By Carter.
Have you heard of the American poet William Carlos Williams? Truly, I hadn’t until I read this book, A River of Words – a masterpiece by author Jen Bryant and illustrator Melissa Sweet. And inside, I found a linguistic kindred and a fascinating story about a man who was both a poet and a pediatrician. Melissa Sweet’s Caldecott Honor-winning illustrations are spectacular collages made up of found book covers and their endpapers. It’s a gorgeous work celebrating the written word, created by those same bound treasures. Stunning, right?
P.S. — Melissa Sweet is my absolute favorite illustrator, and it took all the restraint in the world to not show you every single page! There’s one at the end that will make you gasp and pause and thank your stars that you are seeing such a breathtaking picture!
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I love William Carlos Williams. He has a way with words. I have to buy this for the house AND the boys’ library at school. pure loveliness. xo
he has always been one of my favorites–I’ll have to track this book down.
William Carlos Williams’ poems are a staple for English majors. That red wheelbarrow! This book looks wonderful…I will definitely check it out.
This book looks fabulous! I haven’t thought of William Carlos Williams in years.
Wow, I’m definitely checking this out. I love Melissa Sweet’s illustrations. Her book Balloons Over Broadway is one of my all-time favorite picture books.
Mine too! She has some new ones out this year which I’m already in line for.
Great book feature. This is one of my favorite children’s books! I love the artwork, too. Have you read The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon, by Jacqueline Davies? It’s inspiring, too.
William Carlos Williams is one of my favorites… you know- the one about the plums? Gets me every time. This book must come into my home!
Funny, I just looked up a couple of William Carlos Williams’ poems this week. one of my favorites from my college English studies. I also wanted to let you know that Mac Barnett (Extra Yarn) just visited my kids’ elementary school. He is absolutely charming, hilarious, and of course, super talented. His latest book is called Chloe and the Lion. We also like Guess Again.
I adore Mac Barnett! Hearing him read Extra Yarn at a release party was magical. And he’s just so stinking adorable, too!
Oh, I can’t believe this! I am inescapably enamored with WCW’s Plum poem…it’s been around the block several times, but there’s no poem like that for effect. I think we discussed it in every poetry class I took…and that’s a lot of classes. That there is a children’s book about WCW! I’ll be buying. Thanks for the tip!
This is a favorite of mine, too. I adore WCW and Melissa Sweet is also a favorite illustrator of mine. Jen Bryant has such a gift for taking snippets from life, turning them into biographies and making them accessible to children. Thanks for highlighting such a great book.
This is a great book. I’ve enjoyed reading it with my girls. The illustrations are fantastic. If you like this book then you may also like This is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Pamela Zagarensk,i which was inspired by the William Carlos Williams poem plum poem This is Just to Say.
I just picked this book up on Friday after finishing a poetry unit with my students. Love it!
Thank you for posting about A River of Words!
William Carlos Williams is such an inspiration. This book was a turning point for me artistically.
I wanted to share two other titles inspired by WCWilliams: LOVE THAT DOG by Sharon Creech and THIS IS JUST TO SAY: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness by Joyce Sidman. These three books make a fun trio.
Thank you again for gracing our book on your lovely blog.
I didn’t realize that about LOVE THAT DOG! I love that book. Thrilled that you stopped by, Melissa!