Tabatha Yeatts at The Opposite of Indifference hosts Poetry Friday today with a bit of a leaning toward German and Germany. You'll see! Tausend Dank, Tabatha!
And be sure to visit Irene Latham's blog, Live Your Poem, to join her in her celebration of Octopus Month. Again, you'll discover more when you visit.
I've enjoyed X.J. Kennedy's books for a long time, and mostly the one written with his wife, Dorothy M. Kennedy, Knock At A Star - A Child's Introduction to Poetry. This is one edition I have, falling apart, but it is still in print with a new cover. For those new teachers I mentored, this is the book I gave them to start them on their way to sharing poetry with students. Of course, others are favorites, too, yet I still love this one. When a poetry collection was donated to the bookstore by X.J. Kennedy, I snapped it up and would love to share it with you. 
It is a bestiary alphabet book, full of animals known (bee, quetzal, snail), animals created (Ursa Major & Ursa Minor, minotaur), animals ancient (tyrannosaur), and animals real, but unknown to some, including me (Pangolin). Have you ever heard of a "Vinegarroon"? Pencil illustrations by Heidi Johanna Selig help visualize the descriptions by Kennedy, often with great humor. Here is one page with the poem "Alligator" and her illustration.