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    The Children's Book Review

    Ivy in Bloom: The Poetry of Spring from Great Poets and Writers of the Past: Vanita Oelschlager

    TCBR ContributorBy TCBR Contributor2 Mins Read Ages 4-8 Books with Girl Characters Cultural Wisdom Poetry & Rhyme
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    By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
    Published: April 4, 2009

    Ivy in Bloom: The Poetry of Spring from Great Poets & Writers from the Past

    Ivy in Bloom

    by Vanita Oelschlager (author) and Kristin Blackwood (illustrator)

    Reading level: Ages 4-8

    Hardcover: 40 pages

    Publisher: Vanitabooks (April 1, 2009)

    Vanita Oelschlager’s book, Ivy in Bloom, is the perfect choice for the month of April. It introduces children to some of the greatest poets and writers– Dickinson, Longfellow, Browning, Wordsworth, Cummings, A.A. Milne, and Frost — and tells a tale of the change of seasons, winter to spring, through the eyes of a young girl — whose name is Ivy. Vanita has used her own talents as a poet and combined them with excerpts from classic poetry. All of the excerpts are listed in a bibliography at the end of the book, here are two of my favorites:

    e.e. cummings wrote:

    “Spring

    when the world is mud-luscious.

    Spring

    when the world is puddle-wonderful.”

    A.A. Milne wrote:

    “She wore her yellow sun-bonnet

    she wore her greenest gown;”

    The artwork is a brilliant combination of techniques used in the following way: traditional block prints cut in linoleum, and printed in black on white stock; the images were converted to digital format through flatbed scanning; watercolor layers were added using Corel Painter, and Adobe Photoshop, computer software for digital illustration. The imagery cleverly changes from dark and gloomy winter scenes to bright spring scenes bursting with color. Kristin Blackwood’s illustrations are precious and unique — Ivy is as cute as a button. A wonderful book all-round.

    http://www.vanitabooks.com/images/Header_IvyInBloom.jpg

    “All net profits from this book will be donated to charitable organizations, with a gentle preference towards serving people with Vanita’s husband’s disease — multiple sclerosis.”

    Links: Vanita Books.

    A review by Heartland Reviews.

    What to Read Next:

    1. Review: Bonyo Bonyo: The True Story of a Brave Boy from Kenya
    2. My Writing and Reading Life with Jennifer Berne, Author of On Wings of Words: The Extraordinary Life of Emily Dickinson.
    3. Birds of a Feather: A Book of Idioms and Silly Pictures by Vanita Oelschlager
    4. Come to the Castle: A Visit to a Castle in Thirteenth-Century England

    *Disclosure: Please note that this post may contain affiliate links that share some commission. Rest assured that these will not affect the cost of any products and services promoted here. Our team always provides their authentic opinion in all content published on this site.

    A.A. Milne e.e. Cummings Kristin Blackwood Vanita Oelschlager
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    The Children’s Book Review, named one of the ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children) Great Web Sites for Kids, is a resource devoted to children’s literacy. We publish reviews and book lists of the best books for kids of all ages. We also produce author and illustrator interviews and share literacy based articles that help parents, grandparents, teachers and librarians to grow readers. This article was written and provided by one of TCBR's regular contributors.

    2 Comments

    1. SkylarKD on April 19, 2009 10:47 am

      This book looks really amazing!!
      I love the illustrations, and the concept of using segments of famous poems. Thanks for the recommendation! 🙂

      Reply
    2. The Children's Book Review Bianca Schulze on April 20, 2009 9:19 pm

      You’re welcome! It’s a lovely book with great illustrations.

      Reply
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