Spanish Poems for Kids

At my elementary school in Mexico, a big part of our curriculum was memorizing poetry and then reciting it in front of the class. It actually was more than reciting– it was “declamar,” which means you had to say the poem with convincing emotion and include dramatic hand gestures, too (more like acting out the poem). The kids who were really good at this got to go compete with kids from other schools at a poetry-reciting contest.

I was always great at memorizing the poems (my long-term memory is shot, but my short-term memory is and always has been amazing!); but with my little mouse voice, I can’t tell you how many times my teacher asked me to speak louder because nobody could hear me.

Needless to say, I never won one of those contests. 🙂

However, I do think it’s pretty cool that poetry was such a big part of our education! Just the other day I explained the concept of rhyming to my four-year-old and realized that I actually say little poems to my kids all day long (“Caracol, caracol, saca tus cuernos al sol,” etc.).

I’d love to claim that this is a byproduct of my excellent poetry education as a child, but the truth is that most of them come from one of my very favorite children’s books, ¡Pío Peep!, a classic (and beautifully illustrated) bilingual book of songs and little poems.

One thing that I think is really great about Spanish poems for kids is that because most bilingual kids are also bicultural, knowing the sayings and rhymes of two cultures allows children to fully participate in both. Knowing the little rhymes everyone else grew up on helps you get jokes and literary references, too (if you’re Latinx, tell me you haven’t bonded with someone over “los pollitos dicen,” haha).  

All of this is to say that April, which is National Poetry Month in the U.S., seemed like a great time to share some of our favorite books of Spanish poems for kids (a couple are bilingual!). As always, if you have favorites of your own, I would be THRILLED to have more recommendations.

¡Pío Peep!: Traditional Spanish Nursery Rhymes by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy (bilingual English/Spanish)

I mentioned before that this book is one of my favorites! We got it as a gift at our baby shower for our first daughter and, four years later, I still pull it out all the time. It has so many of the Spanish songs and nursery rhymes I remember from my own childhood and now love singing to my kids. And in addition, I think the English translations are really well done. They’re not literal translations, which is essential especially in poetry because that way they can actually rhyme in English, too. Highly recommend!

Colors! ¡Colores! by Jorge Luján and Piet Grobler (bilingual English/Spanish)

This book is a great introduction to poetry because each poem is super short. Mexican poet Jorge Luján picks one color to focus on in each poem, which is set against illustrator Piet Grobler’s beautiful images. I’m not normally into non-rhyming poetry (what can I say, I’m an unsophisticated poetry-reader), but I think this book really works for me because the poems are so bite-sized.

Historias para colorear un mosquitero blanco by Zahylis Ferro (Spanish)

I had to include this one because I think the writing here is so beautiful! The poems in this book are written from the perspective of three generations of women: the grandmother, who lives in a rural part of the Caribbean country where she was born; the granddaughter/mother who left (migrated to the U.S. is the implication); and the great-granddaughter who returns to the ancestral home for a visit. These poems are truly lovely and nostalgic, but my favorite part is how they all center on love for the family.

Mi primer libro de poesía by José Luis Ferris (Spanish)

This is an illustrated anthology that includes poems from classic and contemporary  poets from Spain and Latin America. Some of the more famous ones include Amado Nervo, Gloria Fuertes, and Federico García Lorca. It’s a nice way to introduce these authors to kids as a foundation for future Spanish literature study!

Todo es canción: Antología poética by Alma Flor Ada (Spanish)

I think the best thing I can share about this book is my favorite poem from it:

I mean if that’s not an anthem for Sol Book Box / my life / my motherhood / this blog, I don’t know what is! All of the Spanish poems in here are organized by curriculum themes (parts of the body, numbers, nature, etc.), so it’s a great one for teachers or folks with a teacher-heart. 🙂

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