Poetry for Kids

When October comes around each year, I love writing Halloween poems—especially about monsters, haunted houses, and trick-or-treating. Some of these poems are a little spooky, but most are just meant to be silly and fun, like this one. I started imagining what it might be like if Dracula and his monster friends hosted a Halloween celebration of their own. What would they do if you came knocking on their door? I hope you enjoy the answer.

At Dracula’s Mansion

At Dracula’s mansion, on Halloween night,

They’ll throw the door open and put on a show,

The ghost will perform his new vanishing act.

You might find it scary to be in this fix.

— Kenn Nesbitt

One of the things I’ve loved ever since I was a kid is playing with language; making up silly words, twisting familiar phrases, and asking questions that don’t always have logical answers. I grew up reading nonsense poems like “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll and “The Owl and the Pussycat” by Edward Lear, and I still remember the tongue twisters and silly songs my dad used to recite, like “Fuzzy Wuzzy Was a Bear” and “Mairzy Doats.” Those kinds of playful poems and songs sparked something in me, and they’ve inspired many of the poems I’ve written since.

A few nights ago, just as I was drifting off to sleep, a strange question popped into my head: If it’s a farmer’s job to farm and a teacher’s job to teach, is it a butler’s job to “butle?” It made me laugh so much that I grabbed my phone and jotted it down before I could forget. When I looked at it the next morning, I still thought it was fun. So I ran with it and turned it into a poem.

I hope you enjoy the result as much as I enjoyed writing it.

It’s a Farmer’s Job to Farm

It’s a farmer’s job to farm,

But do butlers have to butle,

Does a grocer have to groce,

Does a dollar have to doll

— Kenn Nesbitt

When I was in school, I loved to paint and draw. I even thought I would become a comic book illustrator when I grew up! But honestly… I never got very good at it. My pictures usually came out kind of funny, with lots of imperfections. And that’s okay! Everyone makes mistakes when they’re learning something new. It doesn’t matter if you’re practicing the piano, trying a new sport, baking a cake, learning a new language, or painting a picture; mistakes are part of the process. In fact, they’re not really failures at all. They’re what help us get better. This poem is about a kid who learns that very lesson in a pretty silly way. I hope you enjoy it. This is…

My Family Portrait

I painted a picture this morning,

I dribbled some paint on the paper.

My brother was partially purple,

The little green blob that I splattered

I nervously showed them my painting.

— Kenn Nesbitt

Have you ever played around with one of those video filters that makes you look older, or younger, or gives you dog ears, or turns your whole face into a cartoon? Apps like Zoom, Snapchat, and others are filled with tools that can instantly change how you look—just for fun. It made me think about the line from Snow White… “Mirror, Mirror on the wall…” What if that magic mirror still existed, but it used artificial intelligence instead of spells and potions?

That idea got my imagination spinning, and the result was this poem. I hope you enjoy it.

AI Mirror On the Wall

AI mirror on the wall,

Change my skin to turn it blue.

Show me what I’d look like blonde,

Thank you, AI. That was fun.

— Kenn Nesbitt

I’ve always loved writing poems about unusual characters—kids, teenagers, or even adults who do outrageous things or take ordinary situations and turn them completely upside down. “The Reason Vance Learned How to Dance” is one of those poems. It’s about a kid who puts in a ton of effort for one very specific reason… and then something unexpected happens.

Poems like this are a fun way to play with something called irony—that’s when the outcome is the opposite of what you’d expect. Imagine practicing all year to go swimming and then forgetting your swimsuit on the big day. That’s ironic—and also kind of funny! In this poem, Vance is a kooky character who works hard toward his goal, but things don’t quite go as planned.

Let’s see what happens to Vance as he prepares for his big moment…

The Reason Vance Learned How to Dance

The reason Vance learned how to dance

She taught him how to jitterbug

She showed him how to do the Robot

He learned to do the Chicken Dance,

He’d learned a dozen dances, but

— Kenn Nesbitt

The other day, I was re-reading my all-time favorite book of poetry, Colin West’s fabulous collection, The Big Book of Nonsense. In Chapter 1, there is a poem simply titled “Knitting.” In Chapter 2, there is a poem called “Octopus.” I was still thinking about the knitting poem when I started reading the octopus poem, and it occurred to me that an octopus who liked to knit would be a funny idea for a poem.

Of course, none of what was in Colin’s poems is in mine. That would be plagiarism (copying someone else’s work), and plagiarism is wrong, wrong, wrong. But it just goes to show you how you can not only find inspiration in the real world, but also in the works of others. Inspiration can come from anywhere, including art, songs, and even other poems. Just make sure to write your own words! Without further ado, here is…

Today I Met an Octopus

Today I met an octopus

She made a scarf, a pair of gloves,

She made a pillow cover

She made a single slipper next,

I asked if I could learn to knit.

— Kenn Nesbitt

Sometimes I think of the ending of a poem before I know how it’s going to start. An idea for a good ending can come from anywhere, and sometimes it can even come from a poem someone else wrote. That’s the case with this poem.

The poet Joshual Seigal recently wrote a poem called “Motor Skills.” I loved the ending so much, that I wanted to see if I could write something similar. While his poem and mine are completely different, if you read both of them, you should see how the ending of his poem provided the inspiration for mine.

Also, since this is a poem about shapes, I thought I could also make it a learning experience by including as many common shapes as possible. While everyone knows what a circle and a triangle are, you might not remember what a rhombus or a trapezoid look like. So why not take a moment to refresh your memory.

Triangles Make Me Feel Nervous

Triangles make me feel nervous,

The crescent and heart aren’t my favorites.

Of all of the shapes I can think of,

— Kenn Nesbitt

This poem was inspired by some real-life hair-raising moments in my family. When my daughter was about six years old, she decided, without warning, to cut her own hair one morning before school. Let’s just say the results were… not great. I had to do a quick fix before we dashed out the door. Then, years later, when she was a teenager, she offered to cut her older brother’s hair. That one didn’t go so well either. And, once again, I was the emergency barber. Fortunately, she never tried to cut her parents hair or give the pets a trim. But these memories made me think: what if a kid just couldn’t stop giving haircuts? This is…

My Sister Found Some Scissors

My sister found some scissors.

She thought it was exciting,

I even let her cut mine.

She tried to be a barber.

— Kenn Nesbitt

My friend and colleague Alan Katz , author of the “Silly Dilly” song books such as Take Me Out of the Bathtub, mentioned that going to be doing a performance called “The Joke Show” and he said that it’s called a “show” because you’re expected to “show up.” Since we both write funny poems, I jokingly asked if there “would be a showdown if I showed up?” As soon as I said it, I realized there was the seed of a poem in there. My wife was on the phone with her mother at the time and as soon as she hung up, she told me that her mom had given her the “lowdown.” That cinched it. I knew I had to write a showdown poem. I hope you enjoy the result.

The Showdown

The bad guys in the black hats,

The word went out for miles around,

With everybody driving

And in the end, the bad guys

— Kenn Nesbitt

Summer is here, and the days are getting hot! I wrote this poem a couple of years ago for Storyworks 2 magazine, just in time for the end of the school year. Now that July has arrived again and the days are scorching, it felt like the perfect moment to share it on the website, along with a little “ice advice.” After all, there’s nothing better than a cool, sweet treat on a scorching day… as long as you remember how to treat your treat. This is…

Ice Pops, Ice Pops

Ice pops, ice pops.

Ice pops, ice pops.

Nice pops, ice pops,

But don’t drop. Ice PLOPS

— Kenn Nesbitt