Picture Book Exploration: A Ramble With Robert Frost

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Today, March 26th, is Robert Frost’s one hundred and forty second birthday! I discovered Robert Frost at the same time my children did one December morning at the library when we picked up the book Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening illustrated by Susan Jeffers. And it was the first time poetry in  English made sense to me. Therefore he has a special spot in my heart. So, come with me and explore the life and works of Robert Frost, one of America’s greatest poets!

Papa is a Poet

I already loved Frost’s poetry when the beautiful picture book Papa is a Poet: A Story About Robert Frost by Natalie S. Bober, illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon, came out. But this book brought a whole new level of appreciation for the poet himself. Often we appreciate the poetry but forget the poet, but this picture book really helped me and my children to create such a relationship with Robert Frost that his poetry took on a whole new life. Poems that we liked before are now loved. This book is a true living book.

The picture book

The author, Natalie S. Bober was not just an author but also a historian and the owner of a children’s bookstore. Her passion for children literature seeps through every word of this delightful picture book. The tale is well told and especially well researched, that’s where the historian in her shows. She was passionate about writing about someone she admired, with truth, goodness and beauty making this picture book a living book. I absolutely adore Rebecca Gibbon’s illustrations! They are so very whimsical, tender and full of life and motion. The colors are beautiful and the characters charming. In other words these are enchanting illustrations! They pair beautifully with Natalie’s prose and help bring it to life. This is one of those living picture books that is near literary perfection!

Robert Frost

Born in San Francisco California, Robert moved to New England at age 11 after the death of his father. He always had a great love for poetry and published his first poem at the age of 20. He was so excited about it that he went and proposed to his high school sweetheart right away! She turned him down to focus on her studies but soon changed her mind and they married a year later. Robert and Elinor moved to Robert’s grandfather’s farm in New Hampshire. Morning farm chores were a great source of poetic inspiration for Robert. He was not successful as a farmer and decided to move his growing family to England to focus on his writing. That is when his first book of poems was published. The beginning of World War I pushed the Frost family to move back to the United States and that his where we encounter them in Papa is a Poet: A Story About Robert Frost by Natalie S. Bober, illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon.

Quite the poet

As his poems became more and more popular Robert Frost quickly grew to be a very celebrated poet. He is one of a handful of American poets to have won 4 Pulitzer prizes and a US Congressional Gold medal for his contribution to the culture of the United States! Influenced by his environment and his love of nature as well as his love of traditional poetry made him one of America’s greatest poets of all times.

Poetry

Poetry used to be an important part of our lives and has been relegated to the sidelines. And that makes me so very sad. On the eve of a month dedicated to poetry, let us bring back this art in our daily lives. (April is National Poetry Month). If you do not already own a Poetry Notebook, start one today! And if you have not had a Poetry Tea Time celebration in a while, April will be the perfect month to re-start this beautiful habit. Visit my Pinterest Poetry Tea Time board for ideas and inspiration. Read some more of Robert Frost’s poems, they are such a delight! Poetry is as important to our life as visual arts and music, the beauty of words and language cannot be equaled with any other medium. Poetry brings to our life truth, goodness and beauty.

Metaphors

Do you remember Robert Frost’s definition of a metaphor? Copy his definition into your Poetry Notebook, then create some simple examples of what a metaphor is. Write your metaphors into full sentences below the definition. Finding metaphors is a lot of fun, do it as a family and I can guarantee you that laughter will prevail quickly!Another gold nugget from Robert Frost is the fact that “a book worth reading twice is a book worth owning”. That is very close to my own rule with books we borrow from the library, lol! If we borrow it a third time we might as well buy it and that is how we built our home library. These books that we read over and over become our friends, our comfort, our go-to when we need a piece of wisdom. Having them close at hand allows for the bond to grow.

Nature walk

It is the end of March and hopefully spring has sprung in your area. Grab a picnic, your Nature Journals and a great read aloud and head out for a family Nature Walk. A family Nature Walk has so many advantages and brings so much to the table! On a Nature Walk we slow down, we can give undivided attention to our children and our spouse and some to nature, lol. We breathe in fresh air, get a good dose of sunshine, beauty and delight. There is nothing that compares to a family Nature Walk. If you are not familiar with the podcast 1000 Hours Outside, I would strongly encourage you to start listening to Ginny and her guests on the endless benefits of being outdoors, especially as a family. And if you paid attention to Robert’s life it is these small moments that become the poetry of our lives.

And now on to something yummy

Robert Frost wrote a delightful poem about blueberries! It totally created a craving for blueberries. Read the poem Blueberries, maybe learn it by heart, then bake a delicious Blueberry Torta to enjoy either on your Nature Walk or during your Poetry Tea Time! Make the most of the small moments you can carve out with your family, these are the ones that they will remember years down the road!
Love,
Mattie