Ivy in Bloom: The Poetry of Spring from Great Poets and Writers of the Past

Ivy in Bloom: The Poetry of Spring from Great Poets and Writers of the Past

Ivy In Bloom captures the weariness of a young girl tired of a long winter. ""I stare out the window,"" she says on the first spread of brown and gray, ""looking for birds or flowers / or even warm showers / but I don't see any such thing."" But then Spring comes when ""March is out of breath snow melting to flowery waters and watery flowers spring rose from its wintry rest."" And Ivy's ""heart dances with daffodils."" As these words also dance across each spread, Ivy's world erupts into a riot of color. Ivy In Bloom introduces the poetry of Dickinson, Longfellow, Browning, Wordsworth, Frost and others. Excerpts from their writings, as seen through Ivy's eyes, will open up poetry as a way for children to express their own feelings about the changing of seasons. This book includes longer excerpts and brief bios of each author. This children's picture book's purpose is more than just entertainment. Its pictures and connecting text lead the readers through young Ivy's emotional changes and activities and dress as she wanders through the end of winter and through all of spring. These aspects are enough to make the book interesting; however an additional dimension is added throughout the pages by quoting several of our best loved poets from the past to kick up the quality level. The pictures and the illustrator's command of her various art media provide an excellent visual background that stops just short of museum quality level. She reminds me a little of "Madeline" by Ludwig Bemelmans. The decision to use excerpts from famous poets with an explanation of each one in the book's back material is to be applauded. Today, it is almost impossible to hear or see poetry being taught, read, or written in public schools. It has been left behind as a victim of the "No Child Left Behind" movement, which focuses on basic skills and hard science and math and little on any of the arts. This book is an excellent awareness raiser. We rated it a fairly high four hearts. --Heartland Reviews, February 2009 But I was particularly struck by the concept for and execution of this particular title. Essentially, it's a "mash up" of lines from famous works of fiction and poetry by classic writers. The lines are loosely woven together to express a young girl's feelings about the coming of spring. Each line or phrase serves as a kind of caption for double-page spreads of winter-into-springtime scenes. What a clever idea! Use a line from Wordsworth here, Dickinson there, and Whitman and Milne, and voila, a picture book emerges. I wish I had thought of that! But kids (particularly older kids and teens) might find that a compelling notion for creating their own "mash ups" of classic lines, "bubble, bubble... a poem lovely as a tree... nevermore..." --Poetry for Children by Sylvia Vardell The artwork is a brilliant combination of techniques used in the following way: traditional block prints cut in linoleum, and printed in black on white stock; the images were converted to digital format through flatbed scanning; watercolor layers were added using Corel Painter, and Adobe Photoshop, computer software for digital illustration. The imagery cleverly changes from dark and gloomy winter scenes to bright spring scenes bursting with color. Kristin Blackwood's illustrations are precious and unique -- Ivy is as cute as a button. A wonderful book all-round. Children learn through reading how others have approached a task like writing poems. This book shows how a child can express their feelings in rhyme about a subject that is important to them. Children and parents who like other VanitaBooks will want this one also. Vanita Oelschlager is a wife, mother, grandmother, philanthropist, former teacher, current caregiver, author, and poet. She is a graduate of Mt. Union College in Alliance, Ohio, where she currently serves as a Trustee. Vanita is also Writer In Residence for the Literacy Program at The University of Akron. Her first book, My Grampy Can’t Walk, was widely praised. It’s an uplifting story about the wonderful relationship between her husband Jim, who has multiple sclerosis, and their grandchildren. Vanita has also supported Jim as he built Oak Associates, ltd. into a highly respected investment management firm.