Friday, October 21, 2016

Halloween Poems for Kids




It’s time for Halloween poetry! Here are some of my elementary students’ favorites poems about the holiday:

MR. MACKLIN'S JACK O’LANTERN
by David McCord

Mr. Macklin takes his knife
And carves the yellow pumpkin face:
Three holes bring eyes and nose to life,
The mouth has thirteen teeth in place.
Then Mr. Macklin just for fun
Transfers the corn-cob pipe from his
Wry mouth to Jack’s, and everyone
Dies laughing!

Click here to read the rest of the poem.
(From ONE AT A TIME—Little, Brown, 1974)

ON HALLOWEEN
by Aileen Fisher

We mask our faces
and wear strange hats
and moan like witches
and screech like cats
and jump like goblins
and thump like elves
and almost manage
to scare ourselves.

( From OUT IN THE DARK AND DAYLIGHT—Harper & Row, 1980)

LOOK AT THAT!
by Lilian Moore

Look at that!
Ghosts lined up
at the laundromat,
all around the
block.

Each has
bleach
and some
detergent.
Each one seems to
think it
urgent

to take a spin
in a
washing machine

before the
clock
strikes
Halloween!

(From SEE MY LOVELY POISON IVY—Atheneum, 1975)


THE WITCHES’ RIDE
by Karla Kuskin

Over the hills
Where the edge of the light
Deepens and darkens
To ebony night,
Narrow hats high
Above yellow bead eyes,
The tatter-haired witches
Ride through the skies.
Over the seas
Where the flat fishes sleep
Wrapped in the slap of the slippery deep,
Over the peaks
Where the black trees are bare,
Where bony birds quiver
They glide through the air.
Silently humming
A horrible tune,
They sweep through the stillness
To sit on the moon.

(From DOGS & DRAGONS, TREES & DREAMS—Harper & Row, 1980)

pumpkin
by Valerie Worth

After its lid
is cut, the slick
Seeds and stuck
Wet strings
Scooped out,
walls scraped
Dry and white,
Face carved, candle
Fixed and lit,

Light creeps
into the thick
Rind: giving
That dead orange
Vegetable skull
Warm skin, making
A live head
To hold its
Sharp gold grin.

(From ALL THE SMALL POEMS—Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1987)



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Tricia has the Poetry Friday Roundup at The Miss Rumphius Effect.



4 comments:

jama said...

What a wonderful bonanza of Halloweenie poems! Glad to see you included two of my faves -- Kuskin and Worth!!

Jane @ www.raincitylibrarian.ca said...

Perfect timing, with all the Halloween story times that will be coming up this week! :)

Violet N. said...

What a bunch of wonderful classics. They never grow old, do they?

Brenda at FriendlyFairyTales said...

Those are wonderful ones.