types and forms of poetry. Using this book can be a great way to introduce children poetry.
Review: Poetry is fun to read especially when you have these awesome poems all in one book! This poetry book is a great resource to have in your classroom library. Children can learn all kinds of things from reading these poems. From the fun traditional poems, to the silly cartoon illustrations this poetry book will be a hit for everyone.
Other Book Connections: This poetry book can be used with other poetry books by Jack Prelutsky like “It’s Raining Pigs ants Noodles”, “A Pizza The Size of The Sun”, and “Something Big has Been Here”. All these poetry books are fun to use with children who are learning about poetry.
Mentor Text: Using this poetry book to mentor writing can help increase students knowledge on different ways that you can write poetry. There are endless amounts of different poems, and this book can give students ideas of how they can write their own poems.
Review: Poetry is fun to read especially when you have these awesome poems all in one book! This poetry book is a great resource to have in your classroom library. Children can learn all kinds of things from reading these poems. From the fun traditional poems, to the silly cartoon illustrations this poetry book will be a hit for everyone.
Other Book Connections: This poetry book can be used with other poetry books by Jack Prelutsky like “It’s Raining Pigs ants Noodles”, “A Pizza The Size of The Sun”, and “Something Big has Been Here”. All these poetry books are fun to use with children who are learning about poetry.
Mentor Text: Using this poetry book to mentor writing can help increase students knowledge on different ways that you can write poetry. There are endless amounts of different poems, and this book can give students ideas of how they can write their own poems.
November 4, 2025
This collection is a mixture of classic poems and more modern offerings. I was excited when I first found it for a couple dollars at a thrift store, but ultimately, it isn't one I would recommend as a great anthology.
For my taste, the contemporary selections are too many and of such a sort as to undermine the work that great poetry does on the mind, heart, and soul. Short, cutesy verses dwelling on the antics of badly behaved children, the grosser aspects of animal life, the oddities of the world . . . these sit uneasily alongside selections by clear-eyed children's poets such as Robert Louis Stevenson or esteemed men such as Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
There is little question that children will enjoy the poems (and illustrations) here, but is this really a collection in their best interests? My youngsters kept asking for a poem about a lazy witch that, while cute, had little to recommend it. Yet these are the same children that, when read a better anthology, asked for re-reads of Shakespeare. If one wishes to develop poetic taste, a collection such as this will skew the undeveloped tastes toward the sugary and simple rather than helping them acquire a palate that can discern great beauty.
For my taste, the contemporary selections are too many and of such a sort as to undermine the work that great poetry does on the mind, heart, and soul. Short, cutesy verses dwelling on the antics of badly behaved children, the grosser aspects of animal life, the oddities of the world . . . these sit uneasily alongside selections by clear-eyed children's poets such as Robert Louis Stevenson or esteemed men such as Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
There is little question that children will enjoy the poems (and illustrations) here, but is this really a collection in their best interests? My youngsters kept asking for a poem about a lazy witch that, while cute, had little to recommend it. Yet these are the same children that, when read a better anthology, asked for re-reads of Shakespeare. If one wishes to develop poetic taste, a collection such as this will skew the undeveloped tastes toward the sugary and simple rather than helping them acquire a palate that can discern great beauty.
September 13, 2022
My mother read me vast swaths of this book when I was an infant, often half deliriously -- with a rattling stream of running commentary; exclamations of delight over poems she deemed funny or surprising or just having a walloping good rhythm ("Shel Silverstein really is a master," she noted with satisfaction after every Silverstein entry). Weirdly, too, there is a lot of death and darkness here, which -- well, maybe I'll like when I'm older; she certainly did, and it's widely known by everyone except their parents that children have quite a taste for the wicked -- seems questionable for a wee babe of weeks and months. Ultimately, her defense was that she'd read anything, anything with rhyme and rhythm -- all those dreadful parenting books proclaiming that one must read to your baby every day, for... what? To lay an invisible foundation for my eventual literacy, I suppose. Anyway, all this to say, this is one of the first books I ever "read," or was read to me; some of the poems in it are perfectly excellent, some are frightening, and a smattering are real racist and problematic and we will leave them in the 1980s from whence this book came.
October 23, 2019
This is a poetry book meant for ages 5 to 11. This is an anthology of 572 poems meant for children separated by topic.
This is a book full of wonderful poems. There are funny poems, poems that make the reader feel appreciative of nature, and poems that are meant to relate to the reader. Many of the poems have a rhyme scheme(which makes sense, considering this is children's poetry) but none of it feels like it's following a cookie-cutter form. The illustrations don't add very much, but that's okay, because the poems do all the talking themselves. I really like that this anthology is separated by topic(home, nature, living animals) because it shows the reader that one topic can be expressed in many different ways and styles. I think a child would love this book because all of the poems are entertaining and either make the reader giggle or think. I would definitely teach this in an early education setting.
This is a book full of wonderful poems. There are funny poems, poems that make the reader feel appreciative of nature, and poems that are meant to relate to the reader. Many of the poems have a rhyme scheme(which makes sense, considering this is children's poetry) but none of it feels like it's following a cookie-cutter form. The illustrations don't add very much, but that's okay, because the poems do all the talking themselves. I really like that this anthology is separated by topic(home, nature, living animals) because it shows the reader that one topic can be expressed in many different ways and styles. I think a child would love this book because all of the poems are entertaining and either make the reader giggle or think. I would definitely teach this in an early education setting.
November 28, 2021
Primary and Middle Grades (2-6)
Poetry
This collection of poems is great to have in your class library to read from periodically. I often find my students need some motivation to independently read poetry. It seems to be a lost art at times that needs some resurgence. Choosing poetry that interest kids like the poems in this book is essential in encouraging my students to dive into poetry. I especially recommend this book because the poems are short and simple and are sure to interest children based on their topics such as animals, creatures, and everyday objects. There are also many teaching opportunities present in this book due to all of the showcased poetic elements such as metaphors, similes, and onomatopeias.
Poetry
This collection of poems is great to have in your class library to read from periodically. I often find my students need some motivation to independently read poetry. It seems to be a lost art at times that needs some resurgence. Choosing poetry that interest kids like the poems in this book is essential in encouraging my students to dive into poetry. I especially recommend this book because the poems are short and simple and are sure to interest children based on their topics such as animals, creatures, and everyday objects. There are also many teaching opportunities present in this book due to all of the showcased poetic elements such as metaphors, similes, and onomatopeias.
November 10, 2019
A massive collection of children's poems organized by subjects (animals, about me, in the city,...) written by a wide variety of authors. It is a wonderful assortment of short poems to explore for kids. If you like the way a certain author writes, you can search for more works they have created.
All of these poems are great for read aloud to primary and elementary students alike. There are many ways to explore lessons with fluency, prosody, onomatopoeia, metaphors, similes, and making inferences. They are also ideal for developing fluency during independent reading. All the poems are short and welcome exploration.
All of these poems are great for read aloud to primary and elementary students alike. There are many ways to explore lessons with fluency, prosody, onomatopoeia, metaphors, similes, and making inferences. They are also ideal for developing fluency during independent reading. All the poems are short and welcome exploration.
Read
November 29, 2019When researching poetry books for young readers, this book came up in several of the top book lists. This book is a combination of old poems that have been revised, new modern poems, and filled with enchanting illustrations. The multiple styles of poems give children the perfect introduction to the world of reading poetry. The subjects of the poems cover animals, nature, city living, and people. Students could read poems to practice fluency. Memorize poems and recite them to their class. Students could identify similies or metaphors throughout the poems. When being read to students could listen for prosody.
February 7, 2025
Materials for Children Reading Project
Age Range:
7 to 12
Evaluation - Literary Elements & Artistic Merit:
An excellent introduction to different forms of poetry for children that is accompanied with fun drawings.
Assessment - Potential Use:
Poems from this anthology could be assigned as homework, read for story time, or used as curriculum support.
Assessment - Appeal:
The short-form, fun rhymes, and vivid imagery, as well as the accompanying illustrations, make this appealing to children.
Age Range:
7 to 12
Evaluation - Literary Elements & Artistic Merit:
An excellent introduction to different forms of poetry for children that is accompanied with fun drawings.
Assessment - Potential Use:
Poems from this anthology could be assigned as homework, read for story time, or used as curriculum support.
Assessment - Appeal:
The short-form, fun rhymes, and vivid imagery, as well as the accompanying illustrations, make this appealing to children.
July 14, 2019
This is a fine introduction to poetry for children. Prelutsky’s selection of rhyming poetry offers a rhythm that appeals to children’s musical sensibilities,
Lobel’s illustrations offer a comforting familiarity: what could be wrong?
There will always be something missing from a collection, but that just means you’ll need to read more poetry to find your favorites! Poetry is a wonderful way to start reading aloud to children: brief snippets that are easy to remember and relaxing for listening.
Lobel’s illustrations offer a comforting familiarity: what could be wrong?
There will always be something missing from a collection, but that just means you’ll need to read more poetry to find your favorites! Poetry is a wonderful way to start reading aloud to children: brief snippets that are easy to remember and relaxing for listening.
March 8, 2020
This is an awesome collection of poems for children. I like the organization by themes of Nature, The Four Seasons, Alphabet Stew and many more. Each page has intricate drawings, some black and white while others are very colorful. One of my favorites is The Four Seasons. This is a simple poem defining each season. The poem is on one side and there is magnificent artistry of each season on the adjacent page.
April 27, 2020
Though this was published almost 40 years ago (1983!), these selections still resonate with my children of today, making them smile and often even laugh. Broken into sections (from "Nature Is..." to "I'm Hungry!" and "Nonsense! Nonsense!"), your children are bound to find poems they love in here (though, of course, at 248 pages and 572 poems, you might need to help them...). And let's not overlook the fact that Lobel (of Frog and Toad fame) illustrated this collection!
October 5, 2017
I think we use this poetry book for the first couple years of this curriculum & I don't want it in my Currently-Reading for that long so I'm reviewing after a month. There have been a couple poems that have been catchy for us and some that were not, but overall I like the variety and they are definitely age/skill appropriate for my 6 yr old.
November 27, 2017
This is a wonderful collection of children's poetry. There's such a wide variety of poems, that every child is bound to find at least a few that they enjoy. It is an excellent way to introduce children to the various kinds of poetry all in one book. The illustrations are also cute and help kids to be able to further interpret the poems.
November 7, 2018
This is a wonderful collection of children's poetry. I enjoy how the book is divided into categories. It gives a wide range of poetry samples. I have grown up with the book and have always enjoyed picking it up and finding new poems to read. I especially love the poems on the holidays and the seasons. I also find the illustrations to be interesting to look at while I am reading.
November 15, 2018
This book is filled with interesting poems of all types and varying lengths. Several of the poems are humorous, others are serious and contain questionable information. Many of these poems do not seem suitable for children as they introduce subjects including death, animals posing a threat, and punishment.
June 7, 2019
This poetry book offers both funny and illuminating poems for kids personally selected by the nation's first Children's Poet Laureate, Jack Prelutsky. It has classic poems from the past and modern new poems. I recomend this book to any child that loves poetry and if they dont love poetry after reading these poems they may start to love it.
January 23, 2020
This poetry series has tons of classic poems that students will love! There are many traditional poems to ore recent ones. There is almost over 500 poems in this book as it would be useful for the classroom or bookshelf to anyone! This would be a good way to get started with poetry with your children!
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