Poet of the PeopleThis post is part of Nonfiction Monday
hosted today by Chapter Book of the Day
A True Tale with A Cherry On Top
A uthor: Monica Brown
and illustrator: Julie Paschkis
C haracter: Pablo Neruda
O verview from the jacket flap:
O verview from the jacket flap:
"Once there was a little boy named Neftali, who loved wild things wildly and quiet things quietly... Neftali discovered the magic between the pages of books. When he was sixteen, he began publishing his poems as Pablo Neruda.
T antalizing taste:
Pablo wrote poems about the things he loved - things made by his artist friends, things found at the marketplace, and things he saw in nature. He wrote about the people of Chile and their stories of struggle. Because above all things and above all words, Pablo Neruda loved people."
"From the moment he could talk, Neftali surrounded himself with words that whirled and swirled, just like the river that ran near his home in Chile ...
He always wrote in green ink - the color of the ferns in the forest and the grass beneath his feet."
He always wrote in green ink - the color of the ferns in the forest and the grass beneath his feet."
and something more: The ribbons of English and Spanish words in the beautiful illustrations by Julie Paschkis are so evocative of poetry in this terrific picture book biography, Pablo Neruda Poet of the People, by Monica Brown. They remind me of teaching Pablo Neruda's poems to my 7th grade students -- they particularly enjoyed composing their own odes (with much creativity and variety) after studying the rich language in Neruda's odes, such as "Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market" or "Ode to an Artichoke." When my son was volunteering with Habitat for Humanity in Chile, he visited Pablo Neruda's home in Santiago and was amazed by its color and creativity (befitting for such an amazing poet).
