Frances Schoonmaker Bolin

I am usually quite skeptical when it comes to reading poetry out of books, especially when all of the poetry is from the same poet. I am very happy to say that I loved this book though. I found it very interesting how the illustrations interacted with the poems that were written in a completely different time period. I also enjoyed how the language that she used throughout each of her poems was very direct and to the point. The illustrations were very impressive to start out with. From the get go, the very first poem was one of inspiration and hope and the illustrations only enhanced the feeling that the poet established. On page 8, the poem was presented at the top while the almost whimsical painting of a tree took up a massive amount of space. I really liked that the words did not make the illustrations take a back seat but only enhanced the feeling that was being evoked. The second reason that I liked this poetry book was because of the direct language used. In her poem, I started early, took my dog on page 11, she used the phrase, “The mermaids in the basement came out to look at me.” The extremely direct imagery that this presents is astounding. I could almost see the mermaids swimming from the depths of the ocean to meet this character.
The main message of this book was to show the audience that there is so much around us in nature that we can sometimes find ourselves finding hidden delights in unexpected places. I love the depth that this book reaches with poetry telling different stories each and every page. I found myself being able to relate more than not.… (more)