Perhaps you have read Where the Sidewalk Ends
Smiled at The Lorax and his arboreal friends
Silverstein is wonderful, and so is Dr. Seuss,
But four lesser known children’s poets, I proudly introduce….
1. Naomi Shihab Nye
Naomi Shihab Nye is a prolific Palestinian-American writer who served as the Poetry Foundation’s Young People’s Poet Laureate from 2019 to 2021. A self described “wandering poet,” Nye writes poems both for children and about childhood, reflecting on the intercultural connections from her youth. Readers interested in YA poetry should check out her collection A Maze Me: Poems for Girl (2005) or Cast Away: Poems of Our Time (2020). Her poetry captures everyday whims and worries from a child’s perspective. See what I mean in these stanzas from “One Boy Told Me”:
When you were in New York I could see you
in real life walking in my mind.
I’ll invite a bee to live in your shoe.
What if you found your shoe
full of honey?
What if the clock said 6:92
instead of 6:30? Would you be scared?
My tongue is the car wash
for the spoon.
Learn more about Shihab Nye’s poetry and personal recommendations on Instagram @nshihab2018.
2. Tiffany Stone
Alliteration, puns, homophones, and more! Tiffany Stone’s poetry offers a platter of verbal delights to young audiences. Check out Stone’s inspirational poetic verses in Little Narwhal, Not Alone (2021), illustrated by Ashlyn Anstee, or her latest publication, a search-and-find picturebook called Six Little Sticks (2025), illustrated by Ruth Hengeveld.
Follow her on Instagram @tiffanystonewriter to read her weekly Word Nerd Wednesday post.
P.S. A few of us at SLIDING had the chance to meet Tiffany, and she was just as fun as her poetry.
3. JonArno Lawson
JonArno Lawson is a poet for children and adults from Ontario. Somewhat ironically, he is best known for his works without any words at all, like the wordless picturebook Sidewalk Flowers (2015), illustrated by Sydney Smith, and A Day for Sandcastles (2023), illustrated by Qin Leng. The Canadian author most recently published a collection of witty and absurd poems called Wise Up! Wise Down:A Poetic Conversation! (2025) alongside Guyanese-born British playwright and poet John Agard, with illustrations by Satoshi Kitamura. He has been awarded the Lion and the Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Children’s Poetry, not one, not twice, but four times! To better grasp Lawson’s style, take a look at these intriguing titles: Enjoy It While It Hurts (2013), A Voweller’s Bestiary (2008), Black Stars in a White Night Sky (2006), and Down In The Bottom Of The Bottom Of The Box (2012).
4. Renée Watson
If you are looking for poetry that speaks to embodied experience of adolescence, look no further than Renée Watson. Watson is an American children’s author and teaching artist who rose to fame with her 2017 YA novel Piecing Me Together (for which she received the John Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Author Award). Her intersectional poetry draws on themes of race, class, gender and her personal memories of growing up as a Black girl in Portland, Oregon. Check out Watson’s latest publication, All the Blues in the Sky (2025), about a 13-year-old’s experience of grief through verses and vignettes.
See what she’s up to @harlemportland on Instagram.
If long books make you squeamish
If you’re reading words with doubt
Poetry may be helpful
It’s fun to sound things out
These poets are all different
Their verses are all too
Pick up a book and look!
What poetry can do.
SLIDING MAGAZINE 
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