Our favourite poetry books (older children)
Check out our favourite poetry books for older children aged 9-12.
Poetry can be great to broaden reading horizons, as well as truly engaging for reluctant readers. Here are some poetry books your child is sure to love and want to read out loud.
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Sensational!
Author: Various Editor: Roger McGough Illustrator: Sara Fanelli
Interest level: 7+
Reading age: 8+
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Sensational!
Author: Various Editor: Roger McGough Illustrator: Sara Fanelli
Interest level: 7+
Reading age: 8+
Every poem could inspire a child's writing, reading or thinking, and their teachers' too.
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Life Doesn’t Frighten Me
Author: Maya Angelou Illustrator: Jean-Michel Basquiat Editor: Sara Jane Boyers
Interest level: 7-12
Reading age: 9+
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Life Doesn’t Frighten Me
Author: Maya Angelou Illustrator: Jean-Michel Basquiat Editor: Sara Jane Boyers
Interest level: 7-12
Reading age: 9+
Maya Angelou’s seminal poem Life Doesn’t Frighten Me, about the courage inside us all (whatever age our age), is matched for …
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Michael Rosen's A to Z
Author: Michael Rosen
Interest level: 9+
Reading age: 8+
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Michael Rosen's A to Z
Author: Michael Rosen
Interest level: 9+
Reading age: 8+
Former Children’s Laureate, Michael Rosen, gathers together the best children’s poetry from Agard to Zephaniah in this…
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Pumpkin Grumpkin
Author: Various Editor: John Agard and Grace Nichols Illustrator: Satoshi Kitamura
Interest level: 9+
Reading age: 9+
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Pumpkin Grumpkin
Author: Various Editor: John Agard and Grace Nichols Illustrator: Satoshi Kitamura
Interest level: 9+
Reading age: 9+
Amusing and bemusing poetry from around the globe. John Agard and Grace Nichols have assembled a bunch of silly poems in this new …
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100 Brilliant Poems for Children
Author: Various Editor: Paul Cookson
Interest level: 8-11
Reading age: 9+
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100 Brilliant Poems for Children
Author: Various Editor: Paul Cookson
Interest level: 8-11
Reading age: 9+
How do you define a poem? Song lyrics, performance pieces, blank verse, a Shakespearean speech and hilarious rhymes, both classic …
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A Little Aloud for Children
Author: Various Editor: Angela Macmillan
Interest level: 6-10
Reading age: 9+
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A Little Aloud for Children
Author: Various Editor: Angela Macmillan
Interest level: 6-10
Reading age: 9+
Ideal for classroom use as well as bedtime reading, this is a delightfully varied and enjoyable collection.
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Let’s Celebrate! Festival poems from around the world
Author: Various Editor: Debjani Chatterjee & Brian D’Arcy Illustrator: by Shirin Adl
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Let’s Celebrate! Festival poems from around the world
Author: Various Editor: Debjani Chatterjee & Brian D’Arcy Illustrator: by Shirin Adl
Interest level:
Reading age:
Everyone loves a celebration and with this lively, multicultural, poetry anthology there is an excuse to celebrate almost all year…
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A Kid in my Class
Author: Rachel Rooney Illustrator: Chris Riddell
Interest level: 8-11
Reading age: 9+
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A Kid in my Class
Author: Rachel Rooney Illustrator: Chris Riddell
Interest level: 8-11
Reading age: 9+
This brilliant and imaginatively illustrated book is the perfect addition to any classroom library; a book of clever poems picking…
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Red, Cherry Red
Author: Jackie Kay
Interest level: 12+
Reading age: 11+
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Red, Cherry Red
Author: Jackie Kay
Interest level: 12+
Reading age: 11+
Truthful, soulful and witty poems in this collection explore a theme of identity. Who are we? What reveals us? Is our identity bou…
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I am a Poetato
Author: John Hegley
Interest level: 7-12
Reading age: 8
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I am a Poetato
Author: John Hegley
Interest level: 7-12
Reading age: 8
This collection of poetry is arranged in A to Z order. It includes funny, touching, fascinating and totally original poems from th…
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Can it be About Me?
Author: Cheryl Moskowitz Illustrator: Ros Asquith
Interest level: 6+
Reading age: 8+
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Can it be About Me?
Author: Cheryl Moskowitz Illustrator: Ros Asquith
Interest level: 6+
Reading age: 8+
Exploring life in and out of the classroom, the poems in this collection explore everything from spelling tests to best friends, t…
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My Mum’s Growing Down
Author: Laura Dockrill Illustrator: David Tazzyman
Interest level: 7-11
Reading age: 7-11
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My Mum’s Growing Down
Author: Laura Dockrill Illustrator: David Tazzyman
Interest level: 7-11
Reading age: 7-11
What do you do if your mum loves nothing better than complaining in restaurants and calling museum guards fruit bats? What if she …
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New and Collected Poems for Children
Author: Carol Ann Duffy Illustrator: Alice Stevenson
Interest level: 9+
Reading age: 9+
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New and Collected Poems for Children
Author: Carol Ann Duffy Illustrator: Alice Stevenson
Interest level: 9+
Reading age: 9+
Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, brings together the best of her poems for children.
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What Are We Fighting For?
Author: Brian Moses and Roger Stevens
Interest level: 8+
Reading age: 9+
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What Are We Fighting For?
Author: Brian Moses and Roger Stevens
Interest level: 8+
Reading age: 9+
Starting from 1914, this new collection of poems explores individual as well as universal experiences of life, love, death and ber…
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Lost Magic: The Very Best of Brian Moses
Author: Brian Moses
Interest level: 7+
Reading age: 8+
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Lost Magic: The Very Best of Brian Moses
Author: Brian Moses
Interest level: 7+
Reading age: 8+
Brian Moses gathers 100 of his own favourite - and brilliant - poems from his prolific career, which spans nearly 30 years, into a…
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Chicken on the Roof
Author: Matt Goodfellow Illustrator: Hannah Asen
Interest level: 8-11
Reading age: 8+
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Chicken on the Roof
Author: Matt Goodfellow Illustrator: Hannah Asen
Interest level: 8-11
Reading age: 8+
If you need an excuse to stay in bed or had one of those days when everything seems to go wrong, Matt Goodfellow knows exactly how…
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Poetry for a Change
Author: Various
Interest level: 9-12
Reading age: 9-12
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Poetry for a Change
Author: Various
Interest level: 9-12
Reading age: 9-12
This is the first-ever official National Poetry Day anthology, and it's a truly brilliant book for children to get stuck into all …
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All the Wild Wonders: Poems of the Earth
Author: Editor: Wendy Cooling Illustrator: Piet Grobler
Interest level: 8+
Reading age: 8+
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All the Wild Wonders: Poems of the Earth
Author: Editor: Wendy Cooling Illustrator: Piet Grobler
Interest level: 8+
Reading age: 8+
Celebrating the wonder and variety of the earth - and the need to protect it - this is an eclectic collection of poetry from acros…
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Green Glass Beads
Author: Various Editor: Jacqueline Wilson
Interest level: 9+
Reading age: 9+
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Green Glass Beads
Author: Various Editor: Jacqueline Wilson
Interest level: 9+
Reading age: 9+
An eclectic collection of poetry that mixes old and contemporary, funny and deadly serious poems
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Quick, Let’s Get Out of Here
Author: Michael Rosen Illustrator: Quentin Blake
Interest level: 5+
Reading age: 7+
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Quick, Let’s Get Out of Here
Author: Michael Rosen Illustrator: Quentin Blake
Interest level: 5+
Reading age: 7+
Two former Children’s Laureates join forces for this brilliantly entertaining poetry collection for children
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