Poetry Books

The Stories Grandma Forgot (and How I Found Them)

We’ve fallen head over heels for this incredible middle grade story in verse about a girl, her grandma and dementia from one of our favourite poets, Nadine Aisha Jassat.

What we love about this book is that protagonist Nyla, who is twelve, has very common experiences. She goes to school, has best friends, and has even encountered a bully or two. And like many children we know, her grandmother has dementia. In the UK alone, one in every fourteen people aged 65 and up have dementia, and we think many young people will relate to this story and the main character’s search to find her family history.

This is such a beautifully told story and we won’t be at all surprised if later in the year it gets nominated for an award or two.

D is for Dog

In the past years, more and more of us have acquired fluffy companions, and this is the poetry book to celebrate them for readers aged 2+!

We’re very much dog lovers at Toppsta, and this lovely rhyming book just spoke to us as soon as we saw the cover, we couldn’t help but include it in our round-up! Dogs get marvellously muddy, they leap and lollop… they’re lives are simply so much more fun than ours! And this book is great at celebrating just that.

We recommend this book for any dog-loving child or friend. You can even cheekily use it as a nice coffee table book – its illustrations are true showstoppers!

Blow a Kiss, Catch a Kiss: Poems to share with little ones

We believe this is one of the best poetry anthologies you could buy your toddler this year. It celebrates every child and all the wonderful things they do.

Joseph Coelho has written poetry book after poetry book and each one has never failed our Toppsta readers. We’re very much Coelho fans, and this anthology of forty-four short poems is so perfect for reading time with our children, or with classes of pre-schoolers. The book celebrates the uniqueness of each child, and also what they all have in common. From poems about food and games, to dancing and bedtime, these poems are a great way to share everyday feelings and experiences.

The icing on the cake are the super sweet, pastel-like illustrations of children and adults experiencing life. This is a beautiful, collectable book.

A Whale of a Time: A Funny Poem for Every Day of the Year

Nothing beats a child’s laugh and this book has been a big hit to get the giggles going at home with children aged 6+.

366 poems, all carefully crafted to make us cry from laughter at least once every day of the year! We’ve found this book to be a great mood-booster at home, and also a great way to engage children and early readers who don’t read much in their free time.

The range of poems for children includes work by John Agard, Maya Angelou, Hilaire Belloc, Brian Bilston, Lucille Clifton, Wendy Cope and many more. This also makes for a great gift, since it’s got cloth binding and a ribbon marker.

With illustrations and hilarious verses on each page, we think this will be a very popular book this year.

Courage in a Poem

What a collection of poems! This beautiful 48-page book of poems for readers aged 6+ is packed full of poetry that inspires courage.

WOW, what a treasure trove of writing celebrating courage and empowerment this is! We included this book in our round-up of poetry books last year, but had to bring it out again because it’s just THAT good. Read the poems aloud or curl up with them in a quiet corner, each page is a poem written by a different illustrator, including Elizabeth Acevedo, Victoria Adukwei Bulley, Joe Cook and Jason Reynolds. The book is even illustrated by a host of various illustrators.

Each and every poem in this book will inspire readers to be courageous towards life, empowered in any situation and take joy in their identities.

My Heart is a Poem

If you liked Courage in a Poem, you will LOVE My Heart in a Poem. It’s such a beautifully illustrated collection of poems that celebrate our feelings.  

This book is currently being marketed as a book of poetry for everyone, and we couldn’t agree more. In it are poems that celebrate how we feel, what’s in our hearts and what makes us human. Each poem explores different emotions: excitement and sadness, anger and pride. All accompanied by really lovely artwork.

Each poem is by a different author and illustrated by a different artist in this book too, just like the previous book in the series.

Our Earth is a Poem

Along with Courage in a Poem and My Heart is a Poem, you absolutely cannot miss out on Our Earth is a Poem, celebrating nature for readers aged 6+.

While the previous books had a focus on the individual’s feelings and self-confidence, we really like that this book gives space to the outer world, encouraging children to find a love for nature and to look after our planet. The poems vary from describing a dreaming forest and bouquets of buried stars to rivers that dance with rocks and the brushed lava fur of the mountain gorilla.

This book also features poetry and illustrations from different artists, and we think it’s a helpful way to softly introduce environmentalism in our children’s vocabulary.

Let's Chase Stars Together: Poems to lose yourself in, perfect for 10+

For a relatable collection of poems that sum up the tween experience, we couldn’t recommend Chase Stars Together by Matt Goodfellow more.

Engaging readers aged 10+ can be a tricky ordeal when in comes to poetry (we know a thing or two about this!). But this book is the exception to the rule, packed full of brilliant poems that reflect the thoughts, feelings and imaginings of young people.

We’ve got poems on friendship, family and separation to school experiences and fitting in, and all parts of growing up. Some poems are humorous, others are more touching, but they all perfectly reflect the audience they’re intended for and we really hope you enjoy it, too.

Brown Girl Dreaming

A moving, touching verse memoir of a young girl growing up during the Civil Rights movement for readers aged 11+ and all adults.

This book has been out in the US for over ten years, winning awards and prizes, but only this year is it finally publishing in the UK, and we couldn’t be more excited. This is a book we believe will become a classic over the years, and one everyone should read. It’s the true story of Jacqueline Woodson's childhood. We love its reflections on family and on place, identity and finding your own voice.

Prepare to be brought to tears, we were incredibly moved reading this.

The Door of No Return

We’re sure many Toppsta readers will love this YA historical fiction novel in verse set in Ghana, and it’s an absolute classic-in-the-making.

It’s no surprise Kwame Alexander’s book became a New York Times bestseller. It is full of life, rhythm and beautiful verse that children aged 11+ will be mesmerised by. Eleven-year-old Kofi Offin is an ordinary boy from Upper Kwanta, West Africa: he has hobbies, a loving family, he even has a crush. But things quickly change for him and he’ll find himself on a journey away from everything he loves to stay alive.

We especially love the message of this book, and think it’s one all children should read: Kofi’s very own dreams are the real key to his freedom.