Weekly Poetry Challenge Week Three: Riddle Poems
Read and write some riddle poems with us this week!
Welcome to Week Three of the 2025 Read, Discuss, Do Weekly Poetry Challenge! This week we are having some fun with riddle poems!
A riddle poem is a poem that is written like a series of clues that invites the reader to guess its subject. A riddle poem can be in any form. It may be written in rhyme, free verse, or even haiku! There are no rules to the riddle poem besides that it must be a riddle! We hope that you join us in reading and writing riddle poems this week. If you do, we hope you’ll share them with us too!
Read: Some riddle poems! Who am I? by Dianne Koebel-Pede is a fun example. Can you guess the critter the poem describes? Or how about the critters in Little Riddles for Little People by Christine R Milne, which is three riddles in one?
Here’s another example. This excerpt is from my novel in verse, Mari in the Margins:
The poem is a riddle. I read it aloud and Tyra winces, glancing around as if someone might be listening. I am floppy. I am yellow or red or purple or blue. I am filled with words that no one reads and drawings that no one sees. I am hugged tight, like a treasure. I am sewn together with looping silver thread. What am I? I chuckle and tell her, The answer of course is a spiral notebook! You’re only partly right, Tyra laughs. It’s YOUR spiral notebook.
Discuss:
Do you like riddles?
Can you think of any riddles you have heard before?
Read a riddle poem. Did the writer of the poem give good clues?
Do you prefer to be able to guess correctly right away, or do you like to give your brain a challenge?
What is your favorite riddle or riddle poem?
What do you think is the most challenging thing about writing riddle poems?
Do: Write a riddle poem!
When writing a riddle poem, think about the poem’s subject first. This will be the answer to the riddle. Write a list of clues about your poem’s subject. For example, if your subject is an animal, include physical characteristics like whether it has fur and how many legs it has. Where does the critter live? What does it eat? Can you think of a simile or metaphor that would be fun to include? When you have enough clues in your list, write your poem. As I mentioned before, your poem can be in any form you choose. If you’d like an extra challenge, try writing your poem in rhyme!
The trickiest part of writing a riddle poem (I think) is including enough clues to let the reader guess the answer without making it too easy.
Riddle Poem Books
Note: Some links will take you to the Read, Discuss, Do bookshop.org storefront. Purchasing a book from the storefront will support independent bookstores and help maintain Read, Discuss, Do at no additional cost to you.
Spot the Plot by J. Patrick Lewis, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger
A delightful assortment of riddle poems, poetically describing the plots of popular children’s books. The detailed illustrations hold some hints too!
Guess Who, Haiku by Deanna Caswell, illustrated by Bob Shea
A book full of haiku in which each haiku is a riddle about a little critter. A cute book ideal for sharing with the youngest readers.
Random Body Parts: Gross Anatomy Riddles in Verse by Leslie Bolion, illustrated by Mike Lowery
This book is a fun (yet disgusting) book of riddle poems that describe various body parts. Enjoy learning about anatomy while deciphering the clever riddle poems!
Guess Again! Riddle Poems by Lillian Morrison, illustrated by Christy Hale
A book full of clever rhyming riddle poems, with the answer to each on the following page. Readers will enjoy the rhymes while using their brains to puzzle out the answers. Turn the page after each poem to find out if your answer is correct!
Will you be writing riddle poems this week? If you do, we’d love to see them! You can reply to this message, email us, or tag us on Instagram (use the hashtag #RDDPoetryChallenge or #RDDPoetryMonth). We will be sharing some readers’ poems in a round-up post at the end of the month, so if you’d like your poems to be considered, please let us know when you send them.