The Best Little Poems For Little Ones

Ranker Books
Updated August 15, 2023
Over 60 Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The Best Little Poems For Little Ones
Voting Rules
Vote up the best short children's poems that are easy even for kids to remember.

Some of these short poems for kids rhyme. A few of them are really silly, while others attempt to teach important life lessons in a few short lines. Poetry has the ability to speak to its reader, even small ones that can barely tie their shoes. Here are 20 of the best short poems for kids. 

Many will be familiar with several authors on this list. Poets like Shel Silverstein and Robert Louis Stevenson have been entertaining young readers for years. However, there are also several lesser-known small poems for kids that are equally impressive. 

These short poems are all under 25 lines and are easy for kids to memorize. Make your voice heard. Vote up all your favorites. 

  • 1
    15 VOTES

    Missing

    I've hunted near, I've hunted far
    I even looked inside my car.
    I've lost my glasses, I'm in need,
    To have them now so I can read.
    I loudly swear and I curse
    Did I leave them in my purse?
    Are they behind the sofa, under the bed?
    Oh there they are - on my head!

    • Author: Anne Scott
    15 votes
  • 2
    23 VOTES

    Snowball

    I made myself a snowball
    As perfect as could be.
    I thought I'd keep it as a pet
    And let it sleep with me.
    I made it some pajamas
    And a pillow for its head.
    Then last night it ran away,
    But first it wet the bed.

    • Author: Shel Silverstein
    23 votes
  • 3
    18 VOTES

    The Boy Who Never Told a Lie

    Once there was a little boy,
    With curly hair and pleasant eye—
    A boy who always told the truth,
    And never, never told a lie.

    And when he trotted off to school,
    The children all about would cry,
    "There goes the curly-headed boy—
    The boy that never tells a lie."

    And everybody loved him so,
    Because he always told the truth,
    That every day, as he grew up,
    'Twas said, "There goes the honest youth."

    And when the people that stood near
    Would turn to ask the reason why,
    The answer would be always this:
    "Because he never tells a lie."

    • Author: Anonymous
    18 votes
  • 4
    26 VOTES

    Now We Are Six

    When I was One,
    I had just begun.
    When I was Two,
    I was nearly new.
    When I was Three
    I was hardly me.
    When I was Four,
    I was not much more.
    When I was Five,
    I was just alive.
    But now I am Six,
    I'm as clever as clever,
    So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.

    • Author: A. A. Milne
    26 votes
  • 5
    20 VOTES

    Nothing Gold Can Stay

    Nature’s first green is gold,
    Her hardest hue to hold.
    Her early leaf’s a flower;
    But only so an hour.
    Then leaf subsides to leaf.
    So Eden sank to grief,
    So dawn goes down to day.
    Nothing gold can stay.

    • Author: Robert Frost
    20 votes
  • 6
    9 VOTES

    The Man In The Jar

    I once knew a man who lived in a jar.
    For a stranger sight you'd have to go far.
    I asked him once why he lived in a jar.
    He grimaced and said, how bizarre you are.

    My jar's so cozy, warm and bright,
    Even in the full moonlight.
    The only drawback is, you see,
    Getting out quickly when I have to pee.

    • Author: Irwin Mercer
    9 votes