EMILY DICKINSON’S LETTERS TO THE WORLD

Mixing such chestnuts as “There Is No Frigate Like a Book” and “I’m Nobody! Who Are You?” with less common expostulations (“Will there really be a ‘Morning’? / Is there such a thing as ‘Day’?), Winter (My Baby, 2001, etc.) presents a quick but complex taste of a quick but complex poet. To the 22 carefully selected poems, the artist pairs simply drawn folk-art scenes of a white-gowned figure ruminatively observing outdoor settings, and sandwiches it all with an invented narrative from Emily’s sister, Lavinia, that fills in a bit of background about the poet’s cloistered life. Though the verses are not only printed in a “handwritten” italic, but also placed so that it’s sometimes hard to tell where one poem leaves off and the next begins, this small tribute effectively captures a sense of Dickinson’s precise language and wide-open imagination. Great potential as a keepsake and a lovely introduction for younger readers. (Poetry. 6-12)