The Ballad of Biddy Early [Hardcover]

Nancy Willard (Author), Barry Moser (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 27, 1989

A collection of poems about Biddy Early, the Wise Woman of Clare, and her animal, human, and supernatural associates.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This glorious collection of poems, songs, limericks and ballads celebrates the memory of Biddy Early, a 19th-century Irish peasant woman blessed with the power of healing. In a mere 15 selections, Willard's words weave an indelible portrait any biographer would be proud to claim. The legendary "wise woman of Clare" is heard about from humans and animals alike: in "A Noisy Story of Honor and Glory," Honor the fox confides to Glory the lark, "I hear Biddy's house is as broad as an ark . . . and even the crickets are watered and fed." A gypsy woman tells of consulting Biddy to heal a lame pony in "How the Queen of the Gypsies Met Trouble-And-Pain"; the curse invoked herein is positively blood-curdling. In "Her Friends Remember Biddy Early," there are several grim tasks associated with the grand lady's passing; it is agreed that Biddy's chronicler will be the seven-toed cat. These vignettes come in all sizes as well: in the long narrative verse "How Biddy Hid Mick the Moonlighter's Sleep in Her Sleeve," Biddy gives aid to an admitted murderer, while "The Cat's Second Song" tells in five lines of a bear, ridden by Biddy, that "ate candles and hay / till it twinkled away / down a tunnel of emerald air." Moser's paintings possess a haunting, brooding quality that further illuminates this unique character's mystique. By turns comic, tragic, irreverent, this heartfelt story--for it is a story, despite its fragmented, poetic form--cannot fail to impress and move. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4 Up-- These 15 poems praise Biddy Early, the wise woman of Ireland's County Clare who lived from 1798 to 1874. Beginning with the ballad of the title, Willard invites listeners in with limericks, songs, and poems. The poems tell of magic and mystery, witchcraft, the supernatural, and murder; how nature and animals revered Biddy Early; how she read the future and cured illness. There are limericks from her cat, a song from her speckled hen, and a final remembrance from her friends. Meter, rhyme, structure, and rhythm vary throughout. Each of Moser's luminous watercolors focuses on a single element; his irregular rectangles rest on white pages and play with light and dark. They are exquisitely composed of haunting images, showing thick-walled cottages, gleaming Irish pipes, eerie cats. Like A Visit to William Blake's Inn (HBJ, 1981) , this is not for everyone, but the rich word play and imagery of the poetry and the power of the art should thrill readers who seek enchantment. --Leda Schubert, Vermont Department of Education, Montpelier
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Alfred A Knopf; 1st edition (September 27, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394884140
• ISBN-13: 978-0394884141
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,610,969 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, challenging poetry for children and adults, December 14, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ballad of Biddy Early (Hardcover)

Nancy Willard is probably best known as a children's poet for her justly celebrated William Blake's Inn, but to my taste this book surpasses the better-known one. Like William Blake's Inn, this book consists of a cycle of poems, most of them roughly in ballad style, some mainly narrative and some mainly lyrical, some more whimsical than others, some quite complex. The central character is a "wise woman of Clare" who communes with animals and helps those in need (including a gypsy queen and a poor man who has killed his landlord). The poems are far from simple, but they are consistently affecting and satisfying both to children and to adults. I have loved reading it to my children, and I have found it to be a wonderful introduction to the pleasures of "real" poetry for them - this is real poetry, not doggerel at all, although written to be appreciated by children. I wish I could find more copies in print.