Poetry Books That Celebrate Diversity

This post shares some of my favorite poetry books that celebrate diversity while also teaching important elements of reading poems.

PLUS you can grab a free digital poetry activity that can work with any poem in your classroom.

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You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.

-Maya Angelou

A HUGE mistake so many teachers and schools make is celebrating diversity ONLY during February and teaching poetry ONLY in April.

Poetry has a powerful way of igniting a deeper understanding and appreciation for reading.

And building a multi-cultural classroom environment has been shown to increase student engagement, motivation, and behavior.

The poetry picture books below help you achieve both goals of teaching poetry AND celebrating diversity!

Poetry Picture Books

The Sun is So Quiet by Nikki Giovanni

I’ve been a huge fan of Nikki’s poetry for years. Yes, I just called her by her first name like we are already besties. #JustRollWithIt

My favorite thing about this book is the figurative language used. She makes “snowflakes laugh,” has onomatopoeia, and the title alone is great personification.

Your students get to see beautiful diversity and beautiful poetic devices in this book.

Feel the Beat: Dance Poems that Zing from Salsa to Swing by Marilyn Singer

There are so many wonderful things about this poetry book!

• It covers several types of cultural dances like salsa, hip-hop, and the fox-trot.
• Students learn poetry PLUS they learn to embrace different ways to move from different regions.
• The CD included with the book brings the beat and meter of each poem to LIFE!

My students LOVE this poetry book! It’s fun and informative. I always recommend this one for all poetry teaching, including National Poetry Month.

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Don’t forget to grab a free digital poetry activity that can be combined with many of the books in this post.

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Coconut Kind of Day: Island Poems by Lynn Joseph

Imagine reading about the “pom da de de de dom pom” of the steel drums and vivid descriptions of the island from a young girl’s perspective.

That’s what you get with this poetry book. It celebrates the diversity of life from Trinidad and uses tons of “island speech” in most of the poems.

I also love how the poems vary in length with this book.

Some of my students don’t have the stamina or skills to comprehend longer poems independently. So having shorter poems allows me to work with them in a small group to analyze poetry more deeply.

Salsa: Un poema para cocinar / A Cooking Poem (Bilingual Cooking Poems) by Jorge Argueta

Another one of my favorite poetry books that also celebrates diversity is this cooking poem book. It takes salsa to a ‘whole new level!

Each stanza teaches the Spanish and English version, which makes it a very interesting read aloud for students.

One great way to amp up the engagement factor with this diverse poetry book is to have a “salsa day.” Invite parents to purchase or make home-made salsa to send in.

Then have an “open mic” session where students get up in front of the class and practice reading the stanzas from this poetry book.

This will create wonderful memories and powerful hands-on learning with poetry, while also celebrating the Hispanic culture.

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When you subscribe to The Butterfly Teacher newsletter, you get FREE poetry activities like this digital activity here.

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Poetry that Celebrates Diversity for Middle & High School Students

Although I personally think picture books can be powerful for older students, there are many teachers who still want more “meat” to their poetry resources.

Here are some of my favorite poetry books for middle and high school students.

The Rose That Grew From the Concrete by Tupac Shakur

Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete

Proving nature’s laws wrong it learned 2 walk without having feet

-Tupac Shakur

I could write an entire post about this one poetry classic!

Tupac’s collection of poetry appeals to young, budding poets for so many reasons:

• Each poem is written in Tupac’s own handwriting.
• The topics range from politics to love to not giving up on your dreams.
• Several poems have themes and stanzas that make GREAT poetry discussions in class.
• Students may love that fact that Tupac rarely ever uses any punctuation in his poetry.
  

Just in case you’re wondering, these are not Tupac’s rap lyrics just written in a book. These are his actual poems!

However, there are a few poems included in the book that have content about sex and racism in America. Be sure to read through these carefully before assigning them to your students.

Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets by Kwame Alexander

I believe that by reading other poets we can discover our own wonder. 

-Kwame Alexander

Kwame Alexander writes beautiful books for kids and he is also a teacher!

This poetry books works well for older kids because they can learn poetic devices as well as learn the history of each poet presented.

The book showcases 20 different poets, so there’s a variety that children get to learn. Plus, the images are gorgeous!

You can easily turn this poetry book on diversity into a combined poetry and art project for older students.

More Resources for Teaching Poetry

Poetry isn’t just for National Poetry Month and celebrating diversity isn’t just for Black History Month.

The poems featured above can be used anytime of the year.

But if you are interested in resources that could be used for teaching poetry, I’ve got you covered with these tools:

• Engaging Poetry Activities for Upper Elementary Students
  
• 4 Ways I Teach Haiku Poems
  
• Step-by-Step Poetry Lesson Plans & Writing Units For Upper Elementary
  
• Engaging Digital Poetry Ideas