April is National Poetry Month! There are plenty of picture books with bouncing rhymes, and we have a special spot in nonfiction set aside for poetry (shoutout to the 811s!), but novels written in verse seem to be an unsung hero of the poetry realm. If you’re just browsing through our children’s fiction chapter books, they blend right in so they can be easy to miss. Here’s a list to get you started (hint: Most of these authors write other novels in verse, so there are many more to choose from if you like these!).
These chapter books are all written in free verse, a form of poetry. Click a title to see more available formats, like eBooks and downloadable audiobooks.
A couple of reasons you and/or your kids should test these books out:
- The verse format leaves a good deal of white space on each page, so you can flip through the pages much faster than a typical chapter book. They’re quick reads, and they are sure to give you that warm, fuzzy, successful reader feeling when you're surprised to find your bookmark past the halfway point.
- Free verse poetry is a sensory-packed experience by design, so these stories can pack a whole lot of feeling into just a few pages. If you're ready for a book that will give you something to chat about with other readers, give these a try!
Happy Poetry Month!
