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A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams.
Bryant, Jen (author).
Illustrated by Melissa Sweet.
Aug. 2008. 34p. Eerdmans, hardcover, $17 (9780802853028). Grades 2-5. 811.
REVIEW.
First published August, 2008 (Booklist).
Bryant follows Call Me Marianne (2006), about Marianne Moore, with another picture-book introduction to a poet. Here, she focuses on William Carlos Williams, and she begins by suggesting that Williams’ childhood love of nature inspired the free forms and rhythms he chose for his first adolescent poems. During his adult medical career, Williams “scribbled a few lines . . . wherever he could,” composing his enduring, beloved body of work. The free-verse line breaks in Bryant’s text sometimes feel arbitrary, but her simple, spare language matches her subject well. Sweet’s mixed-media collages will draw varying age groups. Younger children will connect with the childlike drawings of figures, while older kids (and even young-adult art students) will appreciate the artfully layered paper compositions that include lines of Williams’ poetry. A comprehensive time line of Williams’ life targeted toward older kids (and teachers), suggestions for further reading, and a selection of Williams’ poems close this inspiring title that, like Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan’s Action Jackson (2002), shows that an artist’s work begins with deep, quiet observation. — Gillian Engberg
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