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HOPE IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS

Name: HOPE IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS
Author: Emily Dickinson
ISBN: 9781223188164

From the Picture-a-Poem series

by Emily Dickinson ; illustrated by Tim Hopgood ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2024

Dickinson’s verse benefits from Hopgood’s full visual expression.

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One of Dickinson’s most famous poems is brought to vivid life.

A young, brown-skinned child at a window watches a brown bird, perhaps a house wren, singing colorful notes from a nearby tree. Later the bird dodges raindrops and umbrellas, emitting notes and inspiring pedestrians to look up. The bird’s song “never stops,” even as night falls over the city and a violent storm ensues. The notes become fainter, but only briefly, as the bird flies off to a warmer, brighter setting to “the chilliest land” and to a sunny harbor. Returning to the child, whose window is now open, the bird perches closer, still singing. Each page features one line of the poem, printed over full-bleed, borderless, mixed-media images. Human figures—mostly brown-skinned—are simplified against brilliant abstract backgrounds. Relying on a wide range of hues, from the glowing yellow of the book’s cover to peach and fluorescent blue to autumnal oranges and burnt sienna, with touches of bright green—the color of hope—Hopgood visually conveys the poem’s theme, slowing the pace of Dickinson’s economical lines and allowing readers to take them in. Backmatter includes a brief paragraph on Dickinson’s life, a short glossary, and a suggested activity.

Dickinson’s verse benefits from Hopgood’s full visual expression. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: March 5, 2024

ISBN: 9781223188164

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Paw Prints Publishing/Baker & Taylor

Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S POETRY

- BOOK REVIEW
HOPE IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS
by Emily Dickinson ; illustrated by Tatyana Feeney

- BOOK REVIEW
THE ILLUSTRATED EMILY DICKINSON
by Emily Dickinson ; edited by Ryan G. Van Cleave

- BOOK REVIEW
EMILY DICKINSON
by Emily Dickinson ; edited by Susan Snively ; illustrated by Christine Davenier

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WHAT THE ROAD SAID

by Cleo Wade ; illustrated by Lucie de Moyencourt ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 23, 2021

Inspiration, shrink wrapped.

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From an artist, poet, and Instagram celebrity, a pep talk for all who question where a new road might lead.

Opening by asking readers, “Have you ever wanted to go in a different direction,” the unnamed narrator describes having such a feeling and then witnessing the appearance of a new road “almost as if it were magic.” “Where do you lead?” the narrator asks. The Road’s twice-iterated response—“Be a leader and find out”—bookends a dialogue in which a traveler’s anxieties are answered by platitudes. “What if I fall?” worries the narrator in a stylized, faux hand-lettered type Wade’s Instagram followers will recognize. The Road’s dialogue and the narration are set in a chunky, sans-serif type with no quotation marks, so the one flows into the other confusingly. “Everyone falls at some point, said the Road. / But I will always be there when you land.” Narrator: “What if the world around us is filled with hate?” Road: “Lead it to love.” Narrator: “What if I feel stuck?” Road: “Keep going.” De Moyencourt illustrates this colloquy with luminous scenes of a small, brown-skinned child, face turned away from viewers so all they see is a mop of blond curls. The child steps into an urban mural, walks along a winding country road through broad rural landscapes and scary woods, climbs a rugged metaphorical mountain, then comes to stand at last, Little Prince–like, on a tiny blue and green planet. Wade’s closing claim that her message isn’t meant just for children is likely superfluous…in fact, forget the just.

Inspiration, shrink wrapped. (Picture book. 6-8, adult)

Pub Date: March 23, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-250-26949-2

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Review Posted Online: April 7, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
MAY YOU LOVE AND BE LOVED
by Cleo Wade ; illustrated by Cleo Wade

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WAITING IS NOT EASY!

From the Elephant & Piggie series

by Mo Willems ; illustrated by Mo Willems ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 4, 2014

A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends

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Gerald the elephant learns a truth familiar to every preschooler—heck, every human: “Waiting is not easy!”

When Piggie cartwheels up to Gerald announcing that she has a surprise for him, Gerald is less than pleased to learn that the “surprise is a surprise.” Gerald pumps Piggie for information (it’s big, it’s pretty, and they can share it), but Piggie holds fast on this basic principle: Gerald will have to wait. Gerald lets out an almighty “GROAN!” Variations on this basic exchange occur throughout the day; Gerald pleads, Piggie insists they must wait; Gerald groans. As the day turns to twilight (signaled by the backgrounds that darken from mauve to gray to charcoal), Gerald gets grumpy. “WE HAVE WASTED THE WHOLE DAY!…And for WHAT!?” Piggie then gestures up to the Milky Way, which an awed Gerald acknowledges “was worth the wait.” Willems relies even more than usual on the slightest of changes in posture, layout and typography, as two waiting figures can’t help but be pretty static. At one point, Piggie assumes the lotus position, infuriating Gerald. Most amusingly, Gerald’s elephantine groans assume weighty physicality in spread-filling speech bubbles that knock Piggie to the ground. And the spectacular, photo-collaged images of the Milky Way that dwarf the two friends makes it clear that it was indeed worth the wait.

A lesson that never grows old, enacted with verve by two favorite friends . (Early reader. 6-8)