A Visit from St. Nicholas ('Twas the Night Before Christmas)
by Clement Clarke Moore
An unexpected house guest arrives on Christmas night.
Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level 1
Readability levels for passages on Lit2Go are reported as Flesch-Kincaid grade levels which are roughly equivalent to U.S. grade levels.
Books
1.7
Passages
1.0
“A Fall Song”
Buttercup Gold and Other Stories
by Ellen Robena Field
A poem describing “The Fall of the Year” or Autumn.
Where Go the Boats?
A Child's Garden of Verses: Selected Poems
by Robert Louis Stevenson
A poem which describes the river, sand, foam, and path of a river carrying a child’s boats down stream.
The Whole Duty of Children
A Child's Garden of Verses: Selected Poems
by Robert Louis Stevenson
Children should behave.
The Wind
A Child's Garden of Verses: Selected Poems
by Robert Louis Stevenson
The poet wonders about the wind.
A Counting Out Rhyme
Counting and Math Rhymes
by Traditional
A child’s counting nursery rhyme.
Five Little Piggies
Counting and Math Rhymes
by Traditional
A child’s counting rhyme.
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
Counting and Math Rhymes
by Traditional
A child’s counting game.
Ten Little Indians
Counting and Math Rhymes
by Traditional
A counting rhyme about indians.
This Little Piggy
Counting and Math Rhymes
by Traditional
A children’s poem usually counted on toes.
This Pig Went to Market
Counting and Math Rhymes
by Traditional
A nursery rhyme about pigs.
“Fire! Fire! Burn Stick!”
Fairy Tales and Other Traditional Stories
by Joseph Jacobs
An old lady buys a pig. Then she cannot get the pig to jump over a fence so she can get home. She asks for help but is refused until at last she finds a cow who will give her milk. This begins chain of events which leads to getting home with the pig.
The Cat and the Fiddle (Hey Diddle Diddle)
Nursery Rhymes and Traditional Poems
by Traditional
Children’s nursery rhyme about a cat, fiddle, cow, moon, dog, dish, and spoon.
Humpty Dumpty
Nursery Rhymes and Traditional Poems
by Traditional
Humpty Dumpty falls, breaks, and can’t be put back together.
Little Miss Muffet
Nursery Rhymes and Traditional Poems
by Traditional
Children’s nursery rhyme about a little girl and a spider.
Old King Cole
Nursery Rhymes and Traditional Poems
by Traditional
This merry king called for his pipe, fiddlers, and bowl.
Peter Piper
Nursery Rhymes and Traditional Poems
by Traditional
Peter Piper picked pickled peppers
Sing a Song of Sixpence
Nursery Rhymes and Traditional Poems
by Traditional
The blackbirds that were supposed to be baked in a pie for the king began to sing when the pie was opened. They then flew down to snap off the maid’s nose.
When the Bees All Homeward Fly
Nursery Rhymes and Traditional Poems
by Richard Le Gallienne
A poem about logicical natural progression.
“There Is a Young Lady Whose Nose”
Poems and Limericks of Edward Lear
by Edward Lear
A funny poem about a woman with an extremely big nose.
“You Are Old, Father William”
Poems, Puzzles, and Stories of Lewis Carroll
by Lewis Carroll
A poem about a son inquiring about his father’s amazing and peculiar habits for a man of his advanced age.
To --
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe
by Edgar Allan Poe
"The bowers whereat, in dreams, I see"
For Annie
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe
by Edgar Allan Poe
"Thank Heaven! the crisis—"
Imitation
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe
by Edgar Allan Poe
"A dark unfathom'd tide, Of interminable pride—"
The Lake. To --
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe
by Edgar Allan Poe
"In spring of youth it was my lot"
A Pæan
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe
by Edgar Allan Poe
Lamentation for the loss of a loved one.
1.1
Escape at Bedtime
A Child's Garden of Verses: Selected Poems
by Robert Louis Stevenson
A poem about enjoying looking at stars at night instead of going to bed. Caretakers finally catch the poet and put him to bed, but he can still remember the sights of the stars.
Fly Away
Counting and Math Rhymes
by Traditional
A nursery rhyme involving subtraction
An Egg
Nursery Rhymes and Traditional Poems
by Traditional
A fun riddle.
Intery, Mintery, Cutery Corn
Nursery Rhymes and Traditional Poems
by Traditional
A children’s counting limerick.
Israfel
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe
by Edgar Allan Poe
In Heaven a spirit doth dwell, "Whose heart-strings are a lute;"
1.2
The Surrender of Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce, Montana Territory, October 5, 1877 Chief Joseph's Own Story
Civil Rights and Conflict in the United States: Selected Speeches
by Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce
Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce surrenders to General Nelson A. Miles in October of 1877.
Doubles
Counting and Math Rhymes
by Traditional
A child’s counting rhyme about addition.
Little Man Will You Wed?
Nursery Rhymes and Traditional Poems
by Traditional
A funny limerick about a man in love with a maid.
“If I Were a Sunbeam”
Selected American and British Poems
by Lucy Larcom
A fanciful poem exploring the mind of an adult lost in a land of fairy tales.
Meddlesome Matty
Selected American and British Poems
by Ann and Jane Taylor
In this poem, Meddlesome Matilda learns her lesson after an unfortunate encounter with a snuff box.
To One in Paradise
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe
by Edgar Allan Poe
"Thou wast all that to me, love,"
1.3
“Love’s Garden”
Buttercup Gold and Other Stories
by Ellen Robena Field
A poem about love that uses religious and nature themes.
Inly, Minly, Dibbity Fig
Nursery Rhymes and Traditional Poems
by Traditional
Counting-out Jingles, Silly children’s limerick.
“There Was an Old Man With a Beard”
Poems and Limericks of Edward Lear
by Edward Lear
A funny poem about a man who has multiple bird nests in his beard.
The Star
Selected American and British Poems
by Ann and Jane Taylor
A nursery rhyme that imitates a lullaby about the evening star.
To Helen (1831)
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe
by Edgar Allan Poe
"Helen, thy beauty is to me"
1.4
Young Night-Thought
A Child's Garden of Verses: Selected Poems
by Robert Louis Stevenson
A child sees things at night.
Age
Counting and Math Rhymes
by Traditional
A child’s nursery rhyme involving multiplication.
1.5
“A Child of Spring”
Buttercup Gold and Other Stories
by Ellen Robena Field
A poem about springtime.
The Flowers
A Child's Garden of Verses: Selected Poems
by Robert Louis Stevenson
A child see flowers as fairy homes.
Five Little Bees
Counting and Math Rhymes
by Traditional
A child’s addition nursery rhyme
Five Litte Tadpoles
Counting and Math Rhymes
by Traditional
A child’s counting rhyme
One Little Flower, One Little Bee
Counting and Math Rhymes
by Traditional
A child’s rhyme identifying the number “1”.
Diddle, Diddle, Dumpling
Nursery Rhymes and Traditional Poems
by Traditional
A rhyme about a child sleeping with stockings and one shoe on.
Evening Red and Morning Gray
Nursery Rhymes and Traditional Poems
by Traditional
A nautical weather proverb
Handy Spanky, Jack-A-Dandy
Nursery Rhymes and Traditional Poems
by Traditional
A fun limerick about a boy who loves candy.
Hot-Cross Buns
Nursery Rhymes and Traditional Poems
by Traditional
A nursery rhyme formatted from a peddler’s cry.
I Had a Little Hen
Nursery Rhymes and Traditional Poems
by Traditional
A fun nursery rhyme about a little hen.
“The Walrus and the Carpenter”
Poems, Puzzles, and Stories of Lewis Carroll
by Lewis Carroll
A folk tale poem about the trickery of the Walrus and the Carpenter in their hunt of oysters.
1.6
The Moon
A Child's Garden of Verses: Selected Poems
by Robert Louis Stevenson
The poet talks about things that like to be out in moonlight and those that don’t.
To Any Reader
A Child's Garden of Verses: Selected Poems
by Robert Louis Stevenson
The ghosts of past playing children linger in the neighborhood.
Coffee and Tea
Nursery Rhymes and Traditional Poems
by Traditional
Two sisters disagree.
Molly My Sister
Nursery Rhymes and Traditional Poems
by Traditional
A limerick about a silly fight between siblings.
“Jabberwocky”
Poems, Puzzles, and Stories of Lewis Carroll
by Lewis Carroll
A nonsensical poem that illustrates rhyme, rhythm, and alliteration.
"Barbara Frietchie"
Selected American and British Poems
by John Greenleaf Whittier
Poem describing the patriotism of a ninety-year old woman as General Stonewall Jackson marches through Frederick, Maryland.
Maud Muller
Selected American and British Poems
by John Greenleaf Whittier
A brief encounter causes a lifetime of remorseful reflection on what might have been.
Stanzas for the Times
Selected American and British Poems
by John Greenleaf Whittier
Poem referring to a pro-slavery meeting in Faneuil Hall in August of 1835.
1.7
Block City
A Child's Garden of Verses: Selected Poems
by Robert Louis Stevenson
A child plays with furniture and imagination.
The Gardener
A Child's Garden of Verses: Selected Poems
by Robert Louis Stevenson
A child contemplates the gardener.
A Good Play
A Child's Garden of Verses: Selected Poems
by Robert Louis Stevenson
Children build a boat out of furniture and imagine sailing on the sea.
Trit-Trot, Trit-Trot
Nursery Rhymes and Traditional Poems
by Traditional
A nursery rhyme that acts a a gesture and/or action song relating the sounds to the actions of trotting to and from a market.
1.8
“The Cake”
Fairy Tales and Other Traditional Stories
by Laura Richards
A short fable about a boy who beat his brother because he stole his cake.
Dapple Gray
Nursery Rhymes and Traditional Poems
by Traditional
A nonsense and humorous rhyme about a child building a horse out of hay.
The Queen of Hearts
Nursery Rhymes and Traditional Poems
by Traditional
A fun nonsensical poem about the Queen of Hearts and her tarts.
The Wind
Selected American and British Poems
by Christina Rossetti
A poem that analyzes the nature and presence of the wind.
To Frances S. Osgood
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe
by Edgar Allan Poe
"Thou wouldst be loved?—then let thy heart"
1.9
Windy Nights
A Child's Garden of Verses: Selected Poems
by Robert Louis Stevenson
A man gallops around.
Five Little Blue Birds
Counting and Math Rhymes
by Traditional
A child’s poem about subtraction.
Ickity, Pickity
Nursery Rhymes and Traditional Poems
by Traditional
Silly children’s limerick.
The Old Woman in a Shoe
Nursery Rhymes and Traditional Poems
by Traditional
A nursery rhyme about an old woman who lives in a shoe.