7 October, 2013 PAPA IS A POET: A STORY ABOUT ROBERT FROST by Natalie S. Bober and Rebecca Gibbon, ill., Christy Ottaviano/Holt, October 2013, 40p., ISBN: 978-0-8050-9407-7 

"For me the initial delight is in the surprise of remembering something I didn't know I knew."

-- Robert Frost, from the Quotations section of the back matter

"Papa did things his way.  He decided to milk his cow at midnight so he could stay awake and read Shakespeare and write poems in the hush of a sleeping household.  I remember hearing the neighbors talk about the warm glow of the kerosene lamp in the kitchen window.

"And I remember one day when I was walking with Papa and we came upon our French-Canadian farmer neighbor, Napoleon Guay.  Papa loved to talk, and he also loved to listen.  When Mr. Guay told Papa, 'Good fences make good neighbors,' Papa pointed to the stone wall separating the two farms and replied,

My apple trees will never get across

And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.

When Papa listened carefully to the speech of all his farmer neighbors, he heard words that had the ring of pure poetry.  'The sentence sound often says more than the words,' he told me.  He wanted to make music out of words.  Papa could hear the melody in a sentence."

Okay.  If I give you this great snippet of text, part of a narrative about growing up as Robert Frost's eldest daughter, WITHOUT any illustrations, and suggest that you read an entire story of it to a circle of preschoolers, how many of you are going to be takers?  References to Shakespeare?  Kerosene?  Sentence structure?

In fact, the structure of this piece of narrative nonfiction, PAPA IS A POET, is reasonably sophisticated, being a story within a story:  The (inner) story of growing up Robert Frost's daughter on a farm in Derry, New Hampshire is told from a specific, subsequent point in time, this being (the outer story) when early in 1915, having just returned with her family from two years of living in Europe, Lesley Frost is waiting at New York City's Grand Central Terminal with her mother and her younger siblings for their father who rushes to his publisher upon discovering that two of his books of poetry have been released in the States.

My point is that marrying such a text to illustrations, no matter how great (and they are great), does not make it a book for little kids.  And so I have to take issue with those trade journals who are recommending this one for ages 4-8; and give kudos to School Library Journal who, in my opinion, more accurately recommends this one for grades 3-5

I am frequently telling parents, teachers, and students about this exact sort of book: forty pages -- a fascinating read and a quick read, given the illustrations -- and you're suddenly a budding expert on a topic that is new to you.  Now, I've been hearing or reading Robert Frost's poems since I was in grade school but, more than fifty years after he became the second-most notable part of JFK's inauguration in 1961 (right behind the famous "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country" line), this is the first that I've really had a grasp on who Robert Frost was.  This book is so brilliant in its turning a Poet into an unusual parent.

The author, Natalie Bober, is a long-time expert on Robert Frost, having written A RESTLESS SPIRIT: THE STORY OF ROBERT FROST way back in 1981. 

The back matter included here is both incredibly valuable and, again, perfect for third, fourth, and fifth graders.  Included are the full texts of a dozen of Frost's poems, including "The Road Not Taken," "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," "Nothing Gold Can Stay," "Birches," and "Mending Wall."  There is also an Author's Note, a selection of quotations, a bibliography, and some archival photos.

The illustrator, Rebecca Gibbon utilizes acrylic, ink, pencil, and watercolor with great results.  The many outdoor scenes at the farm are captivating in a Barbara Cooney sort of way, and the illustrations of Frost and his family members, again, transform a Poet into a parent.

As I've been telling booksellers and school librarians, these great nonfiction picture books for older readers -- whether science, history, sports, or arts-related -- need to be shelved away from the little kid story time picture books so that middle grade teachers can have a go-to shelf when they are searching for engaging, high-quality nonfiction in the sciences and the arts to share with their students.  PAPA IS A POET is an engaging and first-rate example of this genre.

Richie Partington, MLIS
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