From classic Mother Goose to nonsense rhymes that tickle the funny bone to serious verse that explores the world around us, poetry for children exists in many forms. Rhyming picture books, free-verse novels and collections of poetry are available on just about any subject one can think of, yet poetry still runs under the radar when it comes to sales and exposure.

In hopes of shedding some light on the situation, PW spoke with a handful of children's poets to discuss their art form. We also spoke with some editors to get their view on publishing poetry for children.

Nikki Grimes, winner of the 2003 Coretta Scott King Author Award and author of both children's and adult poetry, began writing verse at the age of six. "I loved playing with words and seeing how one word can mean many things," she said. "I liked the challenge of writing a story with as few words as possible. Poetry is very direct and I'm a very direct person, so it suits my personality." This certainly comes through in her latest poetry book, What Is Goodbye? (Hyperion, Apr.), in which two siblings voice their very different experiences of grief after their older brother dies.

Kristine O'Connell George, who has won the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award and many other prizes for her children's poetry, has a similar viewpoint. "Poetry gets to the heart of the matter quickly in a way that can speak to our emotions and touch our hearts," she said. Many of her poems chronicle close observations of the natural world, such as Old Elm Speaks (Houghton) or her latest, Hummingbird Nest (Harcourt), but they also capture childhood experiences (Toasting Marshmallows, Clarion).

George didn't begin writing until she took a poetry class in 1989, which she signed up for because "I thought it would help me write picture books," she said. But instead of coming out writing prose, she became enthralled with poetry, thanks to her teacher, poet Myra Cohn Livingston.

As a child, award-winning writer Eloise Greenfield read a lot. "I've always been drawn to reading poetry and all types of literature," she said. "I chose to write for children when I realized there was a lack of material about African-American life for children. It became my goal to write African-American literature for children."

Greenfield has covered a wide range of genres, from her family memoir, Childtimes, to picture-book biographies (e.g., Rosa Parks), to fiction (Me and Neesie) and now-classic poetry collections such as Honey, I Love and Other Love Poems. "I love writing fiction and biography, but children need poetry because it's tightly musical. It awakens their sense of music and rhythm." This idea is explored in a poem from her most recent book, In the Land of Words (HarperCollins, Jan.).

Some of the poets interviewed described the huge impact words and language had on them as children. Bestselling poet and artist Douglas Florian (mammalabilia; insectlopedia) said his love of words and poetry began in elementary school when he read the work of Ogden Nash. "Growing up, I lived a block and a half from the library. While poking around there, I thought I had discovered this unknown poet," Florian recalled. "Of course I came to find out he's highly regarded, but I really thought he was the cat's meow. He's witty and pithy."

Karla Kuskin, winner of the NCTE Poetry Award, also has a love of rhythmic language that started "way, way, way back." She said that the language used with her as a child was full of laughter, something she wanted to pass on in her writing. "Writing poetry for children comes to me as a natural language," she said. "Maybe because I talk to children rather naturally." One needs to hear only the opening line of one of her signature poems to corroborate her claim: "Write about a radish./ Too many people write about the moon."

When Lee Bennett Hopkins began teaching elementary school, he realized there was something special about poetry. "I saw how it enhanced reading skills of all the children," he said. "Most poems for children are short, vocabulary is simple, and I maintain that more can be said and felt in eight, 10 or 12 lines than sometimes an entire novel can convey." Hopkins has written poems and created anthologies for budding readers for decades, the most recent of which is Wonderful Words: Poems About Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening (S&S, Mar.).

Getting the Word Out

National Poetry Month and Young People's Poetry Week, inaugurated in 1996 and 1999 respectively, helps give this little-served market some time in the spotlight, and poets are grateful for the extra attention. George said. "Last April I saw a huge upsurge in traffic to my Web site [www.kristinegeorge.com]. It's a testimony to how successful they've been. But I'm a purist, so I wish it could be 12 months a year."

Several other poets voiced the same sentiment. "Young People's Poetry Week is important, but it should only be the beginning," said Hopkins. "Poetry should be a part of a child's everyday life. From sunrise to sunset there are opportunities to share verse with children."

The poets we spoke with had a variety of suggestions on how to share poetry with children. In Greenfield's words, "There are some parents and teachers who are not yet comfortable with poetry. We have to get them used to it. They should take the time to rehearse—practice reading a poem in front of a mirror, using hand gestures and movement. They need to think about how they feel about a poem and see how they can present it to children." It's part of the oral traditions of all cultures. It is a reflection of life and all of life's emotions."

George believes that poetry should be something that is fun and not fearful. "When we bring a child to a museum to look at a painting," she said, "we don't ask them about the brushstroke or the lighting. We don't pick apart paintings or music, but for some reason we do that with poetry." For Grimes, poetry shouldn't be taught just because a teacher thinks it should be. "It's much more important to find poetry a child can connect with and be excited and impassioned about," she said. "If you present poetry as castor oil, they won't want it; they are going to pick up on your attitude. You have to choose poetry that they get."

Florian agreed. "Some kids have teachers who are afraid of poetry. When I was a kid back in the '50s, we had to memorize 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.' Poetry is more accessible nowadays, I hope—children can have fun with it. Word origins are fun things to explore, and they could even write limericks about their name."

A Time for Change

One of the roadblocks the poets see to getting poetry into the hands of readers is how the books are shelved in bookstores and libraries. "If you have a collection of poetry that tells a story, why not put that collection in fiction?" said Grimes. "As it's shelved now, people aren't finding the books."

"The way that the Dewey decimal system and the way our bookstores are organized isn't keeping up with the poetry that's been published in the last few years," George said. "They send poor little poetry books off on their own. I think if it's a collection about science, it should be shelved with science; books ought to be organized by topic and not so much by genre."

Hopkins believes booksellers have a responsibility to promote poetry. "In most cases, particularly in large chain stores," he said, "the poetry shelf has the slimmest pickings of any other genre. It usually contains older, tried-and-tested authors, which is wonderful, but we must promote new voices and new titles as well."

Increasing the awareness of poetry throughout the year may require new and different steps. "I think poetry festivals, where we have people reading their poems to children and where children are reading the poems they have written, would be a good start in promoting poetry," said Greenfield. George suggested that bookstores carry audio clips on their Web sites so they can hear poets reading their work. She also suggested that student teachers should be familiarized with the country's poets in their schooling.

Grimes maintains that while Americans still have a long way to go in making poetry more visible, we've also come a long way. "We are in a much better place than 10 years ago," she said. "I felt like an endangered species back then. There is definitely more attention being brought to poetry nowadays—especially in the high school years, where children write more poetry. It's much less geeky now."

Taking Care of Business

The editors behind each book of poetry must deal with the realities of publishing a title they know may get little or no exposure. And while National Poetry Month and Young People's Poetry Week do succeed in bringing some awareness to the genre, Phoebe Yeh, editorial director at HarperCollins Children's Books, senses an irony in these occasions. "Even though there is so much focus on poetry in April, especially in classrooms, it is still tough to sell poetry year-round," she said. "When kids are asked to read a book for school, they usually don't read poetry. But we want them to have new books to choose from. We keep publishing poetry because it's important."

"Overall, poetry books do not sell as well as other types of books," said Greenwillow senior editor Rebecca Davis. "I think many people simply don't think of browsing in the poetry section."

Poetry may have a tougher time getting noticed than other genres, but things aren't completely bleak for the genre. "Surprisingly, the chain bookstores don't necessarily view a children's illustrated poetry book any differently than any other picture book," said Allyn Johnston, editorial director at Harcourt Children's Books. "It comes down to a combination of how much the buyers like the book, if they think they can promote it, and the track record of the author and illustrator."

Davis acknowledged that National Poetry Month has helped the sales of her company's poetry titles, but said, "Interestingly, our biggest month for poetry sales is July, and I'm guessing those are back-to-school sales."

When asked which were their bestselling titles, editors cited a mixture of subjects within the genre. "Humor tends to do really well in poetry in my experience," said Laura Geringer, who heads up her own imprint at HarperCollins. "One of our bestselling franchises is Rolie Polie Olie. That series started by Bill Joyce leaving me a message—a poem [about Olie]—on my voice mail one day. Now there is a series of books and dolls and games based on the character. I think that's a successful venture into poetry."

Davis's most successful foray into poetry has been the Lee Bennett Hopkins title My America: A Poetry Atlas of the United States. "This book takes a popular subject, but looks at it from an unusual point of view—exploring America through its geography," she said. "It's a large volume—50 poems plus information on all of the states—so it's a gift book as well as being educational, giving it potential in both the bookstore and library markets. The book earned starred reviews and numerous honors. Quality can sell, and I find that encouraging."

Johnston has two bestselling titles at Harcourt, and both of them got a little help from the media. "Antarctic Antics by Judy Sierra and insectlopedia by Douglas Florian both had the very good fortune of being featured on NPR with Daniel Pinkwater and Scott Simon reading poems aloud on the air and cracking up together over them," she said. "Pinkwater's pieces have done great things for a number of children's books, and it was very inspiring for us to see how much his enthusiasm encouraged people to buy poetry, too."

At HarperCollins, Shel Silverstein's work tops the charts. "His work resonates with kids on so many levels," Yeh said. "It has humor, but he also has such empathy for how kids feel. Another reason Shel is popular is because his work doesn't intimidate children."

As for whether the poetry titles they publish are making their way to where children can find them, the editors say that for the most part, they think the books are. Johnston said, "Our subsidiary rights manager says that poetry works very well in the educational publisher arena, mainly in terms of licenses for use in textbooks, but it is a tougher sell in other domestic markets such as book clubs and audio. And since poetry is so difficult to translate correctly, the foreign market won't usually license poetry unless it's by a very well-known author." Harcourt has been able to sell some of Douglas Florian's work to book clubs as well as foreign publishers.

Davis at Greenwillow said the channels into which a book is sold depends on the title. "Some poetry books have broad appeal and do well in bookstores; others may be well-reviewed but may focus on a narrower subject and so may sell better to libraries," she said. "By and large, I do think our poetry books are getting into the marketplace."

Geringer remarked that while there is a large range of work being published, poetry books "are getting into stores and libraries." She added, "Poetry Month and Week are great vehicles for bookstores and the occasions have gotten bigger since the time they started, and of course librarians are great advocates. We love them for hooking kids into poetry."

With help from initiatives like National Poetry Month and Young People's Poetry Week, word is spreading about available titles, as well as ways to share poetry with youngsters. But in order to make poetry more approachable and less intimidating to kids, parents and teachers need to be comfortable with the art form. As Grimes pointed out, "Poetry is already part of children's lives. It's part of their play, like when they play patty-cake or say a jump-rope rhyme or even recite the alphabet song." Adding more poetry to their lives, she said, "broadens their capacity to look at the world and become familiar with imagery, so they can see things at more than face value."

Look for the adult poetry feature in the April 12 issue.