I was lucky enough to snag a copy of the gorgeous, brand-new Poetryfor Kids: Emily Dickinson from Quarto Publishing. If you love poetry and art--or heck, just appreciate thoughtful contemplation of the seasons--check out this book.
Divided into seasons, 35 of
Dickinson’s nature poems edited by Dickinson expert Susan Snively dance among beautiful ink-and-watercolor illustrations by Christine Davenier.
Classics such as “Hope is the thing with feathers” and “There’s a certain slant
of light,” as well as lesser-known poems, are celebrated with bright, lively flowers,
insects, birds, and children dancing, reading, cloud-gazing, and running in
tall grass (while a snake slithers in the foreground); my only complaint would
be the lack of people of color in the paintings with human characters.
Definitions
of challenging words, such as “troubadour” or “pensive,” appear in unobtrusive,
italicized text near the bottom of each page (thank goodness poems are not
marred with asterisks).
At the end of the book, two pages titled “What Emily
Was Thinking” offer short summaries of each poem, providing not only context (“A
cricket’s song helps the sun finish its daily work”) but also simple
explanations about how the poem’s craft affects our understanding (“The poem’s
gentle rhymes…create a hymn of farewell”).
This lovely book, a wonderful gift
for budding poets, is also appealing for teachers to encourage students’ careful
observation and inspiration to write—and paint—our world.
No comments:
Post a Comment