Call Me Marianne [Hardcover]

Jen Bryant (Author), David Johnson (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Are you a scientist? I ask. Marianne stops writing and looks up. No, Im not a scientist - Im a poet. Oh, I reply. Ive never met a poet before. What, exactly, does a poet do? I ask her. For me, being a poet begins with watching. On a trip to the zoo, young Jonathan returns a lost hat to Marianne, a woman who wears all black and scribbles notes in a little book. When Marianne invites him to tour the zoo with her, Jonathan makes a new friend and learns that he too can write poetry. With lighthearted illustrations and a poetically told story, this picture book about poet Marianne Moore offers readers a glimpse of the writing process and encourages them to become writers too.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4–Bryant has created a fictional chance encounter between a boy and an elderly Marianne Moore as they ride a Brooklyn bus to the zoo in the 1940s. While Moore is the focus of the story, Jonathan is the narrator, and his words have a poetic quality. The poets hat looks like a piece of black cloth or a shingle thats blown off a roof and the words she has written in her journal line up in rows like obedient soldiers. Moore points out, I see that you and I think alike, a statement that refers to more than just the fact that they both chose the same Saturday destination. Jonathan asks, What, exactly, does a poet do? and Moore explains that her work begins by watching, writing words down, and rearranging them to sound just right. While this description may be accurate, children may not understand exactly what it means. The mottled and muted watercolor illustrations lend a soft, nostalgic feel to the book and complement the storys quiet tone. While this title may be helpful to introduce children to the process of poetry and, to a lesser degree, the poet, this tale is too slight and subdued to appeal to a general audience.–Carol L. MacKay, Camrose Public Library, Alberta, Canada
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

K-Gr. 3. A boy spends the day with poet Marianne Moore in this quiet story set in yesteryear Brooklyn. Young Jonathan meets Moore when he returns her distinctive, black tri-cornered hat, blown off by wind at the zoo. She introduces herself as a poet, and as they look at the animals, Jonathan watches with great interest as Marianne writes down her observations of each aniimal. Moore answers Jonathan's questions about what a poet does: her job "begins by watching," and she can work on a single poem for an entire year. Finally, Marianne presents Jonathan with an empty notebook and encourages him to watch and record what he sees. Bryant's spare, simple words read almost like poetry in their attention to sound and rhythm, and Johnson's ink-and-watercolor images, rendered in his signature dusky, sand-blasted palette, reinforce the story's quiet mood while keeping the focus on the language. This may be too subdued and contemplative for story hours, and the images too pale to show to a crowd. But it's a fine choice for sharing with small groups exploring poetry, and it may inspire children to value their observations and write their own lines about what they see. A one-page biography of Moore closes. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers; Library Binding edition (February 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802852424
• ISBN-13: 978-0802852427
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 8.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,583,078 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jen Bryant writes picture books, novels and poems for readers of all ages. Her biographical picture book: A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, illustrated by Melissa Sweet,received a Caldecott Honor award and her historical novel in verse Ringside 1925: Views from the Scopes Trial is an Oprah Recommended Book for ages 12 & up. Other titles include Pieces of Georgia (IRA Young Adult Choices Pick), The Trial (about the 1935 Lindbergh baby kidnapping trial), a 1960's-era novel Kaleidoscope Eyes (a Jr. Library Guild selection), Georgia's Bones, celebrating the creative vision of artist Georgia O'Keeffe, Music for the End of Time, based on a true story about WWII, and Abe's Fish: A Boyhood Tale of Abraham Lincoln.

Jen has taught writing and Children's Literature at West Chester University and Bryn Mawr College and gives lectures, workshops and school presentations throughout the year. She lives with her family in Chester County, PA.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not interesting, April 29, 2009

By 

Shannon M. Mcgee "Confuzzled Books" (PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Call Me Marianne (Hardcover)

This picture book is about a little boy meeting poet Marianne Moore at at a zoo. I found it less interesting than most picture books. It just seemed a little boring. The boy meets Marianne after she loses her hat. She then walks with him through the zoo and tells him about being a poet. But there was nothing fun about that, except maybe that they were at a zoo. Even that seemed tedious, though. One of Jen Bryant's better book is Abe's Fish, about Abraham Lincoln, which I reviewed also.