Poetry...

I have admitted before on this blog that I am a big fan of fantasy, but I have also loved lots of books in other genres (as you should be able to tell from all of my previous posts).  There is one genre that I am not fond of...poetry.  In fact the only poems I do like are the more light-hearted children's poems such as Love that Dog and Hate that Cat by Sharon Creech or any of the many Shel Silverstein books.  I say all this to make it clear that my anti-poetry bias was in full force when I began Nancy Willard's A Visit to William Blakes Inn Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers.

In this book all kinds of fanciful characters make their way through the inn and have all sorts of adventures.  Author Nancy Willard loves the poet William Blake and this book is inspired by his poetry.  This may be my anti-poetry bias coming through but I did not care for this book.  I just find poetry hard to relate to and it was difficult for me to get any sense of story in this book.  Poetry is a much beloved genre by many people, and if you are one of those people than you should definitely read this book.

That being said the illustrations, done by husband and wife team Alice and Martin Provensen, are simply delightful.   They are perfectly crafted and really create the feel of an old English inn.  This book won the Newbery but it is also a Caldecott honor book. It didn't quite win the medal, that years award went to Jumanji. 

Though I couldn't relate to the poems the illustrations really brought the poems to life.  There is wit and charm in the poems which my...tenuous...relationship with poetry made difficult to see, but the illustrations made me want to look deeper.  The text and illustrations go together perfectly each complimenting and enhancing the other.

I don't like poetry but the reading specialist part of me is thrilled that poetry was included among the Newbery winners. It encourages kids to try something new, and it is so important for students to be exposed to a broad variety of genres. It helps to counteract the biases of people like me.

Trying something new...that's kids stuff.