Winter Poems

Rogasky, Barbara

ISBN 10: 0590428721 ISBN 13: 9780590428729

Publisher: Scholastic, 1994

Synopsis

The illustrations of a Caldecott Medalist are combined with a seasonal selection of poems by twenty-five celebrated writers including William Shakespeare, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Robert Frost, Richard Wright, and Edgar Allen Poe. BOMC.

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Reviews

This elegant volume presents a "universe of sky and snow" (John Greenleaf Whittier) in poetry and art that will warm the coldest heart. Each poem and its accompanying illustration is set in a milk-white square and surrounded by a varied background illustration of the house and countryside where Rogasky and Hyman themselves live. Progressing from the first signs of winter, when the wild geese fly with "summer sun... on their wings,/ [and] winter in their cry" (Rachel Field), to near-spring, when there is a "whiff on the wind... of perhaps blossoms, perhaps green/ grass" (Carl Sandburg), Rogasky's selection of 25 poems is wide-ranging, including Shakespeare's "When icicles hang by the wall" and excerpts of longer poems by Wordsworth and Hardy, as well as works by Richard Wright, Sara Teasdale and Robert Frost. Caldecott Medalist Hyman bases her exquisite paintings on "real things," according to Rogasky's introduction, which further piques readers' interest by identifying the relatives and family pets featured in the art-Rogasky herself appears as the Bard's "Greasy Joan." Like sun glinting on snow, this volume is dazzling. Ages 7-up.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 3-6, younger for reading aloud. Beautifully designed and illustrated in a picture book format, this short anthology of poetry celebrates winter itself, not the holidays that fall within the season. The selection is eclectic, ranging from ancient Japanese verse through Shakespeare to Wallace Stevens, Richard Wright, Ogden Nash, and David Kherdian. While much of the poetry was not originally written for children and some of it is excerpted from longer works, the clarity of concrete images and the sounds of the words make the verse accessible to young people, particularly when it is read aloud. The background of each double-page spread is the same country road, fields, and farm seen in a variety of weathers and times of day and night. A white box is centered on each page, and within these boxes appear the poems and illustrations related to individual poems. Hyman's evocative line-and-watercolor artwork depicts the quiet beauty of winter landscapes and interior scenes as well as the child's experience of winter. Carolyn Phelan

Edition details

• Publisher: Scholastic
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0590428721
• ISBN 13: 9780590428729
• Binding: Library Binding
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40