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Kenn Nesbitt: Children’s Author, Poet, and Inspiration

Kenn Nesbitt's poems are filled with humor and enjoyed by children the world over.

Kenn Nesbitt's poems are filled with humor and enjoyed by children the world over.

Former Children’s Poet Laureate

Beloved by children around the world, Kenn Nesbitt is a children's poet, author, and lyricist whose verse is filled with humor. In 2013, he was honored by being named Children's Poet Laureate (now called the Young People’s Poet Laureate).

Kenn Nesbitt Bio

Kenn Nesbitt was born on February 20, 1962, in Berkeley, California. He grew up in Fresno and San Diego, and today he lives in Spokane, Washington, with his wife, Ann, and their two cats. He and Ann have two adult children, named Max and Asher.

Nesbitt didn't start out as a poet—far from it, in fact. He studied computer engineering at National University in San Diego and launched his career as a computer software engineer at Microsoft, where he worked for two years (1992–94).

The poetry bug hit in 1994 after Nesbitt had dinner with a friend whose four-year-old daughter fought mightily to avoid eating her dinner. Nesbitt went home and wrote "Scrawny Tawny Skinner," a silly rhyming poem about a little girl named Tawny Skinner who refuses to eat her dinner—and meets a preposterous fate.

After that, Nesbitt left his job at Microsoft and became a software design freelancer so that he could begin devoting significant time to his new passion: children's poetry.

Today, Nesbitt is a full-time poet with many books to his name. His work has also appeared in numerous anthologies and children's magazines as well as school textbooks and national television programs. He regularly travels the United States, visiting up to 60 schools a year, promoting a love of poetry and writing among school kids. His website, poetry4kids.com, is one of the top children's poetry websites around.

In 2013, the Poetry Foundation honored him with the Children's Poet Laureate award.

Selected Works

Early Forays Into Poetry

Nesbitt's very first children's poem was "Scrawny Tawny Skinner," written in 1994 after he had dinner with a friend whose four-year-old daughter refused to eat a single morsel.

Shortly after this, he wrote "My Foot Fell Asleep" and "Binkley." Over the next couple of years, he wrote three or four poems a year, including "You Can Never Be Too Careful" and "A Melancholy Tale."

First Poetry Collections

Nesbitt's first book of poetry was published in 1998, and he quickly followed that up with three more collections:

  • My Foot Fell Asleep (1998)
  • I've Seen My Kitchen Sink (1999)
  • Sailing Off to Singapore (2000)
  • The Aliens Have Landed at Our School (2001)

Selection of Other Famous Works

With shelves and shelves of titles to his name, there are too many to list here. But some of his more famous works include the following:

  • When the Teacher Isn't Looking: And Other Funny School Poems (2005)
  • My Hippo Has the Hiccups: And Other Poems I Totally Made Up (2009)
  • Santa Got Stuck in the Chimney: 20 Funny Poems Full of Christmas Cheer (2011; co-authored with Linda Knaus)
  • Revenge of the Lunch Ladies: The Hilarious Book of School Poetry (2012)

A Few More Books (With Funny Titles)

  • The Armpit of Doom (2013)
  • The Biggest Burp Ever (2014)
  • My Cat Knows Karate (2018)
  • My Dog Likes to Disco (2021)

Selected Publishers

Nesbitt has published with many different publishers, including:

  • Scholastic
  • Chronicle Books
  • National Geographic Learning
  • Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

Music, TV, and Film

  • Music: Lyricist for multiple CDs by Eric Herman and the Invisible Band
  • TV: Jack Hanna's Wildlife Adventures
  • Film: Nesbitt's poem "The Tale of the Sun and the Moon," was featured in the 2010 movie Life as We Know It.

Inspiration and Mission

According to Nesbitt, his inspirations include Ogden Nash, Dennis Lee, Bruce Lansky, and many other poets who pen humorous verse.

In terms of what he hopes to accomplish with his poetry, he writes on his website:

I guess I have this strange notion that anyone can change the world if they want to. Even you. Even me. I know it always makes me feel good when I read a funny poem or hear a funny song. So, in my small way, I'm trying to do my part to help people laugh and maybe make the world a happier place.

Website: Poetry4Kids

Nesbitt created a website called poetry4kids to share his poetry with children around the world. He frequently writes new poems and adds them to the site; there's almost always something new to discover!

Highlights of the Site

  • Hundreds of original poems (with frequent additions)
  • Lesson plans for teachers
  • Blog
  • Calendar with a schedule of school visits
  • FAQs (featuring questions most frequently asked by kids, including "Are you rich?")

Kenn Nesbitt Today

Today, Nesbitt continues to be a prolific and enthusiastic children's poet. He keeps up a busy schedule of live online visits to schools across the country, delivering his beloved assemblies that promote a love of poetry, reading, and writing. The joy he takes in writing and sharing poetry has not diminished, and he continues to produce giggle-inducing verse that is enjoyed by children the world over.

References

  • Kenn Nesbitt | Poetry Foundation
    Kenn Nesbitt’s poetry for children is “irrepressible, unpredictable, and raucously popular,” in the words of former Children’s Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis.
  • Meet Kenn Nesbitt, the New Children's Poet Laureate | TIME
    Everyone knows that authors — even bestselling authors — are familiar with the sting of rejection, many seeing their manuscripts turned down by a dozen publishing houses before getting published. Everyone, that is, except for Kenn Nesbitt.
  • Biography of Kenn Nesbitt | Poem Hunter
    Kenn Nesbitt is an American children's poet. On June 11, 2013, he was named Children's Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation.

Resources for Young Poets and Writers

© 2018 Nithya Venkat

Comments

Nithya Venkat (author) from Dubai on December 03, 2018:

Thank you Dianna.

Dianna Mendez on December 02, 2018:

Thanks for highlighting this author's work. Very impressive.

Nithya Venkat (author) from Dubai on November 22, 2018:

Thank you Devika.

Devika Primić from Dubrovnik, Croatia on November 22, 2018:

An interesting and inspiring hub about Kenn Nesbitt.

Nithya Venkat (author) from Dubai on November 20, 2018:

Pamela am so happy you enjoyed his poems.

Pamela Kinnaird W from Arizona. on November 16, 2018:

Thank you so much for introducing this talented, witty poet to us. I enjoyed your article very much. Then I went to his website and had many laughs reading his creative poems. He is so funny!

Nithya Venkat (author) from Dubai on November 16, 2018:

Thank you Chitrangada, you will enjoy his poems.

Chitrangada Sharan from New Delhi, India on November 16, 2018:

Thank you Nithya, for introducing me to Kenn Nesbitt.

It’s good to know, that he is making all efforts to inculcate the reading habits in children. Interactive sessions do help young children.

Would love to read some of his wonderful work.

Thanks for sharing this helpful and interesting information about Kenn Nesbitt.

Nithya Venkat (author) from Dubai on November 16, 2018:

Jackie you should write children's poem, they will love them.

Nithya Venkat (author) from Dubai on November 16, 2018:

Mark Tulin am happy that you got to know Kenn Nesbitt.

Nithya Venkat (author) from Dubai on November 16, 2018:

Thank you Linda.

Linda Crampton from British Columbia, Canada on November 15, 2018:

Thank you for sharing the information about Kenn Nesbit, Nithya. I'm glad I've learned about him. I'll look out for his books.

Mark Tulin from Long Beach, California on November 15, 2018:

Thanks for introducing me to this poet as well. It’s not often that I can find a poet who uses humor so well.

Jackie Lynnley from the beautiful south on November 15, 2018:

Thank you Nithya for introducing me to this poet. Might be something I would like to try my hand at, just never occured to until now. What fun it would be to at least try.

I will certainly read him!

Elaina Baker from USA on November 15, 2018:

Someone who makes a living as a poet? That should inspire other Hubbers.

Nithya Venkat (author) from Dubai on November 15, 2018:

John you will like reading his poems, they are funny and children enjoy his poems.