African American Poetry for Young People

African American writers have been creating poetry for many generations. Poetry for young readers, in particular, is a more recent development with many wonderful gems now available to share with children and teens. Consider some of these outstanding examples of African American poetry collections.

The list begins:

            Adedjouma, D. Ed.. 1996. The Palm of My Heart: Poetry by African American Children. New York: Lee & Low.

Adoff, Arnold. 2010. Roots and Blues, A Celebration. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Alexander, Elizabeth and Nelson, Marilyn. 2007. Miss Crandall’s School for Young Ladies and Little Misses of Color. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong.

Bryan, Ashley. 1997. Ashley Bryan's ABC of African American Poetry. New York: Atheneum.

Clinton, Catherine. Ed. 1998. I, Too, Sing America: Three Centuries of African American Poetry. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

For more details, get your copy of The Poetry Teacher’s Book of Lists.

And if you already have the book and would like to offer additions, corrections, or other input, please do so in the COMMENTS area. Thanks!