A young girl who lives across the street from the reclusive Emily Dickinson gets her chance to meet the poet when her mother is invited to play the piano for Emily. The girl sneaks up to Emily's room and exchanges a small gift for an authentic poem, which is included in the book. This gorgeous picture book features lush illustrations by two-time Caldecott Medal winner Barbara Cooney.
"This fictionalized encounter between Emily Dickinson and a young neighbor is, like a Dickinson sonnet, a quiet gem: unassuming upon first glance, it is in fact deeply lustrous, with new facets becoming apparent the longer one looks." -- Publishers Weekly
For more on this remarkable writer, visit A Mighty Girl's Emily Dickinson Collection.
"[Bedard] uses diction and imagery that might have been the poet's own: strong, sure language whose force derives from its very economy; small but potent details from nature and domesticity.... Caldecott Medalist Cooney's oils richly capture the story's subtly shifting moods, from the utter stillness of a street bathed in moonlight and swaddled in snow to the vigor of a sun-flooded room full of growing plants. They visually extend the text's Dickinsonian personification of nature ("There was no one there but winter, all in white") and contain skillful echoes of their own: at different points in the story the child and poet are shown sitting alone on the landings of their respective houses, a visual reinforcing of their special kinship." -- Publishers Weekly
Recommended Age | 5 - 8 |
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Author | Michael Bedard |
Illustrator | Barbara Cooney |
ISBN | 0440417406 |
Publication Date | Oct 8, 2002 |
Publisher | Dragonfly Books |
Language | English |