A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams

 

• Title: A River of Words The Story of William Carlos Williams
• Author: Jen Bryan
• Illustrator: Melissa Sweet
• Age Range: 7 and up
• Grade Level: 2 and up
• Lexile Measure: 820L (What's this?)
• Hardcover: 34 pages
• Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers; First Edition edition (July 9, 2008)
• Language: English (Amazon.com)

Synopsis:

This book walks young people through the life of William Carlos Williams from his childhood through his death while incorporating his poetry throughout the illustrations of the book.

Characters:
William Carlos Williams: a renowned poet who spent most of his life as a doctor
Hilda Doolitle, Ezra Pound, and Charlie Demuth: friends that WCW met in college and encourage his writing.

My Review:

This biography of WCW was great because it didn't just highlight his poetry, it highlighted his day-to-day of being a doctor and dealing with real-world concerns of providing for his family. The book is inspiring because Williams managed to be a doctor and still stay true to his passion for writing. The layout of the book is intriguing because there are images just layered over one another, almost like the story is just part of a scrap-book. It was a nice touch when they added a few of his full poems at the back of the book. The snippets that they provided throughout the book left me wanting the entire poem. The book has an "Author's Note", "Illustrator's Note", and "For Further Reading" area. The one thing I wish this book provided was an actual reference page. Overall, I would recommend this book for younger audiences who want a general description of William Carlos Williams. I think it could have gone more in-depth in certain areas, but for an introductory piece, it was good.