I'm so glad I took this walk in the woods with a young Emily Dickinson and her dog Carlo. The illustrations are lovely, colorful, and nicely done with lots and lots and lots of flowers. Emily loved the outdoors and her flowers. I must admit that while I've enjoyed her poetry, I knew little about Dickinson's life when started reading. My sum total of knowledge pretty much was that she was reclusive somehow different from most but wrote wonderful poems.
What I particularly enjoyed about the book format was its inclusion of not only many flower pictures but Emily's poetry interspersed throughout, each relevant to that particular part of the story. The text itself is simple and easy to understand. While written for young readers, I'm sure readers of all ages will find something to like about this enchanting look into life and heart of a young girl whose poetry, whether we recognize it as hers or not, has surely touched some part of our lives. It's telling that in one flower viewing adventure she loses, then finds both her dog and a lovely flower she's long wanted to see. As she goes to snip it, she stops, however. She decides it's not meant to be moved from its place in the sun. A reminder for all of us to enjoy nature and, in a way, leave nothing but tracks. Well, okay, she loses a shoe in the process but, hey, she was in a bog. The understanding nature of her parents was further shown by them calmly accepting the muddy girl and dog home with no chastisement. They and seemingly those about her, accepted her as the unique individual she was, another subtle reminder to us all to accept all.
I would recommend this book to all lovers of poetry and flowers, not to mention dogs and nature. While we often think sadly of her as a recluse, she obviously lived life her way. There's a great deal to be said for that. Teacher friends, this would be an excellent introduction to her poetry or, for the more scientific minded, types of flowers as all the illustrations of flowers are nicely labeled. The quick snippets of info at the end detail her full life in more detail. Wait till you see how she kept in touch with friends! Thank you so much #MacmillanChildren'sPublishingGroup - #GodwinBooks for refreshing my interest in this fascinating woman. She definitely wasn't a nobody.
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