Walt Whitman: Words for America

by Barbara Kerley

Book Overview

The pioneering team that brought you Caldecott Honor Book The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins lends their vision, flair, and unique style to Walt Whitman--poet, American icon, Civil War hero.

Did you know that poet Walt Whitman was also a Civil War nurse? Devastated by his country dividing and compelled to service by his brother's war injury, Walt nursed all soldiers--Union and Confederate, black and white. By getting to know them through...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0439357918
• ISBN13: 9780439357913
• Release Date: October 2004
• Publisher: Scholastic Press
• Length: 56 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 9.3" x 12.2"
• Age Range: 7 to 10 years
• Grade Range: Grades 2 to 5

Customer Reviews

Superlative biography for young readers!

This beautiful, well-written book even gives middle-schoolers a taste of literary criticsm. The text is adequate and sometimes even moving, working well with the decadent illustrations. My favorite thing about it is its depiction of Whitman's feelings about Lincoln, since many kids will only know Lincoln from the penny.

A fantastic journey into the life of America's poet

I am doing my Masters Project on the life of Walt Whitman during the Civil War. Though this book does not add anything new to my project, I am including it in my Bibliography because it is a book I think everyone should read. Yes, it is a children's book, but it accurately portrays the life of Whitman from the time he was a child to the time of his death. I particularly like the section about the Civil War and I know that the author has all the facts correct. What makes this book such a great reading experience is the accompanying art work on each page. The art is exceptional and adds to the reading experience. Whether you are a child or an adult with a passing interest in Whitman, this book should be on the top of your reading list. My favorite page is the one directly after the Civil War spread. It contains the portraits of Civil War soldiers. What makes this special is that each picture is based on an actual photo of real people, and the one portrait in color is really Whitman's brother George (I am using the same picture in my Masters Project). Each painting of the portrait really captures the expression of the soldiers. My other favorite painting is the close up of Whitman's face as an old man at the end of the book. The sparkle in his eye captures the sparkle in the man's entire life. This is a fantastic book that I highly recommend. You should look at it as an experience - it is not a complete biography of America's famous poet, but an interactive experience between the important events in his life and the paintings that convey meaning and significance. I am very happy I came across this book, and I think everyone who buys and reads this book will also be impressed.

Thunderstruck

Walt Whitman lived a life of a "rough", or an everyman, and his poetry reflected his very special common uniqueness. Going against prescribed form of the time, Whitman fashioned himself a style of poetry unto itself, brash, fresh, untamed. Such words can be used to descirbe this stunning, and I mean absolutely stunning, children's book on the life of Walt Whitman, by Barbara Kerley, illustrated by Brian Selznick. Never before have I seen a celebration of a poet's life done so wonderfully. It manages to capture the beautiful essence of the man, while explaining to children in an easy to understand manner. The life of Walt comes alive, from his childhood to the very last years of his life, and the text is peppered with awesome quotes from some of his most famous poems. Particularly amazing his how Kerley describes Walt's selfless love of the Civl War soldiers whom he tended in Washington DC hospitals. His actions during this time show the depth of feeling he had for these poor boys, and children will respond with their innate sense of empathy towards Walt. The text is amazing, and the pictures equal it. Selznick has illustrated Walt in all stages of his life, from child to the wizened old man we've all come to associate with him. Selznick's pictures are honest and endearing, again, those that relate to Walt's caring of the soldiers. Even using type similiar to that Walt would have used in his earlier typesetting days, the pictures support and extend the text timelessly. It's been amazing that within the last few years, a spate of books celebrating our nation's most beloved poets are coming to fruition. It's about time. Our youth need to hear the voices of these people... Langston Hughes... Emily Dickinson... and now Walt Whitman, not only to instill a sense of pride with the country that they live, but also, within the sense of pride within themselves. This book will serve as a benchmark for these books in years to come.

A man who shook his white locks at the runaway sun

The Barbara Kerly/Brian Selznick combination becomes more powerful each time it occurs. First of all, if you haven't gone out and viewed their "Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins" then you should do so immediately. Do not halt for man, angel, or beast. Just get out there, grab yourself a copy, and thank the high heavens that you did so before reaching the end of your brief span upon this globe. After having read that book (and you will be glad you did) you'll be ready to fully appreciate this author/illustrator duo's latest exploration into another fabulous human being's life. Our dear gay American poet Walt Whitman is their most recent subject and he is rendered here in full glorious life. Spotted with his poetry, his beliefs, and his incredible life, "Walt Whitman: Words For America" offers an answer to any kid who wonders why the heck they should study some old dead white guy from more than 100 years ago. A stirring answer at that. Aside from the circular picture of Walt standing with a cocky fist on his hip, your first image in this book of the man displays him at the tender age of 12. Working carefully as a typesetter for a newspaper (comparisons to Ben Franklin seem obvious at this point), Walt began his career as a poet with a job that put him into direct messy contact with all kinds of letters and words. In addition to creating his own newspaper at 19, Walt read fantastical stories for his own amusement. You see him as a young man rushing through the streets of Manhattan fully clothed and along the beaches of Long Island buck naked (tastefully, of course). As Walt grew, his concern for fellow human beings, including the slaves of the South, did as well. He published "Leaves of Grass", traveled the country, then became involved with the war between the states. It's the Civil War that takes up most of Walt's life in this book. Whether he was tending to those wounded in battle, debating his own feelings towards President Lincoln, or collapsing from the exhaustion of working too darn hard, the book follows Whitman hither and thither. By the end Whitman truly became the poet of the people, giving the world poems that have remained deeply embedded in the human psyche, whether we know it or not. As with their previous collaboration, Kerly and Selznick follow up their book with a long and extended section of additional facts about Mr. Whitman. They talk about how they become interested in the project, where their research took them, and how they feel about the man. They offer addition info on his life (preferring not to mention the whole homosexual aspect, I guess), Lincoln's life, and what Walt's life was like after the war. They also include eight poems, some complete and some just important snippets. It makes for a truly comprehensive picture book, I can tell you. The book itself, however, is a visual delight. There are some truly gutsy moves being made within its pages. At one point you see only a bright blue sky conta

Richie's Picks: WALT WHITMAN: WORDS FOR AMERICA

"There was never any more inception than there is now, Nor any more youth or age than there is now; And will never be any more perfection than there is now, Nor any more heaven or hell than there is now." --One of my favorite passages from Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" from Leaves of Grass, Technically speaking, "breathtaking" is a term which denotes a combined physical and emotional reaction that can sometimes result from a significant stimulus to one or more of the senses. Unfortunately, "breathtaking," (often written as "BREATHTAKING!!!"), has become an over-utilized adjective that is regularly tossed out when describing teeth whiteners, automobiles, photos from Mars, movies in which one or more people die, vacation rentals, revealing swim attire, and various other goods and services being offered for sale. Therefore, I hesitate to use the term "breathtaking," even though it most accurately describes my initial reaction to a series of Brian Selznick's illustrations in the upcoming WALT WHITMAN: WORDS FOR AMERICA, Selznick's second illustrated biography with author Barbara Kerley. This is a very different book for me than their previous collaboration, THE DINOSAURS OF WATERHOUSE HAWKINS, which received a 2002 Caldecott Honor. I had never even heard of Waterhouse Hawkins, and thus my fondest memories of that book naturally tend toward aspects of the man's unusual story, such as the extraordinary New Year's Eve feast Hawkins hosted inside a life-size iguanodon model, and the horror of Boss Tweed's having ordered the destruction and burial of the models Hawkins had spent years painstakingly laboring to build for an ill-fated Central Park museum. In the case of Walt Whitman, I grew up on Long Island near Walt Whitman Road, Walt Whitman Mall, and various Walt Whitman historic markers. I became basically familiar with the work of Walt Whitman in high school English classes, and already knew the general highlights of his life. What I was hoping for, when I learned that Brian and Barbara were working on this book, was a new look at the man that would cause myself and young readers to feel like we had really gotten to know this great American poet. As with Waterhouse Hawkins, they have succeeded in this regard with Walt Whitman. In WALT WHITMAN: WORDS FOR AMERICA, Barbara Kerley begins with a wonderful portrayal of the poet's younger years that will provoke questions about the lives of kids in that era. "At age 12, he began work as a printer's apprentice, learning to typeset newspaper articles. He saw the boxes of letters as a great mystery, waiting to unfold. Awkwardly, he held the compositor's stick, eager to see the words form--letter by letter--beneath his inky fingers." "Within two years he was setting articles that he himself had written. After the newspaper was printed, his heart thumped 'double beat' as he smoothed it open and admired his work. Even when he wasn't working, Walt surrounded himself with words. He listened to fa