HOPE IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS

Hope is what we all desire.

In the first stanza of this poem, Dickinson calls hope “the thing with feathers”; she extends the metaphor by referring to hope perching and describes it singing “the tune without the words.” The second stanza leaves no doubt of the poet’s intent; here, she refers to hope as “the little bird.” Children who read or listen to the poem will understand that referent; whether they’ll comprehend the overall poem isn’t clear. Depicting birds and birdhouses, the illustrations won’t leave young readers’ interpretations to chance. Many young people appreciate Dickinson’s poetry, though some readers may find her work abstruse or ethereal. What are we to make of this book? The airy illustrations, created with various printmaking techniques, with added colored pencils later combined digitally, are charming; children viewing them would enjoy frolicking with these kids and birds. The art’s as delicate as Dickinson’s verse, although words such as abash and extremity and phrases such as “sweetest in the gale is heard” and “sore must be the storm” may not be as lucid or meaningful to children as they are to adults. The poem is reprinted in full at book’s end. Characters have skin the white of the page.

Visually appealing but, without adult intervention, likely to leave little ones perplexed.