Readers have already seen several books reviewed on this blog which had poetry as a significant theme. See, for example, Marshmallow’s reviews of How to Find What You’re Not Looking For by Veera Hiranandani and Starfish by Lisa Fipps. However, we have only reviewed one full book of poetry so far (A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein); that is, if we do not count the humorous BrainJuice American History: Fresh Squeezed! by Carol Diggory Shields. Today, we finally begin to remedy this situation. Below, Sprinkles writes about a book that the book bunnies household read together many times with much joy: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, an illustrated children’s book presenting the famed poem of Robert Frost with the same name, published first exactly a hundred years ago, in 1923.
[If you have any recommendations of poetry books and such for young ones, please let us know. Sprinkles is planning to put together a more extensive post on poetry in the near future, and your input would be much appreciated.]
A lot of people read or hear about the American poet Robert Frost some time in their school years. And, originally published in 1923, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” might be his most famous poem; it is so famous that it has its own Wikipedia entry! Especially the last stanza:
The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.
has inspired and held the imagination of many people since then.
The simple words and sentences used through the poem make it quite accessible, and the iambic tetrameter (where each line of the poem is made up of four syllable-pairs with one emphasized and the other not) as well as the simple rhyme scheme used (AABA BBCB CCDC DDDD) make it melodic and easy to recite. So it is a natural choice for the text of a children’s book. The book I am writing about today is just that: Frost’s poem makes up the whole text, and the illustrations by Susan Jeffers complete the rest.
First published in 1978, the book uses a two-page spread for more or less every pair of lines from the poem. So you often get a full picture for each complete sentence of the poem.
The pictures, illustrated by the established illustrator Susan Jeffers, are mostly black and white, with only a few color touches on each. The sparse coloring directs our attention to the quiet and serene whiteness of the snowy woods. The way the poem is spread out through the pages allows us to read it more slowly and savor it.
The poem is lovely, and it is a joy to share it with young bunnies. In today’s busy world, we often miss out on finding those moments of joy in little things, like reading a well-worn poem with a young one.
Some might like to hear the poet read it himself:
I also like this version, read by Susan Sarandon: https://vimeo.com/172768932. Someone uploaded a version to Youtube, too:
Sarandon reads the poem most exquisitely. And at the end of this video there are a few children describing what they think poetry is. So it is definitely worth a watch.
Incidentally, this second video was created as part of a larger project focusing on introducing young ones to classical poetry. You can find some more information about it here: http://www.amyschatzproductions.com/classical-baby-im-grown-up-now-the-poetry-show. Another one of my favorites from this series is “How Do I Love Thee?” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, read, I think, by Gwyneth Paltrow:
No matter how much I like these videos however, I still prefer reading poetry together with little ones myself. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, written by Robert Frost and illustrated by Susan Jeffers, gave me many opportunities to snuggle with one of my little bunnies and read it together. My copy was secondhand at least, and it was already somewhat worn out when I held it in my paws for the first time. The book has led to many joyful times nonetheless. I encourage all other adult bunnies who love poetry to find ways of sharing it with your little ones.
BookBunnies 