Today I am reviewing a uniquely-stylized biography of the famous poet William Carlos Williams. I'm not one for a traditional biography, so this creation by author Jen Bryant caught my eye on my library's nonfiction shelf. Much like William Carlos Williams's poetry, this biography paints a picture with words, but illustrator Melissa Sweet adds her stunning artistry to the book as well. Revealing Williams's unique background of being a town doctor, A River of Words shows his amazing love for poetry. Bryant writes a simple story of Williams's life while Sweet's illustrations allow the reader to see the unique juxtaposition of a doctor being a poet - writing poems on calendars, scripts, and wherever else he can during his busy day. For the more linear reader, the end of the picture book includes a timeline of William Carlos Williams's life alongside his poems and historical events. The combination of Bryant's words and Sweet's pictures creates a fun and informative reading experience for both children and adults.
written by Jen Bryant
illustrated by Melissa Sweet
Eerdman's Books for Young Readers, 2008
picture book, ages 8 to adult
lexile measure: 820
Awards/Recognition:
Caldecott Honor Book 2009
Junior Library Guild Selection
School Library Journal Best Books 2008
New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children's Book of 2008
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| While studying medicine at the university, Williams Carlos Williams meets and interacts with artists Ezra Pound, Hilda Doolittle, and Charles Demuth. These friendships helped to shape his poetic life. |
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| Melissa Sweet's illustrations show the development of Williams's poetry through random writings wherever he can find space and time. As a poet, Williams didn't like being forced into structure and rhyme, and Sweet's visuals support the tone Williams achieved in his poems. |
SUGGESTIONS
READERS
One of the greatest draws to this book is that it is shorter and includes more pictures than a typical biography and so, in turn, will connect to a different type of reader. Struggling readers would enjoy the good but simple story, and the pictures will hold their attention. Full of great, factual information in an easy-to-digest story, A River of Words is great for all types and ages of readers. Although the picture book may seem too simplistic for a classroom resource, "For further reading" at the end of the book will help students easily find additional sources.
WEB RESOURCES
Jen Bryant
A place to find discussion guides, see reviews, order books, and find additional books by Jen Bryant.
Melissa Sweet
The illustrator's website gives greater insight into the artistry behind A River of Words.
Poetry Foundation
This link provides information about William Carlos Williams from the Poetry Foundation. It includes his poems, article by him and about him, audio/podcasts and more.
ACTIVITY
This book would work great with a "found poetry" lesson. William Carlos Williams's poetry lends well to the freeform style of found poetry. First, read the book together with the class and study the structure of his poems. To capture the feeling of Williams's poetry, give your students a magazine or a few pages from different magazines. They don't need an entire magazine for this activity. The less choice they have the better! They will then look at the words on the pages, cut out the ones they like, and then glue them together on a page to make a unique poem. Encourage them to be creative! You could give them everyday items like where Williams would have written his own poems. Then have the students present their "found poetry" to the class.
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| Here is an example of found poetry created with magazine cutouts. |
SIMILAR READING
I chose the books below because they fit into the same biography genre as the William Carlos Williams book; they are all visual representations of the subject's life. I also tried to find different age levels for different reading groups.
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| How I Learned Geography by Uri Shulevitz Age Range: Kindergarten to 3rd Grade
This book is written in a similar structure to Bryant's book with great visuals and amazing information about a boy growing up in a foreign country after fleeing Poland in 1939. The author Uri Shulevitz writes from his own childhood memories of World War II.
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| A Splash of Red by Jen Bryant Age Range: Kindergarten to 3rd Grade
Another book written by Jen Bryant, A Splash of Red illustrates the life of Horace Pippin, an artist shot during World War I who has to overcome the loss of movement in his arm in order to continue painting.
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| Epileptic by David B. Age Range: High School/Adult
A more adult version than the other suggestions, this graphic novel gives us the autobiography of one of Europe's greatest comic artists, David B., and his life growing up with an epileptic brother.
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Outstanding job. Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteThanks for including Epileptic-a great but harder to find book! An idea for another activity: make a smash book or journal. A smash book is very similar to the right pages of the images you posted. Basically, it's a way to record a memory using text, objects, images, or whatever. It's pretty open-ended and can be done a number of ways. The main goal is to remember a time, event, etc.
ReplyDelete-Abby
I too am not a big fan of biography, and I know how difficult it can be to persuade a child to get interested in biographical works outside of school projects and assigned readings! This title is a great selection because it also opens up the world of poetry to young readers. The illustrations in this title are amazing! I love how at times they almost appear to be a collage. It’s so hard to find such illustrations in typical biographies, and I agree with you that this could aid readers greatly. I really like your tie-in activity with the found poetry lesson. To incorporate technology, you could also take advantage of free apps for the iPad if the teacher or students have access to tablets. The free WordMover app or the ReadWriteThink poetry interactive website could be fun and help students to engage with poetry creation.
ReplyDelete- Katherine Huddle (khuddle.weebly.com)