Kenn Nesbitt is a famous American poet who won the ‘Children’s Poet Laureate’ awarded by the ‘Poetry Foundation’, on June 11, 2013. He was the last person to receive this title before the ‘Poetry Foundation’ changed the name to ‘Young People’s Poet Laureate’.
This famous poet was born on February 20, 1962 in Berkley, California, USA. Kenn Nesbit is a writer of humorous poems for children. His works include the books My Hippo has the Hiccups and The revenge of the lunch ladies. He has collaborated with poet Linda Knaus on a collection of Christmas pomes entitled Santa Got Stuck in the Chimney.
He wrote his first children’s poem, Scrawny Tawny Skinner in 1994. In 1997 he wrote his first poetry book, My Foot Fell Asleep and it was published in 1988.
Some of his humorous poems are My Puppy makes Pizza, All My Great Excuses, My Teacher Took My iPod, A Funny Christmas, Meat Loaf and Pet Shopping. Kenn Nesbitt writes books too. Among them are When the Teacher isn’t looking, My cat knows Karate, One minute till bedtime and Bigfoot is missing.
His poems and books are popular among children because he has an interesting way of writing and no one knows what’s his trick. His style of writing is very different to other writers and poets.
His poems have appeared in numerous bestselling anthologies, including every popular book. Everyone picks the funniest poems series. There are anthologies with nearly two million copies in print.
His work has been published in hundreds of school textbooks around the world, as well as on national television programs and humorous children’s magazines.
Kenn Nesbitt is 59 years old now and he grew up in Fresno and San Diego, California. During 1995 and 1996, he wrote about three or four poems a year including You can never be too careful and Melancholy Tale. In 1997, he decided to write a book of children’s poems. In 1998 he published it and it was My Foot Fell Asleep and from then on he continued to write more books of poems. Kenn Nesbitt is a member of the ‘Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’.
His hobby is learning new languages and he is working on Brazilian Portuguese.
Kenn Nesbitt travels the country visiting over 60 schools each year, sharing his wacky brand of poetry with children nationwide and helping to create a new generation of poetry lovers.
If you haven’t read a poem of Kenn Nesbitt you must read one as soon as possible.
Nadithi Seneviratne
Grade 8
Sirimavo Bandaranaike Vidyalaya
Colombo 7