Narrative Poems For Kids

Kids love listening to stories, especially during bedtime. Along with stories, make it a bedtime ritual to read some poems for kids too. This helps them feel completely relaxed and soothed, which helps them sleep better. There are many narrative poems for kids, which helps them develop vocabulary and language skills. Additionally, narrative poems have a rhythmic way of expressing thoughts and ideas to others. These are captivating stories, which give explanations of the scenarios or situations in the form of poems. Check out some of these famous narrative poems for kids. 

10 Famous Narrative Poems For Kids

List of Narrative Poems For Kids

Here are some of the best narrative poems for kids.

  1. No Prince Needed
  2. By Jennifer L. Betts

    Princess Eva waited so long

    She wondered if the fairy tale had been wrong.

    Trapped in the castle was she.

    How could this be?

    The witch cackled he’ll never come.

    That prince is a bum.

    Princess Eva just sighed sadly.

    Maybe she didn’t want this so badly.

    Looking out the window.

    She was tired of being in limbo.

    When the witch went to sleep

    The princess decided to creep

    Right down the stairs.

    “Who cares?”

    She thought with a smile.

    “ I’m leaving this castle, princess style.”

    “Who needs a prince? thought she.

    I’ve just got to rely on me. 

  3. A Bird Came Down The Walk
  4. By Emily Dickinson

    A bird came down the walk:

    He did not know I saw;

    He bit an angle-worm in halves

    And ate the fellow, raw.

    And then he drank a dew

    From a convenient grass,

    And then hopped sidewise to the wall

    To let a beetle pass.

    He glanced with rapid eyes

    That hurried all abroad,

    They looked like frightened beads, I thought;

    He stirred his velvet head.

    Like one in danger; cautious,

    I offered him a crumb,

    And he unrolled his feathers

    And rowed him softer home.

    Than oars divide the ocean,

    Too silver for a seam,

    Or butterflies, off banks of noon,

    Leap, splashless, as they swim. 

  5. Ken’s Last Dance
  6. By Curtis Johnson

    I think that he understood it, but refused to accept it.

    He was past getting old, but he was still full of life and love.

    He said to me one Sunday morning, “They took my truck”.

    His children took his truck to stop him from driving.

    To Ken, driving was control; driving was freedom.

    To him, he was losing the control of his freedom. 

    We all are born to be free, and I also understood,

    But I am certain I would be as unaccepting as was he.

    He turned 92 last December and passed last February.

    He loved his family, people and coffee, hot and black.

    He loved his college football team and his pick up truck.

    His kids took his truck, but never his football or his coffee.

    From a nursing home, he watched his team win the national 

    Championship, again.

    I never witnessed the beauty of family senior caring

    Until his family. They provided safe transportation and good

    housekeeping. They would pick the two of them nearly

    Every saturday for sightseeing rides along the Northern 

    California countryside. 

    Ken and his age wife Lahoma lived in their home almost

    Until the end. They loved deeply and were loved deeply by others. 

  7. The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
  8. By Samuel Taylor Coleridge

    It is an ancient Mariner, 

    And he stoppeth one of three.

    ‘By thy long grey beard and glittering eye.

    Now wherefore stop’st thou me?

    The bridegroom’s door are open wide,

    And I am next of kin;

    The guests are met, the feast is set:

    May’st hear the merry din’

  9. Backward Bill
  10. By Shel Silverstein

    Backward bill, backward bill, 

    He lives way up on backward bill,

    Which is really a hole in the sandy ground

    (But that’s a hill turned upside down)

    Backward bills got a backward shack 

    With a big front porch that’s built out back.

    You walk through the window and look out the door

    And the cellar is up on the very top floor.

    Backward bill he rides like the wind

    Don’t know where he’s going but sees where he’s been

    His spurs they go “neigh” and his horse it goes “clang,”

    And his six gun goes “gnab,” it never goes “bang”

    Backward bill’s got a backward pup,

    They eat their supper when the sun comes up,

    And he’s got a wife called backward Lil, 

    “She is my true own hate, “ says Backward Bill

    Backward Bill wears his hat on his toes

    And puts on his underwear over his clothes,

    And come every payday he pays his boss,

    And rides off a smilin’ a carryin’ his hoss

  11. Ladybird, Ladybird
  12. By Mother Goose

    Ladybird, ladybird

    Fly away home,

    Your house is on fire

    And your children all gone;

    And except one 

    And that’s little Ann,

    And she has crept under

    The warming pan. 

  13. Afternoon On A Hill
  14. By Edna St. Vincent Millay

    I will be the gladdest thing

    Under the sun!

    I will touch a hundred flowers

    And not pick one.

    I will look at cliffs and clouds

    With quiet eyes, 

    Watch the wind bow down the grass,

    And the grass rise.

    And when lights begin to show

    Up from the town,

    I will mark which must be mine,

    And then start down!

  15. O Captain! My Captain!
  16. By Walt Whitman

    O Captain! My captain! our fearful trip is done;

    The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;

    The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,

    While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:

    But O heart! heart! heart!

    O the bleeding drops of red,

    Where on the deck my captain lies,

    Fallen cold and dead.

    O Captain! my captain! rise up and hear the bells;

    Rise up – for you the flag is flung- for you the bugle trills;

    For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths- for you the shores a crowding;

    For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;

    Here Captain! Dear father!

    This arm beneath your head;

    It is some dream that on the deck,

    You’ve fallen cold and dead.

    My captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;

    My father does not feel my arm,  he has no pulse nor will;

    The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;

    From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won;

    Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!

    But I, with mournful tread,

    Walk the deck my captain lies,

    Fallen cold and dead.

  17. Ship In The Sky
  18. By Woody Guthrie

    A curly headed kid with sunshiny smile

    Heard the roar of a plane as it sailed through the sky

    To her playmates she said with a bright twinkling eyes

    My daddy rides that ship in the sky!

    My daddy rides that ship in the sky

    My daddy rides that ship in the sky

    Mama’s not afraid so neither am I

    My daddy rides that ship in the sky.

    A pug nose kid then kicked up his heel

    Said my daddy works in the iron and steel

    If you’re not afraid well neither am I

    My daddy keeps your daddy up there so high.

    My daddy keeps your daddy up there so high

    My daddy keeps your daddy up there so high

    If you’re not afraid then neither am I

    ‘Cause my daddy keeps your daddy up there so high.

    A freckle face girl pinched her toe in the sand

    Says my daddy works at the place where they land

    So you tell your mama don’t be afraid 

    ‘Cause my dad will bring your daddy back home again. 

  19. Mary Had A Little Lamb
  20. By Mother Goose

    Mary had a little lamb,

    Its fleece was white as snow;

    And everywhere that Mary went,

    The lamb was sure to go.

    He followed, her to school one day;

    That was against the rule;

    It made the children laugh and play

    To see a lamb at school.

    We hope these narrative poems for kids were useful to you. For more poems, activities, games and worksheets, check our kids learning section. 

    Frequently Asked Questions On Narrative Poems For Kids

    What are narrative poems for kids?

    Narrative poems for kids are the expression of stories in the form of poems. Some well-known poems for kids are No Prince Needed, A Bird Came Down The Walk, Ken’s Last Dance, The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, Backward Bill, Ladybird, Ladybird, Afternoon On A Hill, O Captain! My Captain, Ship In The Sky, Mary Had A Little Lamb, etc.

    What are the benefits of narrative poems for kids?

    The benefits of narrative poems for kids are that it enables them to learn storytelling and also develop interest in listening and understanding stories. Besides this, they can relate to the information that is being conveyed in the form of poems. Additionally, there will be development of vocabulary and language skills among the children.