Tuesday, November 1, 2016



ENORMOUS SMALLNESS: A Story of E.E. Cummings by Matthew Burgess. Illus. by Kris Di Giacomo, Enchanted Lion Books, 2015. 32p. ISBN 978-1592701711 hc, $17.95   Gr. 2-5   JUV NF

Feast your eyes on this picture book biography of a most unusual poet who wrote his thoughts on paper without the constraints of capital letters or punctuation.  He used his words sparingly, but formatted the poems with artistic whimsy, which makes them so much fun to read.  Burgess and the illustrator, Kris Di Giacomo, use textured layers and muted tones of color, along with strategic placement of words in the illustrations, to present the childhood, education, and early adulthood of Edward Estlin Cummings.  His love of nature and playfulness with language are evident in the five original poems imbedded into the text.  This, along with the large illustrations, make it all the better to read aloud to an audience of young poets.
Lynette Suckow, Superiorland Preview Center, Marquette, MI 

No comments:

Post a Comment