‘Ten Little Soldiers’ was included in Agatha Christie’s classic mystery novel, ‘And Then There Were None.’ It iserves as an epigraph, appearing at the beginning of the book, and is connected with all ten deaths that occur on the island. It is unclear who wrote the first version of this nursery rhyme.
‘Sometimes in Winter’ by Linda Pastan is an interesting poem about freedom, happiness, and caring for those one loves.
‘Quinceañera’ appears in Judith Ortiz Cofer’s Silent Dancing: A Partial Remembrance of a Puerto Rican Childhood (1991). This coming-of-age poem is about a speaker’s physical and mental changes.
John Walsh’s ‘I’ve Got an Apple Ready’ appears in The New Oxford Book of Children’s Verse. This poem features a child who is in a hurry and keeps an apple in case she needs it on the way.
‘Television’ by Roald Dahl describes in outrageous detail the dangers of television and what a parent can do to save their child.
‘My Shadow’ by Robert Louis Stevenson is told from the perspective of a child who is trying to understand what purpose his shadow serves.
‘Messy Room’ by Shel Silverstein is a humorous poem. It uses amusing imagery and a constant rhyme scheme in order to get a simple message across.
‘The Invitation’ by Oriah Mountain Dreamer is a poem about relationships. In this piece, the speaker defines what it is she’s looking for and everything she doesn’t care about.
‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’ or ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas describes the encounter of a speaker with St. Nicholas on Christmas Eve.
‘A Child Of Mine’ is told from the perspective of God. He is speaking to prospective parents, informing them of their duties to His child.
‘Kite’ by Daya Dissanayake describes a boy’s attempt to enjoy his own childhood amongst the polluted air and piles of refuse in his town.
‘Venus’-fly traps’ by Yusef Komunyakaa describes the life of a young boy, the secrets he hears and the worlds he creates as escape mechanisms.
‘The Song of the Wreck’ by Charles Dickens describes the outcome of a shipwreck and the fate of an innocent child found amongst the survivors.
‘Summer Morn in New Hampshire’ by Claude McKay describes how one speaker is unmoved by the brilliance of day as he is too consumed by his love for another.
‘Originally’ by Carol Ann Duffy describes a child’s transformation after unwillingly emigrating to a very new, different country.
‘The Dying Child’ describes a child who is unable to die during springtime but unfortunately, whose circumstances change when winter comes.
‘A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in London’ by Dylan Thomas tells of a speaker’s inability to comprehend great losses.
‘Barbie Doll’ by Marge Piercy was inspired by the traditional girl’s toy, the Barbie Doll. It explores themes of feminism and expectations.
‘The Life of Man’ by Sir Francis Bacon describes the choices one must make throughout the span of one’s life and how death will always be waiting.
‘The Schoolboy’ by William Blake is told from the perspective of a young boy who believes school is negatively impacting him.
‘A Child’s Garden’ by Rudyard Kipling is written from the perspective of a young sick boy who is dreaming of escaping his confining and frightening life by taking to the sky in an airplane.
In ‘My Fairy’, the very essence of this poem is drenched in irony in that “a fairy” can be thought of as a childish creature.
‘Stabat Mater’ by Sam Hunt is commentary on the complexities of time that can take a person from weak and timid, to strong and capable, and back to weak and timid.
‘Ecce Puer’ was published in 1932 and it is featured in Collected Poems. Joyce wrote this poem in order to mourn the recent death of his father, John Stanislaus Joyce.
‘To the Indifferent Women’ is a piece directed at those that take for granted their happy lives and do nothing to help those that are in need of love and peace.
‘Where the Sidewalk Ends’ by Shel Silverstein speaks on the important theme of growing up. The poet discusses the differences between the adult world and the mind of a child.
‘Be Glad Your Nose Is on Your Face’ is a childish tale that provides an example of why being grateful for the current state of things can be a grand thing.
‘Farther’ was first published in Sheer’s second collection, Skirrid Hill, in 2005. The poem depicts the relationship between the poet and his father.