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Bibliographic Citation
Title: A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams
Author: Jen Bryant
Illustrator: Melissa Sweet
Year of Publication: 2008
Publisher City: Grand Rapids
Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5302-8
Author Website: http://www.jenbryant.com/
Illustrator Website: http://melissasweet.net/
Media Used for Artwork: Watercolor, Collage
2009 Students’ List
Awards
· Caldecott Honor Book 2009
· School Library Journal Best Books 2008
· New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2008
· National Council of Teachers of English’s Orbis Pictus Award 2009
Annotation
The biography of doctor and poet, William Carlos Williams, told through a mixture of his poetry and scrapbook illustrations. Even as Williams grows up and gets a professional job, he still returns to the poetry he loves.
Personal Reaction
Biography picture books are becoming one of my new favorites when it comes to illustrated books. These types of books convey information about a person’s life but also keep it entertaining. Facts are not just stated, a story is developed. Readers are allowed to see a brief glimpse of a life without becoming overwhelmed by dates and places. That information was saved until the end of the book and recommendations of future reading was also provided.
Because this story was about a poet it was nice to be given examples of his work. The poetry was well weaved into the narration. Bryant worked to make her writing work with Williams’ poetry so that a reader is not charred by the changes in styles.
The illustrations in this book are so unique, not something that is normally seen in picture books. It is as if the reader is looking through a scrapbook that Williams could have made himself. The mix of collage and hand written stanzas makes the poems more intimate.
Both author and illustrator wanted Williams’ work to be the focus, not themselves or their styles. If a reader did not know any better they could believe that this book was written and narrated by Williams, himself.
Poetry can be a difficult subject for older readers to understand, especially when they are first beginning to learn to analyze it. This narrative teaches readers how to analyze the work of a particular poet, by telling about the poet’s inspiration and giving examples of his work. But it still allows room for the reader to make their own judgment. If only all poetry could be taught in this way, especially for early poetry enthusiasts.
Use of Metaphor: The poetry of William Carlos Williams, which is featured in this book, provides a few examples of metaphor usage.
Example:
“There is a bird in the poplars!
“There is a bird in the poplars!
It is the sun!”
Use of Simile: Bryant has poetic moments in her biography of Williams that uses similes to describe him and his poetry.
“Like the water that sometimes ran slow, smooth, and steady, and other times came rushing in a hurried flood, Willie’s lines flowed across the page.”
“Like the water that sometimes ran slow, smooth, and steady, and other times came rushing in a hurried flood, Willie’s lines flowed across the page.”
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