Poems for Everyone
Celebrate poetry with these wonderful collections of poems from different cultures. Many of the featured books are bilingual in English and Spanish, offering poems for a wide-ranging audience.
Also, be sure to take a look at the Meet the Author pages of two of our favorite bilingual poets, Pat Mora and Francisco X. Alarcón, for video interviews and more recommended poetry collections!
¡Yummm! ¡Mmm! ¡Qué Rico!
Celebrate the native foods of the Americas — peanuts, blueberries, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, and more — through haiku poetry and stunning artwork. A perfect selection for April, celebrating El día de los niños/El día de los libros (a reading celebration created by Pat Mora) and National Poetry Month!
Animal Poems of the Iguazú/Animalario del Iguazú
Inspired by a visit to the Iguazú National Park in South America, Francisco X. Alarcón celebrates its animals, skies, waterfalls, and more in these short and vibrant bilingual poems. Each page holds pulsating paintings that swirl and move, further vivifying each poem.
Confetti: Poems for Children/
Confeti: Poemas para niños
Spanish words are incorporated naturally into this bright collection of poems that depict a day's activities in the Southwest. Vivid illustrations complement the verse to evoke the author's Mexican American background.
Gathering the Sun: An Alphabet in Spanish and English
Using the alphabet as a pattern, paintings and brief poems explore rural life in Mexico presented first in Spanish and followed by English. From A to Z, brilliant illustrations and fluid poems evoke the plants, and more and the emotional impact on the lives of farm workers.
Good Luck Gold and Other Poems
Easy-to-understand poems explore what it's like to grow up Asian in America. Readers will see themselves in the everyday activities of the poet who dispels typical notions of how Asians behave and how they excel. Perhaps, too, readers will realize the hurt that words can cause in several sophisticated and quite personal poems.
Harlem
Experienced readers will enjoy this stunning and sophisticated visit to Harlem in word and image. Landmarks like the Cotton Club and the Apollo Theater are included and invite discussion.
Knock on Wood: Poems about Superstitions
Original poems combine with stunning illustrations reminiscent of folk art, to explore superstitions and superstitious beliefs from black cats to knocking on wood — and lots more. An author's note with a bit of information about superstitions concludes this engaging book.
Love to Mamá: A Tribute to Mothers
Thirteen poems rejoice in Latina women, their diversity, and their roles. This short, illustrated collection celebrates Spanish-speaking countries as well as bilingualism in the United States. Illustrations swirl across each page, combining computer generated and traditional art with energetic results.
Poems to Dream Together/ Poemas para sonar Juntos
Dreams are for the day and the night. Children dream for themselves as well as their community and their world. Short poems, richly imagined and vibrantly illustrated appear in English and Spanish and are firmly rooted in a child's experience.
Red Hot Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Being Young and Latino in the United States
A collection of poems from an array of seasoned poets and young Latino authors describing their experiences in the United States. These poems depict the reality and hardships some young Latinos have experienced in their search for identity, as well as the joy of family gatherings surrounded by food, customs, and culture.
Rhymes Round the World
Children everywhere enjoy similar things, celebrated here in rhymes from around the world. Some are traditional while others are by credited authors; each is accompanied by soft illustrations until it's time to say good night (in many languages).
Sol a Sol: Bilingual Poems/Sol a sol: Poemas bilingües
Everyday activities, from sun-up to sun-down – sol a sol – are presented in a series of short poems presented in Spanish and English. Richly hued paintings sweep across the pages adding movement and verve to the simple fluid language.
Tan to Tamarind: Poems About the Color Brown
This collection of multicultural poetry celebrates the color brown and all of the delicious and familiar places it can be found, from the reddish-brown mountains of the Southwest to the tamarind paste used in Mumbai to the acorns found on a city street. Author Malathi Michelle Iyengar uses the poems to express an appreciation for the many ethnic backgrounds who describe their skin color as "brown" around the world. Jamel Akib's warm drawings are a perfect complement to the poetry. A wonderful selection for fall.
The Tree is Older Than You Are: A Bilingual Gathering of Poems and Stories from Mexico with Paintings by Mexican Artists
Art combines with poetry and short prose pieces all by creators from Mexico for a culturally specific but emotionally universal literary experience. Stories are everywhere; you simply need to find them. Perhaps as one poet suggests in "The Lemon Tree": "the tree/is older than you are/and you might find stories/in its branches."
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