2 April 2020 EMILY WRITES: EMILY DICKINSON AND HER POETIC BEGINNINGS by Jane Yolen and Christine Davenier, ill., Henry Holt/Christy Ottaviano, February 2020, 40p., ISBN: 978-1-250-12808-0

“‘Frog and bog,’ Emily repeats,

licking each word.

They taste as sweet as the honey

the bee bears away.

The frog poem sounds even better this time.

Then Emily goes downstairs quietly 

so as not to annoy Mother,

who makes her feel rainy.

Out she heads into the spring garden,

for she has not told her poem to the flowers, yet.

There are roses still curled in their buds,

seas of daffodils,

small presents of crocuses.

Emily smiles.

The garden makes her feel all sunny,

like a poet.”

I received a memorable introduction to Emily Dickinson, in junior high, in the late 1960s. It was courtesy of a performing arts curriculum enrichment (PACE) program that brought performers into our township’s public schools. So it was that I experienced actress Julie Harris on our auditorium stage, reciting Dickinson poetry. This was nearly a decade before Harris brought the Dickinson role to Broadway, starring in “The Belle of Amherst,” a one-woman play for which she won a Tony Award.

In EMILY WRITES: EMILY DICKINSON AND HER POETIC BEGINNINGS, author and poet Jane Yolen utilizes scattered clues we have about Emily Dickinson’s early years to imagine a lyrical afternoon’s tale about four-year-old Emily playing with and delighting over language. “Frog” and “bog,” of course, are a pair of the words in one of Dickinson’s most popular poems, “I’m Nobody! Who are you?”

“She thinks about the real and the unreal.

Perhaps poems are the in-between,

just as she is in between Austin and Vinnie.”

Seeing young Emily creating and sharing a simple three-word poem, and musing about the nature of poetry, will undoubtedly inspire some of today’s young lovers of words to try cultivating their own poetic seedlings.

What I particularly like about Christine Davenier’s eye-catching multimedia illustrations are the expressive looks on young Emily’s face. Page after page, they bring this character to life.

The story is followed by an extensive author’s note that explains how Dickinson, little-known in her lifetime, came to be “America’s most famous female poet.”

The book concludes with several snippets of Dickinson poetry that relate to the story.

Regardless of whether or not a particular young person grasps the historical and biographical context of the story, EMILY WRITES will enchant and stimulate young imaginations. 

And remember, teachers and librarians: For many, like me back in junior high, listening to poetry well-recited is a memorable experience. Think about memorizing a few pieces to share with students.

Richie Partington, MLIS

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