DeAnn Campbell recommends Goldfinches by Mary Oliver with art by Melissa Sweet.
April is Poetry Month.
There is something about poetry that makes me slow down. Breathe. Notice. Savor. Reflect. Be human.
I love poetry. I love the way every word must be so precise and hold a world of meaning.
Poets are master wordsmiths. It is hard to choose a favorite poet, a favorite poem. I certainly cannot. But there are poets I love. This month, there is a poet I love and an artist I love and together, there is now a new children’s book. It is beautiful.
This month, may I suggest Goldfinches by Mary Oliver with art by Melissa Sweet.
This book is a single poem, by the master poet Mary Oliver, set to the vibrant, whimsical art of the beloved children’s book illustrator, Melissa Sweet.
This book features the simplicity of a single poem in a fully illustrated picture book. In it, we get to savor the lines and explore the accompanying art. Mary Oliver’s line “where thistles rise / out of the marshlands of spring, and spring open” are accompanied by Sweet’s bright pink drawings of spear thistle, accompanied by its scientific name.
In the pages, we watch the goldfinches “wait for midsummer, for the long days.” We watch them on the page, “build their nests and lay their pale-blue eggs” on spreads with colorful palettes, wispy spider webs, and carefully drawn nesting materials.
We see the goldfinches soaring, flitting, perching, and nesting. As we turn the pages, we spend time with the goldfinches, the wind, the darkening sky, a clutch of eggs, dandelion seeds, and a few cautious observers. We become one with them, watching.
We read Oliver’s lines: “Is it necessary to say any more? Have you heard them singing in the wind, above the final fields? Have you ever been so happy in your life?”
This book is a work of beauty. It will give you pause. It may take your breath away. And maybe, like the goldfinch hatchlings, it will cause you to “love the world.”
