Kenn Nesbitt is an American children's poet. On June 11, 2013 he was named Children's Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation.
He is a writer of humorous poetry for children, including the books My Hippo Has the Hiccups and Revenge of the Lunch Ladies. Kenn Nesbitt has collaborated with poet Linda Knaus on one collection of Christmas poems entitled Santa Got Stuck in the Chimney and with children's musician Eric Herman on several CDs. His poems also appear in numerous anthologies of humorous children's poetry. Nesbitt's writing often includes imagery of outrageous happenings, before ending on a realistic note. Being children's poems, many make fun of school life.
He was born on February 20, 1962 in Berkeley, California. He grew up in Fresno and San Diego, California, United States. He wrote his first children's poem, Scrawny Tawny Skinner, in 1994. Later, he wrote several more poems. In 1997, he decided to write his first poetry book, My Foot Fell Asleep, which was published in 1998. After that, he continued to author more poetry books.
Kenn Nesbitt's poem "The Tale Of The Sun And The Moon", was used in the 2010 movie Life as We Know It (film). It was set to music by Eric Herman.
"Good morning, dear students," the principal said.
"Please put down your pencils and go back to bed.
Today we will spend the day playing outside,
then take the whole school on a carnival ride.
...
My teacher ate my homework,
which I thought was rather odd.
He sniffed at it and smiled
with an approving sort of nod.
...
Our teacher's a football fanatic.
It's all that he has on his mind.
He listens to games on his headphones,
...
I started on my homework,
but my pen ran out of ink…
My hamster ate my homework…
My computer's on the blink…
...
While strolling down the beach today
I came upon a lamp.
It was dusty, it was dirty,
it was dingy, it was damp.
...