(Book Cover compliments of Titlewave)
Bibliography
Bryant, Jennifer, and Melissa Sweet. A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams. Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2008. ISBN 9780802853028
Review
A lavish picture-book biography about William Carlos Williams, Jennifer Bryant brings to life the poet who from his youngest years learned to notice everything. His rambling boyhood walks and hours exploring outdoors helped him learn to listen to the Passaic River’s “Gurgle, gurgle—swish, swish, swoosh!—gurgle, gurgle./ The water went slipping and sliding over/ the smooth rocks, then poured in a torrent/ over the falls…” Bryant’s imagery and word choice paint a picture of Williams as a young observer of life who found his own simple style of poetry free from the confines of famous poetry styles that instead made him “feel free as the Passaic River as it rushed to the falls.” Williams value for the simple things in life…like a red wheelbarrow, plums, birds, children’s games…helped him keep noticing and writing poetry even while pursuing a medical degree and ultimately caring for children for years as a pediatrician.
In an interview shortly after A River of Words received the 2009 Caldecott Award, Poet Jennifer Bryant talked about her choice to write this poetic biography in the form of “poetic prose or lyrical prose. I do try to pay attention to repetition, sound, and imagery—all of which play a big part in this text…” Bryant’s free verse style and sparse writing compliment the richly-detailed mixed-media illustrations by Melissa Sweet who uses book covers, Dr.’s prescription pads, old report cards as canvases for watercolor drawings, hand-drawn pieces of William’s poems, and snippets of vintage-type words to create collage art with impact. The illustrations are whimsical and yet elegant. An especially powerful spread contains a silhouette of Williams writing in a lit attic window in his house created from an open book cover against a dark night sky made from an old map of star constellations where “Willie took out his pen and his notes./ He sat down and looked at the words.../ …and shaped them into poems.”
Honors
Caldecott Honor Book, 2009
ALA Notable Children’s Books 2009
Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, 2009
Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts, 2009
A Junior Library Guild Selection.
Starred Reviews in Kirkus and School Library Journal
Reviewed in Booklist, Book Links, Christian Library Journal, Horn Book, Library Media Connection, New York Times, and Wilson’s Children
Sample from the poem
On his prescription pads, he scribbled a few lines
Whenever and wherever he could.
In those precious times,
The rhythm of the river he had rested beside
As a child seemed to guide him. 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.
Connections
Upper elementary/secondary students:
Help students slow down and practice the skill of observation (Connect to science and ELAR TEKS) by engaging in experiences designed to heighten the awareness of details. First, give each student a dried pinto bean and have them “get to know” their "Bean Buddy" by studying it for a solid three minutes…every line, spot, crevice, texture. Gather all the beans into a bowl and have students find their Bean Buddy. Repeat several times until students are able to immediately find their bean. (Save these for a bell ringer activity later in the week to see if students are able to find their Bean Buddy.)
Next, take students outside for a 5-senses nature experience. Allow students to find a spot to sit in the grass, on concrete, on a wall…anywhere. Have students identify a 12 inch by 12 inch space to closely observe for 10 minutes. Student take notes on what they observe using ALL 5 senses…even “taste” if they are brave! Return to the classroom and have each student compose a poem that uses their observations. Give students time to share their poems with small groups and have each group report their most unusual, powerful, etc. observations to the class.
Other follow-up activities all ages:
Encourage students to read other picture book biographies of writers like Williams who kept their dreams of writing alive even when faced with setbacks.
Dr. Seuss
Krull, Kathleen, Steve Johnson, Lou Fancher, and Seuss. The Boy on Fairfield Street: How Ted Geisel Grew Up to Become Dr. Seuss. New York: Random House, 2004. Print.
Albert Einstien
Brown, Don. Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co, 2004. Print.
Louisa May Alcott
McDonough, Yona Z, and Bethanne Andersen. Louisa: The Life of Louisa May Alcott. New York: Henry Holt and Co, 2009. Print.
Mark Twain
Kerley, Barbara, and Ed Fotheringham. The Extraordinary Mark Twain (according to Susy). New York: Scholastic Press, 2010. Print.
More Resources:
Interview with illustrator Melissa Sweet http://jamarattigan.livejournal.com/270478.html
Interview with author Jennifer Bryant
