[Roger Slater]

I'd like to remind you all that Better Than Starbucks has a section devoted to poetry for children. I edit that section and would love to see more submissions from the Eratosphere crowd.

Just as a general rule, I tend to favor poems for somewhat older children (around 7-11 years of age) rather than small children, since the younger poems often need illustrations to be fully engaging. Also, I'm not really looking for "adult poems" that may be enjoyed by more precocious children. I'd like to see poems that strike me as written primarily for children, even if (and especially if) they can also be enjoyed by adults.

Please avoid standard tropes, however, like messy rooms, hating school, sibling rivalry, yucky food, etc. I prefer poems for thoughtful children, whether they are funny or lyrical, philosophical or nonsensical. And please, funny poems should be funny from start to finish, not just by virtue of a punch line.

And did I mention? It's perfectly okay if the poems have been published before, so this is a chance to give a second life to a poem you may have already placed elsewhere.

Thanks!