Single Poem Picture Books for Young People

Many works of poetry for children are published in picture book form, but they rarely contain a single poem. That is the purview of the “poem picture book,” a presentation of a single poem spread across the pages of a picture book, line by line. This format provides an excellent opportunity to re-interpret classic poems such as in the following examples.

            The list begins:

            Bates, Katharine Lee. 1994. O Beautiful for Spacious Skies. Ill. by Wayne Thiebaud. New York: Chronicle.

Carroll, Lewis. 2004. Jabberwocky. Ill. by Stephane Jorisch. Toronto: Kids Can Press.

Field, Eugene. 2008. Wynken, Blynken, and Nod. Ill. by Giselle Potter. New York: Schwartz and Wade.

Frost, Robert. 1978/2001. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. Ill. by Susan Jeffers. New York: Dutton.

Johnson, James Weldon. 1995. Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing. Ill. by Jan Spivey Gilchrist. New York: Scholastic.

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!