Elizabeth Spires
Elizabeth Spires was the featured morning speaker at the Fourteenth Annual Celebration of Children's Literature held at Montgomery College. She is an award winning poet who has written for adults and children. A graduate of Vassar and Johns Hopkins, Elizabeth currently teaches at Goucher College. She explained that she actually came to children's books via poetry. After thirty years of writing for the adult world about a decade ago she started writing for children and so far she has published five books for that market. One of the best known works is The Mouse of Amherst. As she told the audience, it was a letter from her editor asking if she had any poems for children that actually got her thinking in that direction.
Two of her books, Riddle Road and One White Wing, came out of her experiences with a poetry in the schools project in Wilmington, Delaware. She asked the kids to write riddles and she also jotted down some (70 to be more exact). As for The Mouse of Amherst, it really has its roots back in her childhood. When she was in 7th grade she fell in love with poems by Emily Dickinson. She was living in a small town in Ohio and had left a parochial school for a public one; and at the age of twelve she was certainly very vulnerable in this new environment. There was a new teacher at school; he was young and he wrote poems-he actually announced that he was a poet. She struck up a friendship which of course was frowned upon, but he gave her a book of Dickinson's poems. He actually recited twelve lines from "For Beauty and Truth" from memory. For several years the poem stuck with her. Beauty and truth-those were things that one might die for. Poetry has the power to create a parallel reality and it also provides a tremendous solace. Naturally Elizabeth developed a crush on the teacher and has herself gone into teaching.
Poetry is her passion and she loves many poems because "A word may speak what volumes may try to utter." A favorite poem of hers is Dickinson's "I'm Nobody Who Are You." She adores the playfulness of the poem. Elizabeth said that she finally had a bomb go off-who was that poem addressed to-a mouse? She jotted the idea down and played around with it. The work would take a variety of forms before it took its final shape. She posed questions to herself to see how they would play out. For example, does the mouse write poems? " I am a mouse..." is the way the book actually begins. She is the protagonist and observer and also has a penchant for poetry. The two write poems back and forth expressing their emotions and descriptions of life in the Dickinson household. Emily even baked gingerbread for the neighborhood kids but as she was too much of a recluse to actually meet them she would lower the goodies in a basket. (Emily's recipe was made available to the audience--See below). Elizabeth knew that blending fact and fiction would be tricky business. She didn't want to turn Emily Dickinson into an unusual or strange character. She did live in a grand house and she had seen pictures of her room and white dress. She read extensively-biographies, Emily's letters which yielded gems of descriptions and examined the only authenticated picture of Emily. She also found a picture of Emily's sister Lavinia with a cat. There are references to mice all over the place and the cat ends up playing a big role in the book.
When the draft was complete Elizabeth sent it to her editor Frances Foster who made some very good suggestions and recommended black-and-white illustrations. The editor also asked the illustrator to rethink the interpretation of the mouse, Emmaline, and the move from a buttoned up older mouse to a younger more inspirational figure really made a difference. Elizabeth showed the audience the two images and there is no doubt that the editor moved the illustrator in the right direction. Elizabeth gave her daughter the book to read and when she finished it she was unhappy-there were tears in her eyes because there was no future for Emmaline. That made Elizabeth rethink the ending and that is how she came to add a closing paragraph that leaves the dear little mouse and reader with hope.
In addition to discussing her books, Elizabeth had some comments in general about the importance of poetry. She felt it should be introduced to kids at a very early age and that it should be a part of the curriculum. Elizabeth provided those in attendance with a list of poems and poets she had prepared-her personal favorites. Among them are Elizabeth Bishop, Gwendolyn Brooks, Paul Fleischman, Russell Hoban, Ruth Krauss, and Michael Rosen. Interestingly, she has some strong feeling about nature poems which can be boring and often are no more that doggerel. Her comments were also fairly strong about the limitations of haiku which she feels receives too much emphasis today. Kids have more to say, they have big thoughts, ideas and emotions and should not be limited to a few syllables. Studying and dissecting poems will kill them. They are not math problems with one correct answer or interpretation. A poem is a way to play with words and it requires inspiration.
Contributor: Marilyn Courtot
Reviews
The Big Meow Elizabeth Spires
Illustrated by Cynthia Jabar
In The Big Meow, Elizabeth Spires tells a familiar tale: A young creature is shunned by his playmates because he has a trait that sets him apart. When he employs that very quality to avert danger, he earns the group's friendship and acceptance. In this case the outcast is Little Cat, a kitten whose cry rivals a lion's roar and causes sidewalks to quake. Little Cat has parents who love him, big meow and all, but his peers' rejection makes it hard for him to like himself. When Bruno the bulldog puts them in peril, the neighborhood kittens turn to Little Cat for help. Little Cat must summon all his courage to let out a meow big enough to bounce Bruno off a house and propel him into the next town. His uniqueness at last recognized as an asset, Little Cat joins his new friends to play ball. Spires is an award-winning poet, and The Big Meow is more than a lesson in tolerance. It explores the poetic potential of simple prose and demands to be read aloud for its rhymes, both subtle and overt, and for its lighthearted wordplay. Practicing his meows, Little Cat "made them bright. He made them pale. He made them into a song, like the notes on a scale...." He asks his mother, "Is my meow a bother to you and to Father?" Readers can have fun picking out the "cat" words that stud the text--catnaps, catfish, catalpa, catapult. Cynthia Jabar's frolicking, wide-eyed kittens bring to mind Garth Williams's illustrations for Margaret Wise Brown's classic, Mister Dog. Her peach-blossom skies and lime-green lawns hold a promise of spring. 2002, Candlewick Press, $15.99. Ages 3 to 6. Reviewer: Catherine Reef
ISBN: 0763606790
The Mouse of Amherst
Elizabeth Spires
Pictures by Claire Nivola
A poetic rodent graces the pages of The Mouse of Amherst. Whiskered Emmaline moves into the wainscoting of the Dickinson home and soon befriends fellow poet Emily. Elizabeth Spires creates a sweet tribute to friendship in this tale of the correspondence between two "Nobodies," mouse and human. Claire Nivola's black-and-white line drawings add a delicate note to the whole. 1999, Farrar Straus & Giroux, $15.00. Ages 7 to 11. Reviewer: Mary Quattlebaum
This perplexing story of a mouse named Emmaline and the poet Emily Dickinson, as a young girl, is interspersed with actual poems from Ms. Dickinson. These lend some authenticity to this tale of such an odd pairing. Seen as a recluse for most of her life, Emily Dickinson and Emmaline shared thoughts and poetry that were kept secret from the rest of the household. While the idea to introduce classic poetry in this way is unique, this reviewer is not quite sure that it will captivate a reading audience. The pictures were black and white sketches, which unfortunately did not enhance the text enough. Perhaps more factual details about Emily's life incorporated throughout the story would make it more enchanting and meaningful. 1999, Frances Foster Books, $15.00. Ages 8 to 12. Reviewer: Lori M. Saporosa
ISBN: 0374350833
Best Books:
The Best Children's Books of the Year, 2000 ; Bank Street College of Education; United States
Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts, 2000 ; National Council of Teachers of English; United States
Publishers Weekly Book Review Stars, January 1999 ; Cahners; United States
State and Provincial Reading Lists:
Massachusetts Children's Book Award, 2002 ; Massachusetts
With One White Wing: Puzzles in Poems and Pictures
Elizabeth Spires
Illustrated by Erik Blegvad
Each page of this wonderful book contains a short poem that's also a riddle. Kids (and grown-ups) will have a great time guessing the riddles--and if they have any trouble, each of the accompanying illustrations contains a visual clue to the right answer (the answers are also written, upside down, at the bottom of the page). This book is the one to choose if you're looking to interest children in something other than prose. The poems are clever and well-written, the pictures engaging and amusing, and children listen and look carefully because they want to solve the riddles. 1995, Margaret K. McElderry Books, $14.00. Ages 6 to 10. Reviewer: Andrea Brott
ISBN: 0689506228
Best Books:
Adventuring with Books: A Booklist for Pre-K--Grade 6, 1997 ; National Council of Teachers of English; United States
School Library Journal Book Review Stars, September 1995 ; Cahners; United States
Added 07/01/03
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