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Summary
Summary
A young girl who lives across the street from the reclusive Emily Dickinson gets her chance to meet the poet when her mother is invited to play the piano for Emily. The girl sneaks up to Emily's room and exchanges a small gift for an authentic poem, which is included in the book.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In a boxed review, PW compared this fictionalized encounter between Emily Dickinson and a young neighbor to "a Dickinson sonnet, a quiet gem: unassuming upon first glance, it is in fact deeply lustrous, with new facets becoming apparent the longer one looks." Ages 5-8. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
When her mother is invited to play the piano for the reclusive Emily Dickinson, the child narrator brings along a lily bulb as a gift and is handed a poem in return. In a perfect convergence of text and art, Cooney's illustrations reflect the spirit of Bedard's prose, which resonates with the mystical wonder and terse rhythms of Dickinson's poetry. An afterword on Emily Dickinson's life and poetry is appended. From HORN BOOK 1992, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Gr. 3-5. Presented from the point of view of a child, this picture book for older readers tells of the young girl's visit to a neighbor, the reclusive poet Emily Dickinson, who never leaves her house in Amherst, Massachusetts. Emily's known as the Myth, and few people get to see her, but the child steals up the stairs and surprises the poet one day and exchanges gifts with her. The spare, poetic text echoes with the quiet words and images of Dickinson (she's "Nobody"), and with the sense of mysterious connection be-
School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-5-- A young girl whose family has just moved into the neighborhood describes her first encounter with the inhabitant of the yellow house across the road. Called ``the Myth'' by some, deemed crazy by others, she is, in fact, the reclusive poet Emily Dickinson. An air of mystery surrounds the woman as the child overhears her parents discussing their neighbor. When the girl's mother is invited to the yellow house to play the piano, curiosity deepens. The first meeting and special gifts exchanged between the girl and the poet are described in this imaginative and unusual picture book. In keeping with a story about a poet, the language of the text is lyrical. The effect, however, is to make the young narrator seem much older than Cooney's wonderful oil paintings suggest. The illustrations convey a sense of place and time long ago, from drawing rooms to clothing. This is a picture book to read aloud and share with older children, both because of the sophisticated language and the nature of the story. For what are youngsters who have never heard of Emily Dickinson to make of her eccentricities? Those who are beginning to encounter her poetry will find that Bedard's charming story demystifies the person and offers some understanding of her odd behavior. --Linda Greengrass, Bank Street College Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A Canadian novelist (Redwork, 1990) pays tribute to Amherst's great poet. Dickinson's new neighbor, a little girl, tells the story: a poetic missive--dried flowers with a plea to the child's mother to ``Revive me with your music. It would be spring to me''--is slipped through the mail slot. Mother is reluctant, but Father senses the quality behind ``the Myth,'' explaining that poetry is like music: ``...sometimes a magic happens and it seems the music starts to breathe. It sends a shiver through you.'' When mother and child pay their call, Emily flees upstairs to listen to the piano from the landing, where the child joins her for a brief exchange of words and impromptu gifts--the lily bulbs she has brought for a precious bit of paper with a handwritten poem. The story is very quiet but beautifully crafted, with a clarity of observation and a delicately tart edge that creditably emulate Emily herself. Cooney's exquisite mixed- media art is perfect for the 19th-century New England setting; her beautifully balanced compositions are enriched with charming domestic detail and just a hint of satirical humor. An evocative glimpse of a formal society that will seem quite foreign to most children today, and of a mysterious, oddly independent woman who fascinated her own contemporaries as much as she does ours. (Picture book. 5+)
