The Joy of Poetry for Kids: A Knockout Poetry Competition I Won 🤩

Mum and Dad always taught not brag or show off. However, it's not very often I get an email like this - so just this once, I'm letting myself off the hook.

I only lost my dad a few weeks and I know he was always proud when he saw my poetry inspiring young people.

So, from across the pond, here is the surprise email I received. When you see the other poets and poems my work was up against, you'll soon realise why I was so overjoyed.

Even better, two of my poems went up against each other in the final: Ball or Miss Educate. You can read Ball and Miss Educate in my online mini-anthology: Let Your Imagination Play.

As a teacher myself, when it comes to knowing what they like, children rarely get it wrong - so who am I to argue. 😀

The children even sent me their persuasive writing, justifying why they thought which of my two poems should win. The children's writing is excellent: it not only shows a real passion for poetry, it illustrates the children's knowledge of its features . I've included them all below.

Why not get you own school involved in a knockout poetry tournament. It's such a great way of getting children to engage with poetry and share their unique voices.

Thank you so much to Cassie Green and Grade 5 at West Friendship Elementary. I feel honoured that you shared and loved my poems so much.

So here it is.

How wonderful to see the joy of poetry alive and kicking in the children of 2026.

" Mr. Bird,

I'm a fifth-grade teacher at a public school in the U.S., and I happened upon your site while searching for poems that elementary students might like. I used three of your poems in a Poetry March Madness project that lasted several weeks. Sixteen poems, three of which were yours, went head-to-head as students read them and considered tone, theme, figurative language, imagery, and other elements before voting to eliminate poems along the way.

Two of your poems, "Ball" and "A Cross Stick Poem," competed against one another in the very first round, and "Ball" won and made it all the way to the final matchup, where it went up against the third poem by you, "Miss Educate." "Miss Educate" was crowned the champion on 5/22/26.

For your reference, "Miss Educate" beat out other poems like "How to Avoid Mixing Your Metaphors" by Brian Bilston and "Hanging Fire" by Audre Lorde, while more students than not liked "Ball" more than "Casey at the Bat" by Ernest Lawrence Thayer and even "Growing Down" by Shel Silverstein!

For the final vote, students had to write a persuasive paragraph explaining which poem should win, and give at least three reasons why. I'll be sending you some of that persuasive writing to your email so you can read what your audience thinks of two of your poems.

Thank you for writing these wonderful poems and sharing them online. My students definitely benefited from reading and thinking about them, and they sure were entertained as well.

With appreciation,

Cassie Greene,

NBCT Grade 5

West Friendship Elementary "

The Joy Of Poetry: The work of children at West Friendship Elementary justifying which poem should win. What astounding work!

Children's persuasive writing about poetry

Children's persuasive writing about poetry

Children's persuasive writing about poetry

Children's persuasive writing about poetry

Children's persuasive writing about poetry

Children's persuasive writing about poetry

Children's persuasive writing about poetry

Children's persuasive writing about poetry

Children's persuasive writing about poetry

Children's persuasive writing about poetry

Children's persuasive writing about poetry

Children's persuasive writing about poetry

Children's persuasive writing about poetry

Children's persuasive writing about poetry

Children's persuasive writing about poetry

Children's persuasive writing about poetry

Children's persuasive writing about poetry

Children's persuasive writing about poetry

Children's persuasive writing about poetry