POETRY FRIDAY A garden of poetic delights

A Poet's Bird Garden
by Laura Nyman Montenegro
Farrar, Strauss & Giroux

I had the pleasure of meeting Laura at our very first kidlitosphere conference back in October, where we had an eye-opening chat about what it's like to be both author and illustrator.

I envied her ability to see a book from the first sparkle of inspiration through the many drafts of verses to the final jot of color, knowing that every comma and brush stroke flows solely and completely from her vision.

I took home a copy of this book but somehow didn't get to review it until now, when its bright cover and amusing premise reminded me of my long-ago promise to review it.

In it, a girl opens the door to her pet bird Chirpie's cage, and it flies into a tree. Whoops. Time to call--well, a bunch of poets. Who else? Poets do seem to inspire loopy logic, as in this book from France.

The Poets try to lure the bird back with yoga poses or bird songs, finally deciding to create a serene, bird-friendly "poet garden"--but will Chirpie take the bait?

We must try to imagine
the mind of the bird,
complex and quick-witted,
quite brilliant, I've heard.

If I were Chirpie
fancy and free,
what beauty would beckon me
down from the tree?

Laura states on the back flap she drew inspiration from Vincent Van Gogh's The Poet's Garden (there's even a character named Vincent), but her palette is mostly subdued and warm, though borrowing perhaps more from Matisse with his tilted picture planes and love of patterns and texture.

The poets are a nice mix of ethnicities, without drawing attention to that fact. She uses rhyme and meter when it suits the narrative, though not always consistently, and most often breaking free when Chirpie remains stubbornly up her tree (perhaps symbolically?).

Rating: *\*\*\

Comments

[Elaine Magliaro]

Anne,

This sounds like my kind of book. Thanks for the review.

[TadMack]

I really need to read more poetry for MG and younger. Thanks for sharing this one.

[Kelly Fineman]

I've been hoping to get my hands on a copy of this one. It sounds delightful.

Did you see Mordecai Gerstein's latest offering, an interpretation/illustration of Prévert's How to Paint the Portrait of a Bird? It seems like it might pair nicely with this book.

[Anne]

No, I haven't, Kelly. Thanks for pointing me to it!

(and thanks everyone else, too!)