Collection of Classic Children’s Poetry: adapted to music by Natalie Merchant
Illustrator: Barbara McClintock
Publisher: Frances Foster Books, FSG, 2012
Ages: 5-9yrs
Themes: poetry
Opening: (from The Land of Nod, R.L.Stevenson) From breakfast on all through the day, At home among my friends I stay; But every night I go abroad, Afar into the land of Nod.
Summary: (from my library catalog) This collection of classic children’s poetry, adapted to music by Natalie Merchant, opens the door to a wondrous world filled with witches and fearless girls, blind men and elephants, giants and sailors and dancing bears. Leave Your Sleepfeatures a daring and delightful selection, ranging from the beloved (e.e. cummings, Edward Lear, and Jack Prelutsky) to the undiscovered (the young Nathalia Crane). Natalie Merchant’s brilliant musical renderings, selected from her highly praised album, share the stage with Barbara McClintock’s richly imagined art to create a memorable reading, looking, and listening experience.
I like this book because: I’ll admit I hadn’t even opened the book before I melted: McClintock’s illustrations are so rich and divinely rendered that i sat and stared, carefully turning each page as slowly as possible, soaking it all in. I have always loved to leaf through collections, laughing at silly sounds and notions, and wondering why the illustrator decided to illustrate just that particular part of it. Beautifully done, these are lifetime treasures.
Resources/activities: Watch Merchant perform the poems in a TED Talk – HERE; choose a particularly descriptive line or phrase from any of the poems to illustrate something from; learn a poem by heart, from this book or another.
For more PPBF selections including resources and activities, go to Susanna Hill’s blog: HERE
I’ll have to check out the book and Ted talk.
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Do!
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I’m a McClintock lover, too. Her work is lush without feeling overwhelmingly “busy”. Thanks for pointing this one out.
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Absolutely! It has a beautiful balance of details and color, Wendy.
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I love Barbara’s work so much, but I’m afraid to look. I listen to Leave Your Sleep as one of my inspiration soundtracks. I guess I can take a peek… how can I resist!
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Haha! I getcha, Wendy!
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I love the beautiful Barbara McClintock ullustrations that you shared. They remind me of illustrations of books I read as a child. Natalie Merchant is so talented. I checked out and watched a few minutes of her TED talk.
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Through music is neat way to look at literature, isn’t it, Patricia?
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Definitely. I love to see the two combined. Poetry is lyrical and it to add music makes all kinds of sense.
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Ooh a words and pictures delight!
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Delight is a good one-word description!
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I love the cover art! I’ll check out the book and listen to the Ted talk. Thanks for sharing.
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Enjoy!
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I have been following Barbara on FB for a while and hadn’t seen one of her books until now. This is fabulous art.
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A pity! To the library, woman!
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The book has that lovely old look to it that I adore! Will see if my library has a copy.
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Sure takes me back, Teresa.
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Absolutely gorgeous – definitely need to pick this baby up. 🙂 Love your picks, Julie!
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Thanks, Joanne!
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The pictures are gorgeous.
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There’s plenty more to discover!
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I”m definitely taking this one out of our library. You make it sound so inticing. I can’t wait. 🙂
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Gorgeous! Just sent a friend request. Love her old world pics. They have that warm feeling. Loved, loved the video. Putting music to the poems is wonderful. Thanks for sharing a very insightful post, Julie.
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So glad you like it, and Barbara’s artwork, Diane.
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