Winter Poems [Library Binding]

Barbara Rogasky (Author, Editor), Trina Schart Hyman (Illustrator)

Book Description

The illustrations of a Caldecott Medalist are combined with a seasonal selection of poems by twenty-five celebrated writers including William Shakespeare, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Robert Frost, Richard Wright, and Edgar Allen Poe. BOMC.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This elegant volume presents a "universe of sky and snow" (John Greenleaf Whittier) in poetry and art that will warm the coldest heart. Each poem and its accompanying illustration is set in a milk-white square and surrounded by a varied background illustration of the house and countryside where Rogasky and Hyman themselves live. Progressing from the first signs of winter, when the wild geese fly with "summer sun... on their wings,/ [and] winter in their cry" (Rachel Field), to near-spring, when there is a "whiff on the wind... of perhaps blossoms, perhaps green/ grass" (Carl Sandburg), Rogasky's selection of 25 poems is wide-ranging, including Shakespeare's "When icicles hang by the wall" and excerpts of longer poems by Wordsworth and Hardy, as well as works by Richard Wright, Sara Teasdale and Robert Frost. Caldecott Medalist Hyman bases her exquisite paintings on "real things," according to Rogasky's introduction, which further piques readers' interest by identifying the relatives and family pets featured in the art-Rogasky herself appears as the Bard's "Greasy Joan." Like sun glinting on snow, this volume is dazzling. Ages 7-up.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 3-6, younger for reading aloud. Beautifully designed and illustrated in a picture book format, this short anthology of poetry celebrates winter itself, not the holidays that fall within the season. The selection is eclectic, ranging from ancient Japanese verse through Shakespeare to Wallace Stevens, Richard Wright, Ogden Nash, and David Kherdian. While much of the poetry was not originally written for children and some of it is excerpted from longer works, the clarity of concrete images and the sounds of the words make the verse accessible to young people, particularly when it is read aloud. The background of each double-page spread is the same country road, fields, and farm seen in a variety of weathers and times of day and night. A white box is centered on each page, and within these boxes appear the poems and illustrations related to individual poems. Hyman's evocative line-and-watercolor artwork depicts the quiet beauty of winter landscapes and interior scenes as well as the child's experience of winter. Carolyn Phelan

Product Details

• Library Binding: 40 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Trade (October 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590428721
• ISBN-13: 978-0590428729
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 9.1 x 2.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #510,328 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an evocative combination of text and art, December 4, 2006

By 

A. L. Goddard (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Winter Poems (Paperback)

If you know the illustrations of Trina Schart Hyman, you won't be surprised by the utter beauty of this book -- but what makes it really stand out is the quality of the poetry selections in tandem with the lovely layout and artwork. This is truly a work of art in every sense of the word, literary and visual.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An essential, like Ezra Jack Keats, Shakespeare, Virginia Lee Burton, the Greek myths, and the Bible, May 2, 2011

By 

Erica Bell (Pacific Northwest) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Winter Poems (Paperback)

This thin oversize book---bought on a whim when my four were young, because I'd grown up with Hyman's illustrations--became a staple of my kids' childhood. They pulled it out in October, in lovely anticipation of coming snow. We read it in spring, as we prepared to face the summer's heat. In fact there were years when this book was never put away at all.

It's charm is not just one of selection, illustration or layout, but all three and much more, too. Barbara Rogasky selected modern and old works of poetry both nonsensical and profound and, married to Hyman's wonderful watercolors portraying life in their chaotic, shared Oregon house, these works just come alive. In fact an adult, too, can easily sink into the big, crowded Hyman/Rogasky farmhouse right along with their children. This is a purchase that parents will want to keep for their grandchildren. Mine stands by.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quiet, white poems on a quiet, solemn day, October 9, 2009

By 

Judy K. Polhemus "Book Collector" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Winter Poems (Paperback)

I hardly ever pick up a book of poems any more. But today during the last period of class on Friday, during what we call exploratory for middle school students, during which time six students were helping process books for checking out, "Winter Poems" came through our assembly.

The cover illustration by Trina Schart Hyman caught my eye--fat snowflakes falling straight down, brightly clad children going obout the business of playing. I thought it would be silly poetry, but listen to this one, so mysterious:

"Cat, if you go outdoors you must walk in the snow.
You will come back with little white shoes on your feet....
....
I will bring you a saucer of milk like a marguerite...
stay with me, Cat. Outdoors the wild winds blow.

Outdoors, the wild winds blow, Mistress, and dark is the night,
strange voices cry in the trees, intoning strange lore....
Mistress, there are portents abroad of magic and might,
and things that are yet to be done. Open the door!
by Elizabeth Coatsworth

That last line took me so by surprise!

Or this wonderful descriptor:
"Winter dark comes early
mixing afternoon
and night.
Soon
there's a comma of a moon
....
by Lilian Moore

or this one by Wallace Stevens:
"Among twenty snowy mountains,
The only moving thing
Was the eye of the blackbird.
....
It was evening all afternoon.
It was snowing,
And it was going to snow.
The blackbird sat in the cedar-limbs.
by Wallace Stevens

And Sara Teasdale, and Emily Dickinson, and Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg--many of the greats are represented by this thin volume of winter poems. So pull up a chair, pour a cup of tea, wrap yourself in a soft blanket, and open a book of winter poems. Can you feel it, hear the crunch of snow underfoot, smell the crisp air?