We have a total of forty-two nominations in the poetry category this year. Without further ado, here’s our list of nominees, organized alphabetically by title.
–Kelly Fineman, Poetry Organizer
Animal Poems
written by Valerie Worth, illustrated by Steve Jenkins
Farrar, Strauss & Giroux
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Behind the Museum Door: Poems to Celebrate the Wonders of Museums
edited by Lee Bennet Hopkins, illustrated by Stacey Dressen-McQueen
Abrams Books for Young Readers
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Big Poppa E’s Greatest Hits: Poems to Read Out Loud
written by Big Poppa
E Eirik Ot
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Birmingham, 1963
written by Carole Boston Weatherford Boyd’s Mills Press
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems written by John Grandits
Clarion Books
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Collected Poems for Children
written by Ted Hughes, illustrated by Raymond Briggs
Farrar, Strauss & Giroux
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Comets, Stars, the Moon & Mars
written and illustrated by Douglas Florian
Harcourt Children’s Books
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Coolhead Luke & Other Stories
written by Jennifer Lasker White, illustrated by Colin White
BookSurge Publishing
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Do Rabbits Have Christmas?
written by Aileen Fisher, illustrated by Sarah Fox-Davies
Henry Holt & Co.
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Dog Poems
written by David Crawley, illustrated by Tamara Petrosino
Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Faith and Doubt: An Anthology of Poems
edited by Patrice Vecchione
Henry Holt & Co.
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
From Dawn to Dreams: Poems for Busy Babies
written by Peggy Archer, illustrated by Hanako Wakiyama
Candlewick Press
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Gallop O Gallop
written by Sandra Alonzo, illustrated by Kelly Murphy
Penguin Group
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village
written by Laura Amy Schlitz, illustrated by Robert Byrd
Candlewick Press
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Hair Dance!
Written by Dinah Johnson; illustrated by Kelly Johnson
Henry Holt
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Here’s a Little Poem
edited by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Polly Dunbar
Candlewick Press
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Hey You! Poems to Skyscrapers, Mosquitoes and Other Fun Things
edited by Paul Janeczko, illustrated by Robert Rayevsky
HarperCollins
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
How to Catch a Fish
written by John Frank, illustrated by Peter Sylvada
Roaring Brook Press
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
I Don’t Want to Clean My Room: A Mess of Poems About Chores
written by Hope Vestergaard, illustrated by Carol Koeller
Dutton Children’s Books
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
I Must Go Down to the Beach Again and Other Poems
written by Karen Shapiro, illustrated by Judy Love
Charlesbridge Publishing
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
In Aunt Giraffe’s Green Garden
written by Jack Prelutsky, illustrated by Petra Mathers
HarperCollins,
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Miss Crandall’s School for Young Ladies & Little Misses of Color
written by Elizabeth Alexander and Marilyn Nelson, illustrated by Floyd Cooper
Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
The Moon is La Luna: Silly Rhymes in English and Spanish
written by Jay M. Harris, illustrated by Matthew Cordell
Houghton Mifflin
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Oh, Theodore! Guinea Pig Poems
written by Susan Katz, illustrated by Stacey Schuett
Houghton Mifflin
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
The Owl and the Pussycat
written by Edward Lear, illustrated by Stephane Jorisch
Kids Can Press
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Poems in Black & White
written and illustrated by Kate Miller
Front Street/Boyds Mills Press
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Polar Bear, Arctic Hare
written by Eileen Spinelli, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes
Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Shape Me a Rhyme: Nature’s Forms in Poetry
written by Jane Yolen, photographs by Jason Stemple
Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Tap Dancing on the Roof: Sijo
written by Linda Sue Park, illustrated by Istvan Banyai
Clarion Books
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
This Is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness
written by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Pamela Zagarensky
Houghton Mifflin
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Toad by the Road: A Year in the Life of These Amazing Amphibians
written by Joanne Ryder, illustrated by Maggie Kneen
Henry Holt & Co.
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Today and Today
written by Kobayashi Issa, illustrated by G. Brian Karas
Scholastic, Inc.
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Today at the Bluebird Cafe: A Branchful of Birds
written by Deborah Ruddell, illustrated by Joan Rankin
Margaret K. McElderry
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Tough Boy Sonatas
written by Curtis L. Crisler, illustrated by Floyd Cooper
Front Street/Boyds Mills Press
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Trailblazers: Poems of Exploration
written by Bobbi Katz, illustrated by Carin Berger
Greenwillow Press
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Twelve Rounds to Glory: The Story of Muhammed Ali
written by Charles R. Smith, Jr., illustrated by Brian Collier
Candlewick Press
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Twist: Yoga Poems
written by Janet S. Wong, illustrated by Julie Paschkis
Margaret K. McElderry
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Waiting to See the Principal and Other Poems
written by Joe Sottile, illustrated by Lori Aman
Booklocker.com, Inc.
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
When Gorilla Goes Walking
written by Nikki Grimes, illustrated by Shane Evans
Orchard Books
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Where I Live
written by Eileen Spinelli, illustrated by Matt Phelan
Dial Books for Young Readers
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath
written by Stephanie Hemphill
Random House
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)
Yum! ¡Mmm! ¡Que Rico!: America’s Sproutings
written by Pat Mora, illustrated by Rafael Lopez
Lee & Low Books
Buy From Amazon | Buy from BookSense (your local independent)