Celebrate NCTE Award Poets

I'd like to highlight the poetry award that recognizes poets who write expressly for young readers and honors them for their entire body of work. That's the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) strives to recognize and foster excellence in children’s poetry by encouraging its publication and by exploring ways to acquaint teachers and children with poetry through such means as publications, programs, and displays. As one means of accomplishing this goal, NCTE established its Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children to honor a poet for his or her aggregate work. This award was established in 1977 to honor a living American poet for his or her lifetime achievement in works for children ages 3–13. The award was given annually until 1982, at which time it was decided that the award would be given every three years. In 2008 the Poetry Committee updated the criteria and changed the time frame to every other year. Check out the NCTE website for award updates: 

Award Recipients

2021 Janet S. Wong

2019 Paul B. Janeczko

2017 Marilyn Nelson

2015 Marilyn Singer

2013 Joyce Sidman

2011 J. Patrick Lewis

2009 Lee Bennett Hopkins

2006 Nikki Grimes

2003 Mary Ann Hoberman

2000 X. J. Kennedy

1997 Eloise Greenfield

1994 Barbara Esbensen

1991 Valerie Worth

1988 Arnold Adoff

1985 Lilian Moore

1982 John Ciardi

1981 Eve Merriam

1980 Myra Cohn Livingston

1979 Karla Kuskin

1978 Aileen Fisher

1977 David McCord

Look for Another Jar of Tiny Stars: Poems by NCTE Award-winning Poets, edited by Bernice Cullinan and Deborah Wooten, an anthology of poems by NCTE Poetry Award recipients (up to the year of the book’s publication). It is an excellent resource, based on children’s votes for their favorite poems by each award winner. It is a very child-friendly collection of some of the best poetry by some of the best poets who have ever written poetry for children. Plus, it includes biographical information about, sketches of, and quotations from the award-winning poets.

You can find wonderful background information about each of the award-winning poets at the NCTE Poets Spotlight Series created by author Reneé M. LaTulippe. She features an in-depth overview of their work, as well as personal interviews with Lee Bennett Hopkins about each poet. Lee was a giant in the field of poetry for young people and received the award himself in 2009. Check out these fascinating profiles of each poet here.

Each one of these poets has a body of work of poetry for young people that is worthy and outstanding-- and they all still have books you can find at libraries and bookstores. As National Poetry Month (April) approaches, see if you can't find, read, and share one poem (or book!) by each of these fantastic and timeless poets! 

Now head on over to Soul Blossom Living where Susan is hosting our Poetry Friday goodness! See you there!

And come back every day in April where I'll be celebrating National Poetry Month with poem videos created by my awesome graduate students.