James Whitcomb Riley
American poet from Indianapolis
- Lived
- 1849–1916
- Also writes as
- Benjamin P. Johnson of Boone
Updated September 2026
Free to read
All free classicsNye and Riley's Wit and Humor (Poems and Yarns)
Little Orphan Annie, and Billy Miller's Circus-Show
The Old Soldier's Story
The Complete Works of James Whitcomb Riley — Volume 1
Riley Love-Lyrics
Afterwhiles
Riley Child-Rhymes
Riley Songs of Friendship
Pipes O'Pan at Zekesbury
Neghborly Poems and Dialect Sketches
The Complete Works of James Whitcomb Riley — Volume 10
The Book of Joyous Children
Riley Farm-Rhymes
Riley Songs of Home
About James Whitcomb Riley
James Whitcomb Riley was an American writer, poet, and best-selling author. During his lifetime he was known as the "Hoosier Poet" and "Childrens' Poet" for his dialect works and his poetry for children. His poems tend to be humorous or sentimental. Of the approximately 1,000 poems Riley wrote, the majority are in dialect. His famous works include "Little Orphant Annie" and "The Raggedy Man".
Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Authors like James Whitcomb Riley
Sources: book lists and dates from Wikidata and Open Library, ratings from Open Library readers, free texts from Project Gutenberg. Last updated September 2026.













