The Famous Poets of Children's Literature

Literature has been known for being able to attend to the differing tastes of readers. Whether it is Asian Lit, Spanish Lit or Modernist Lit, there is no denying the depth each niche manages to give its respective audiences. Even the young ones have their own literary corner to snuggle themselves in. Children's Lit has become a genre in its own right, composing of thousands of authors willing to serve the youth's needs for knowledge and entertainment. Here are some of the most well-known poets in Children's Literature.

Shel Silverstein

More commonly known as Uncle Shelby in his books, Shel is one of the most famous American poets. His books had been translated to twenty languages, selling over twenty million copies. He is also a singer-songwriter, a cartoonist and a screenwriter. He never intended to write for children. In fact, he served as a cartoonist for Playboy before moving on to write his masterpieces such as "A Giraffe and a Half", "Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back" and "The Giving Tree." Shel even staged an off-Boradway comedy entitled Look Charlie: A Short History of the Pratfall. He died last 1999 on the age of 68.

William Wordsworth

Born on the seventh of April 1977, William was an English Romantic poet who shot to fame after publishing his first poetry collection entitled An Evening Walk, followed by Descriptive Sketches. After the publication he was given less than a thousand pounds to continue writing. He did so afterwards and soon became acquainted with Samuel Taylor Coleridge who would become his closest friend. With him he managed to write one of his most famous poems called "Tintern Abbey." Today, Wordsworth is known in the field of Children's Literature through his poem entitled "I Wondered Lonely as a Cloud."

Lewis Carroll

Born as Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, Carroll still holds a relevant position in Children's Lit through his famous works Alice's Adventure in Wonderland and the sequel Through the Looking Glass. His poems also became eminent due to his application of the so-called literary nonsense. The most widely-read poems of this genre are "The Hunting of the Snark" and "Jabberwocky." Carroll is noted for his ability to produce a literary work that has all the ingredients of wordplay, senseless logic and even a bit of fantasy. He is widely-known in different parts of the world.

Roald Dahl Dahl

as an author has always interesting stories to tell. In his biographical book entitled Boy, he narrates his experiences as a fight pilot during the war. He is known for his books which implicate written verses with a concrete narrative children would find easy to understand. He is the writer of some books which have been turned into movies, some of which are Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Dahl has always been considered by critics as one of the greatest children's storytellers who lived during the twentieth century.

Dr. Seuss

One of the famous poets of Children's Literature is Theodor Seuss Geisel, a writer, a poet, and an illustrator. To this day, it is almost impossible not to know his penname Dr. Seuss due to the huge amount of works he has written. Similar to Roald Dahl, his books also associate rhyme with an easy-to-grasp narrative. He frequently used the trisyllabic meter to write his best works, some of which were also turned to movies, namely The Cat in the Hat, Horton Hears a Who!, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas! He died of throat cancer in the year 1991 leaving behind a legacy that shall remain unmatched by any author of Children's Literature.