18 August 2015 FAMOUS by Naomi Shihab Nye and Lisa Desimini, Wings Press, September 2015, 32p., ISBN: 978-1-60940-449-9

“I’ll make you glad, you got me in with everything I do

And I’ll defend until the end the old red, white, and blue”

--The Byrds, “I Wanna Grow Up to be a Politician”

These days Donald Trump is famous. Perhaps, you wish you were Donald Trump so you could be famous in that way.

I just searched online for lists of people who are famous in the manner that we traditionally think of “famous.” Time magazine conveniently organizes their lists into categories of Leaders and Revolutionaries; Artists and Entertainers; Builders and Titans; Scientists and Thinkers; and Heroes and Icons.

In FAMOUS, Naomi Shihab Nye has envisioned “famous” in a whole new light. Perplexed by having young people ask her whether she was famous, she contemplated the concept of famousness and has created a whole new meaning for it in this poem. Nye sees “famous” as being relational, of importance on an individual basis where there is an impact of one person or thing upon another.

“...I want to be famous to shuffling men

who smile while crossing streets,

sticky children in grocery lines,

famous as the one who smiled back…”

Previously published in 1995, as part of Nye’s poetry collection Words Under the Words: Selected Poems, this poem has now been transformed into a stunning picture book.

For me, “Famous” is such an inspirational poem. It has me wondering how I might have an impact upon those whose paths I cross. Will they be glad to again see me coming their way? It causes me ponder what I might aspire to be known for, both on a daily basis and in the long run.

Illustrator Lisa Desimini is pretty famous in my world. In addition to illustrating some great picture books, she created the cover for the Newbery Medal winning Walk Two Moons. I’m also familiar with her exquisite cover art on several bestselling adult books by Barbara Kingsolver. Here, Desimini combines paint, found objects, and collage. I love the playfulness of these illustrations, such as the little boy having a tantrum in the library; the four birds in a circle looking out from their sanctuary in a hollow tree at the cat on the fence; and a wonderful painting of the poet, smiling.

“...I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous,

or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,

but because it never forgot what it could do.”

These days, I’m famous to my two-year-old grandson. I love that he tells everyone that I’m his best friend. And I’m rejoicing that I have this wonderful new poem picture book to share with him.

Richie Partington, MLIS

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