When the Frost Is on the Punkin

These poems by James Whitcomb Riley are a celebration of life and the changing seasons. Painter Glenna Lang interprets Riley's verse with pictures of a young girl waking into a farm morning, doing chores, and playing in the early hours of what promises to be a golden Autumn day.

Grade 3-5-- A respectful treatment of the poet's homage to autumn. Riley's words may seem affected to modern children ("The stubble in the furries--/kindo' lonesome-like, but still/ A-preachin' sermuns to us/ of the barns they growed to fill"), but Lang's bright, clean, graphic-style paintings capture the poetry of an autumn day in the country. Providing an unpredictable counterpoint to the narrative, she depicts a young girl as she awakens, does her chores, selects a pumpkin, and carves it. A helpful note on Riley's creative use of language and love of dialect is appended. Little Orphant Annie (Putnam, 1983; o.p.), illustrated by Diane Stanley, offers a more accessible introduction to Riley for children, but When the Frost Is on the Punkin , thanks to the joyous illustrations, is also worth meeting. --Kathleen Whalin, formerly at Public Library of Columbus and Franklin County, OH
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This poem celebrates autumn and its changes in the rural landscape from a young farm child's point of view. Riley (1849-1916), the "Hoosier Poet" and author of another once widely learned and recited work, "Little Orphan Annie," is most often remembered as a "dialect" poet. Contemporary children will need this helpful background--included in a brief afterword--in order to better comprehend his idiomatic verse here--words such as "medder" for meadow, "hosses" for horses and "furries" for furrows, though mellifluous, need explanation. Further, few children in today's increasingly urban landscape will understand the repeating phrase "the fodder's in the shock." Employing her trademark soft shapes, Lang's handsome paintings adroitly evoke the season's richness with economical detailing and blocks of deep autumnal colors. They feature a contemporary child and/or her playful cat on each page and, while not providing a word-by-word reflection of the text, their interpretation will be an aid to understanding. Ages 4-6.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.