Notable Poetry and Verse Novels, 2011-2025
Resources for a selection of the titles recognized by this award since its inception in 2011 -- recognizing notable forms of poetry, including individual poetry, anthologies, narratives, biographical poems, and verse novels

- 4,912 Resources including
- 631 Videos
- 304 Book Readings
- 410 Lesson Plans
- List Analysis Report
Showing 1-48 of 335 book results


Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story
by Kevin Noble Maillard and Juana Martinez-Neal
(Selection, 2020)
55+ Resources17 Awards


Can I Touch Your Hair?: Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship
by Irene Latham, Charles Waters, Selina Alko, and Sean Qualls
(Selection, 2019)
50+ Resources3 Awards

Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z
by Irene Latham, Charles Waters, and Mehrdokht Amini
(Selection, 2021)
50+ Resources1 Awards


Becoming Muhammad Ali
by James Patterson, Kwame Alexander, and Dawud Anyabwile
(Selection, 2021)
45+ Resources5 Awards


A Poem for Peter: The Story of Ezra Jack Keats and the Creation of the Snowy Day
by Andrea Davis Pinkney, Steve Johnson, and Lou Fancher
(Selection, 2017)
45+ Resources8 Awards




Before She Was Harriet
by Lesa Cline-Ransome and James Ransome
(Selection, 2018)
40+ Resources13 Awards



Jazz Day: The Making of a Famous Photograph
by Roxane Orgill and Francis Vallejo
(Selection, 2017)
40+ Resources14 Awards

Martin Rising: Requiem for a King
by Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney
(Selection, 2019)
40+ Resources7 Awards

Freedom in Congo Square
by Carole Boston Weatherford and R. Gregory Christie
(Selection, 2017)
40+ Resources13 Awards




Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance
by Nikki Grimes
(Selection, 2022)
40+ Resources10 Awards



Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan
by Ashley Bryan
(Selection, 2017)
35+ Resources15 Awards

Box: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom
by Carole Boston Weatherford and Michele Wood
(Selection, 2021)
35+ Resources7 Awards

No Voice Too Small: Fourteen Young Americans Making History
by Lindsay H. Metcalf, Keila V. Dawson, and Jeanette Bradley
(Selection, 2021)
35+ Resources2 Awards

The 1619 Project: Born on the Water
by Nikole Hannah-Jones, Renée Watson, and Nikkolas Smith
(Selection, 2022)
35+ Resources12 Awards

Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets
by Kwame Alexander, Chris Colderley, Marjory Wentworth, and Ekua Holmes
(Selection, 2018)
35+ Resources10 Awards








Woke: A Young Poet's Call to Justice
by Mahogany L. Browne, Elizabeth Acevedo, Olivia Gatwood, and Theodore Taylor, III
(Selection, 2021)
30+ Resources6 Awards

One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance
by Nikki Grimes
(Selection, 2018)
30+ Resources11 Awards


By and By: Charles Albert Tindley, the Father of Gospel Music
by Carole Boston Weatherford and Bryan Collier
(Selection, 2021)
30+ Resources2 Awards


Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku
by Lee Wardlaw and Eugene Yelchin
(Selection, 2011)
30+ Resources9 Awards


Jazz Owls: A Novel of the Zoot Suit Riots
by Margarita Engle and Rudy Gutierrez
(Selection, 2019)
30+ Resources6 Awards



Last Laughs: Animal Epitaphs
by J. Patrick Lewis, Jane Yolen, and Jeffrey Stewart Timmins
(Selection, 2012)
25+ Resources1 Awards

Voices from the March on Washington
by J. Patrick Lewis and George Ella Lyon
(Selection, 2015)
25+ Resources3 Awards