Imaginary Gardens

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The juxtaposition of art and poetry is not an original concept, but this volume contains an especially felicitous selection. The collection of photographs, superb artwork and splendidly varied poems--both silly and serious--is eclectic and historically comprehensive. Winslow Homer's 19th-century ``The Fox Hunt'' with its rook shadow accompanies Valerie Worth's ``Crows'' and Barbara Angell's ``Fox's Song.'' Carl Sandburg's ``Milk-white Moon, Put the Cows to Sleep'' is paired with Roy Lichtenstein's ``Cow Triptych.'' Whitman's moving ``The Words of the True Poems'' and two of Dickinson's poems about death are aligned with a photograph of the late teacher/astronaut Christa McAuliffe. Poet Sullivan ( American in Poetry ) has a discerning eye, and has chosen poems and art that not only reflect the breadth and depth of the American experience, but are accessible to children of varying ages. From the startling Chippewa Indian song about greatness to the brilliant photograph of the earth as seen from the Apollo 17 spacecraft, each page is a dazzling surprise. All ages. (Nov.)

School Library Journal

Gr 3 Up-- From Sargent's painting ``Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose'' on the front jacket to Calder's ``The Horse'' on the back, this book is a storehouse of delight in both sight and sound. An arbor gate embossed on the cover is typical of the attention paid to bookmaking as well as an invitation into these Imaginary Gardens. Page layouts provide ample space for eyes and minds to roam and rest while the block of color that illuminates the first letter of each poem draws one to the words. The title page expands to a double-page spread with the bold red, pink, green, and purple-blue from David Hockney's stylized painting of ``The Garden'' spilling out into blocks of color containing title and publisher and Robert Penn Warren's poem ``What Voice at Moth-Hour.'' Hockney's garden is very different from Sargent's, which is repeated above Sandburg's ``There Are Different Gardens,'' the first poem in the text proper and an apt introduction to this volume. What follows is a wide range of subjects, styles, and time periods in both poetry and art, with the work of Whistler, Homer, and Gilbert Stuart seen along side modern art, folk art, cartoons, and photographs. There is something very right about moving from Emily Dickinson's ``I Never Saw a Moor'' and ``Because I Could Not Stop for Death'' to a photograph of Christa McAulliffe and Walt Whitman's ``The Words of the True Poems.'' This is truly a book to be seen and heard and shared over and over again. --Kay E. Vandergrift, School of Communication, Information and Library Studies, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ