Poetry is essential to your students' literacy skills. It encourages word play, provides students with an outlet for expressing their feelings, and is perfect for reluctant readers because of the genre's fun and shortened readability. 

Make poetry a part of your classroom with this collection of classic and contemporary poets and picture books. The rhyme, rhythm, and sound in poetry can help build early literacy skills and get kids excited to not only read more, but try their own hand at crafting their own poetry!

Start with the hilarious There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed the ABCs, a fun way to teach your littlest students their alphabet through rhyme and hysterical illustrations that bring the classic song to life. Your students will love following along as the Old Lady swallows everything from an astronaut to a cactus to a car!

Willbee the Bumblebee is an adorable, rhyming tale of little Willbee who gets his jacket caught on a rose thorn. With a little help from his friends Monica the butterfly and Steve the spider, Willbee recovers his black-and-yellow jacket in time to buzz around their garden. 

Meanwhile, inspiring new titles like We Are Here by Tami Charles, the highly anticipated follow-up to the successful and beautiful ode to Black children, All Because You Matter, will not only teach your students poetic narratives, but also build their confidence. We Are Here tells the story of Black and brown heritage and the courageous men and women who paved the way for others to make our world a better place.

Shop the best poetry books below! You can find all books and activities at The Teacher Store.