Who were Jack Prelutsky's influences to write poetry?

Jack Prelutsky: I completely agree, and I would add Robert Louis Stevenson and Hilaire Belloc at the end of the 19th century. Most children's literature from that period and a little earlier is didactic. Preachy. They didn't think of children as real people. I don't know how they thought of them, but it was mostly of the "children should be seen and not heard" mentality. My favorite poem is still "Jabberwocky." Come to think of it, that was the earliest children's poem that I memorized! I still know it by heart. And, as always, the poems are inspired by friends and relatives, and their children. Especially by the children. "Never Poke Your Uncle with a Fork" was inspired by my two-year-old nephew who actually did that. I told him, "Never poke your uncle with a fork," and he walked around repeating the phrase. "I'm Raising a Virtual Chicken" was inspired by a trip to Japan and the tamagotchi craze. This is why I always have a notebook with me.

Erm...Shakespeare? That sounds like a good answer to me!

Don't know, sorry.

Read a biography about him. Since when are we your textbooks?

first stab: shel silverstein and ogden nash. update: bad guess... "Q. Which poets and/or authors do you admire? A. When I began writing, I didn't read any other children's poets...I didn't want to be influenced until I'd found my own voice. Now I read them all. I hesitate to name any poets in particular, as "favorite" questions have always been difficult for me and make me a bit uncomfortable. I'm always afraid that I'll leave someone out. I've been influenced by poets as diverse as Dylan Thomas, Lewis Carroll, and Edgar Allan Poe. Interestingly enough, many of the people who have influenced me the most have not been poets. I love creating surprise endings, as O. Henry did in his short stories, and you are apt to find the sort of antic humor exhibited by comedians such as Sid Caesar and the Marx Brothers manifested in my poems."

He says that his biggest influence was Lewis Carroll. Jabberwocky was the first poem Jack ever memorized. He also loved AA Milne and the Pooh poetry. He also thinks well of David McCord. He and Shel Silverstein knew each other before they either had written poetry.