Lee Bennett Hopkins was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on April 13, 1938, to Gertrude Thomas and Leon Hall Hopkins. He spent his early years living at 806 Philo Street, where both he and his two younger siblings were born. In a 1987 essay for the Something about the Author Autobiography Series, Hopkins admitted, “I don’t recall much of these years in Scranton. Probably because very little happened. I was ‘Dick’ straight out of... ‘Dick and Jane’... the series which taught me to read.” Hopkins’ maternal grandmother, Lena Thomas, introduced him to poetry by reciting nursery rhymes to him. 

Due to financial hardship, Hopkins, at the age of ten, and his family moved from Scranton to Newark, New Jersey. He later wrote the poem “Pack,” in his collection of autobiographical poetry about his childhood, Been to Yesterdays (1995), about their move. His family’s continued financial issues led to his parents' divorce four years later. Following their separation, Hopkins, his mother, and his two siblings moved into a low-income housing project in Newark. As the eldest child, Hopkins became responsible for helping support his family. He worked odd jobs, often missing school to work, and aided his mother with household chores, such as looking after his siblings and getting groceries. For the 1987 Something about the Author Autobiography Series, he wrote about his early teens, “I remember not being interested in anything but survival during this period of my life.”

Despite his numerous absences, Hopkins had passing grades and excelled in English. In eighth grade, one of his teachers, Mrs. Ethel Kite McLaughlin, took an interest in him. Up until this point, Hopkins had little interest in reading because his only access to books were ones he found discarded outside or around his family’s apartment building. McLaughlin, however, encouraged him to read plays and other works of fiction, which he fell in love with. In his autobiographical poem, “What,” in Been to Yesterdays (1995), he recalled a day at school when his peers made fun of him for wanting to become a writer. Mrs. McLaughlin, then Miss Tway, stopped the bullying and encouraged him to pursue his dream. Hopkins later named her as one of the most influential people in his life: “Mrs. McLaughlin saved me; she introduced me to two things that had given me direction and hope—the love of reading and the theater” (Sarkissian). 

McLaughlin’s positive influence made Hopkins want to become a teacher and help students. After graduating from the South Side High School (now Malcolm X Shabazz High School) in Newark, he enrolled in the Newark State Teachers College (now Kean University) in Union, New Jersey. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Education in 1960. After graduating, he worked as a sixth-grade teacher at the Westmoreland School (now Westmoreland Elementary School) within the Fair Lawn Public Schools in Bergen County, New Jersey. He became the school’s Resource Teacher three years later, while simultaneously pursuing his Master’s degree at the Bank Street College of Education (now the Bank Street Graduate School of Education) in New York City. He graduated in 1964.

In his role as Resource Teacher, Hopkins was responsible for providing educational materials to teachers. He began experimenting with poetry in the classroom, particularly for students who struggled to read. He thought the short length, simple vocabulary, and repetitiveness of poetry would help students improve their reading ability. According to Diane Carver Sekeres and Madeline Gregg in The Reading Teacher, studies show that having students consistently read poetry improves their overall reading comprehension, vocabulary, and conceptual understanding. Hopkins, who noticed an improvement in reading amongst students, saw in his practice the potential to expand the use of poetry into other subjects, such as math and science, to help students learn better in all disciplines.

After Hopkins finished his Master’s degree, he began working as a consultant at Bank Street’s newly opened Learning Resource Center in Harlem in New York City. He worked on a program designed to help high achieving African American students gain admission to college preparatory courses. While working at the Center in Harlem and later Hartford, Connecticut, Hopkins introduced students and teachers to poetry, primarily from contemporary poets of color like Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks.

Through his experiences teaching and working with teachers, Hopkins saw what he perceived as the misuse of poetry in the classroom. He thought teachers relied too heavily on the same “classic” poets, such as Robert Frost and Carl Sandburg, and focused on students dissecting and memorizing poems rather than letting them form an emotional connection to them. To share his teaching techniques and advice, he began writing professional articles. His publications were included in notable journals such as Horn Book, Language Arts, and English Journal. In 1969, he published these works as a collection, Let Them Be Themselves: Language Arts Enrichment for Disadvantaged Children in Elementary Schools. He also wrote full length professional books, including Pass Poetry, Please!: Bringing Poetry into the Minds and Hearts of Children (1972).

Hopkins’ passion for designing poetry anthologies began while working at the Learning Resource Center in Harlem. Following the death of Langston Hughes in May, 1967, Hopkins wanted to share Hughes’ works with students. He quickly discovered, however, that Hughes’ only poetry volume for children was published in 1932 and included what he felt were offensive and racist depictions of African Americans. Unable to share these works with students, he called the book’s publisher, Knopf, to ask why the volume was never revised and reprinted. The call resulted in a lunch meeting with the publishing house’s children’s book editor and Hopkins was offered the opportunity to edit a new book of Hughes’ poems. Hopkins’ resulting volume, illustrated by Ann Grifalconi, Don’t Turn Back: Poems by Langston Hughes (1969) earned an American Library Association Notable Book Award.

Amidst increased racial tension and polarization in Harlem in the late 1960s, Hopkins left the Learning Resource Center to join Scholastic Magazines, Inc. as a curriculum and editorial specialist. While working at Scholastic, Hopkins continued publishing professional books and anthologies. He also began writing children's books. His first picture book, I Loved Rose Ann (1976), was based on a crush he had on a neighborhood girl while living in Scranton. His second picture book proposal centered on the struggles of a working-class mother, based loosely on his own childhood in Newark. His editor, however, thought the idea was better suited for a middle grade novel. Hopkins, who had never written a full-length novel before, decided to leave Scholastic in 1976 to become a full-time writer. Publisher Weekly called his first middle grade novel, Mama (1977), “...  the not-to-be missed first novel by [Hopkins].” 

While Hopkins authored several types of books, he is best known for his children’s poetry anthologies. Anthony L. Manna in Children’s Literature Association Quarterly called Hopkins “...one of America’s most prolific anthologists of poetry for young people.” Hopkins published more than 120 volumes based on gaps he noticed within children’s poetry collections. In his 1987 essay for the Something about the Author Autobiography Series, he wrote, “Most of my anthologies come from my past teaching experiences, identifying what I think is needed on the marketplace and the type of collection I wish I had had to share with my students.”

Hopkins’ anthologies are a combination of reused and new materials. For each volume, which typically included 20 poems, Hopkins read thousands of existing poems to select a handful to use and commissioned poets to write new materials. Children’s poets Janet Wong and Rebecca Kai Dotlich explained the importance of his work as, "... [Hopkins] is not a simple gatherer of previously published poems... he has broken new ground, commissioned new works on a variety of topics.” He also wrote his own poetry, which he included in some of his collections or created volumes comprised entirely of his work. Hopkins’ autobiographical anthology about his childhood, Been to Yesterdays: Poems of a Life (1995), won the Golden Kite Honor Book Award from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators in 1996.

Hopkins earned numerous awards and honors for his contribution to children’s literature. Most notably, he received a University of Southern Mississippi Medallion in 1989, the National Council of Teachers of English Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children in 2009, and the Outstanding Pennsylvania Author Award in 2014 from the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association. Additionally, Hopkins was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 2017.

Hopkins also established two awards to honor the work of children’s poets. In 1993, he created the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award with the Children’s Literary Council of Pennsylvania to annually honor a newly published volume of children’s poetry. The Pennsylvania Center for the Book, part of the Penn State University Libraries, later took over administering the award. Hopkins also founded the International Reading Association Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poetry Award in 1995. The award is presented every three years to a new children’s poet. Wong and Dotlich summarized Hopkins impact within the field as, “No one has worked harder to recognize and promote children’s poetry in America.”  

In 2013, Hopkins arranged to donate his 18,000-volume book collection and correspondences to the Penn State University Libraries. Hopkins shared with Penn State News, “I recognize that I’ve been fortunate to compile such an incredible and unique collection, and I want it to be available to scholars and students in the future. I hope future generations — and the future of children’s literature — will benefit from what I offer.” The first portion of the collection was donated to Penn State’s University Libraries by Lee Bennett Hopkins in April 2018. Following his passing in 2019, Hopkins’ husband, Charles Egita, shared the remaining materials to the university. The Lee Bennett Hopkins Papers are available to view upon request at the Eberly Family Special Collections Library. Between 1971 and 1993, Hopkins also donated materials, primarily autobiographical writings and drafts, to the de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection at the University of Southern Mississippi. The Lee Bennett Hopkins Papers are available for researchers’ use at the McCain Library & Archives.

Hopkins died on August 8, 2019, at the age of 81 of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Cape Coral, Florida.