Book Descriptions
for Emily by Michael Bedard and Barbara Cooney
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
A small girl, fearful and yet fascinated by the reclusive woman who lives in the yellow house across the street from her, asks to go along with her mother when she is invited to come play the piano for "the Mystery." Although the shy hostess never shows herself during their visit, the child creeps up the stairs and encounters her sitting on a chair in the upstairs corridor. A lyrical story, based on an imagined meeting between Emily Dickinson and a neighbor child, is exquisitely illustrated with softly textured acrylic and pastel paintings on China silk. (Ages 5-8)
CCBC Choices 1992. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 1992. Used with permission.
From the Publisher
From Michael Bedard and two-time Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator Barbara Cooney comes a story about American poet Emily Dickinson and the young girl who befriends her.
What if your neighbor were the reclusive poet Emily Dickinson? And what if one day she sent a letter inviting your mother to pay her a visit? A little girl who lives across the street from the mysterious Emily gets a chance to meet the poet when her mother goes to play the piano for her. There, the girl sneaks a gift up to Emily, who listens from the landing, and in return, Emily gives the girl a precious gift of her own—the gift of poetry.
“This fictionalized encounter . . . is, like a Dickinson sonnet, a quiet gem: unassuming upon first glance, it is in fact deeply lustrous, with new facets becoming apparent the longer one looks..”—Publishers Weekly
“In this imaginative and unusual picture book . . . the language of the text is lyrical . . . The illustrations convey a sense of place and time long ago, from drawing rooms to clothing. This is a picture book to read aloud and share…[Readers] will find that Bedard's charming story demystifies the person and offers some understanding of her odd behavior.”—School Library Journal
"Two time Caldecott award winning illustrator Barbara Cooney's richly detailed oil paintings enhance the moving story of Dickinson's extraordinary private life.”—Children’s Literature
What if your neighbor were the reclusive poet Emily Dickinson? And what if one day she sent a letter inviting your mother to pay her a visit? A little girl who lives across the street from the mysterious Emily gets a chance to meet the poet when her mother goes to play the piano for her. There, the girl sneaks a gift up to Emily, who listens from the landing, and in return, Emily gives the girl a precious gift of her own—the gift of poetry.
“This fictionalized encounter . . . is, like a Dickinson sonnet, a quiet gem: unassuming upon first glance, it is in fact deeply lustrous, with new facets becoming apparent the longer one looks..”—Publishers Weekly
“In this imaginative and unusual picture book . . . the language of the text is lyrical . . . The illustrations convey a sense of place and time long ago, from drawing rooms to clothing. This is a picture book to read aloud and share…[Readers] will find that Bedard's charming story demystifies the person and offers some understanding of her odd behavior.”—School Library Journal
"Two time Caldecott award winning illustrator Barbara Cooney's richly detailed oil paintings enhance the moving story of Dickinson's extraordinary private life.”—Children’s Literature
Publisher description retrieved from Google Books.