Every Saturday, I host a feature called Kid Konnection -- a regular weekend feature about anything related to children's books. This week I'm going to share with you a poetry picture book.
Based on this simple statement by Leonardo, eighteen poets have written new poems inspired by some of the most popular works in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum. The collection represents a wide range of poets and artists, including acclaimed children’s poets Marilyn Singer, Alma Flor Alda, and Carole Boston Weatherford and popular artists such as Mary Cassatt, Fernando Botero, Winslow Homer, and Utagawa Hiroshige.
Accompanying the artwork and specially commissioned poems is an introduction, biographies of each poet and artist, and an index. -- Abrams
WORLD MAKE WAY: NEW POEMS INSPIRED BY ART FROM THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins is such a unique concept for a picture book. It is first and foremost a book of poetry; however, since it's inspired from art from The Met, it also has beautiful artwork. The combination of poetry and art make this an outstanding picture book for young readers.
Fans of art and poetry will recognize many of the individuals whose work is featured in this book. (I am far from an expert in either field, and even I knew a few!) Some of the more acclaimed people in this picture book include Marilyn Singer and Alma Flor Ada, as well as Mary Cassatt and Winslow Homer.
WORLD MAKE WAY is setup with a photograph of a famous piece of artwork in the Metropolitan Museum of Art on one page and a poem that relates to the art on the corresponding page. Everything about this book is so pretty --from the artwork, to the poems, to the thick pages with backgrounds that match the artwork!
There is no doubt that this is one beautiful book, but it's also extremely educational. Besides offering a glimpse into art and poetry, there are also biographies of each poet and artist featured as well as an interesting foreword.
I think WORLD MAKE WAY is a very special picture book. Highly recommended.
Thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy of this book.
If you'd like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children's books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, please leave a comment as well as a link below with your name/blog name and the title of the book! Feel free to grab the little button too!
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2 comments:
Vance loved poems and rhyming verse when he was young so this would have been a great way to expose him to art as well.
What a neat way to introduce poetry AND art to children and encourage an appreciation for it. The only poetry I remember being introduced to at a young age was Shel Silverstein's.
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