Enormous Smallness: A Story of e. e. cummings
by Matthew Burgess (Author) Kris Di Giacomo (Illustrator)
Enormous Smallness is a nonfiction picture book about the poet E.E. cummings.
Here E.E.'s life is presented in a way that will make children curious about him and will lead them to play with words and ask plenty of questions as well. Lively and informative, the book also presents some of Cummings's most wonderful poems, integrating them seamlessly into the story to give the reader the music of his voice and a spirited, sensitive introduction to his poetry.
In keeping with the epigraph of the book -- "It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are," Matthew Burgess's narrative emphasizes the bravery it takes to follow one's own vision and the encouragement E.E. received to do just that.
Matthew Burgess teaches creative writing and composition at Brooklyn College. He is also a writer-in-residence with Teachers & Writers Collaborative, leading poetry workshops in early elementary classrooms since 2001. He was awarded a MacArthur Scholarship while working on his MFA, and he received a grant from The Fund for Poetry. Matthew's poems and essays have appeared in various journals, and his debut collection, Slippers for Elsewhere, was published by UpSet Press. His doctoral dissertation explores childhood spaces in twentieth century autobiography, and he completed his PhD at the CUNY Graduate Center in June 2014.
Kris Di Giacomo is an American who has lived in France since childhood. She has illustrated over twenty-five books for French publishers, which have been translated into many languages. This is her sixth book to be published by Enchanted Lion Books. The others are My Dad Is Big And Strong, But . . . , Brief Thief, Me First!, The Day I Lost My Superpowers, and
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Kirkus Reviews
Publishers Weekly
Burgess's first picture book introduces readers to E.E. Cummings, exploring his development as a poet from the verse he dictated to his mother as a child through to his adulthood. Befitting the subject, Burgess experiments with language, punctuation, and form: "He wanted his reader's eyes to be on tiptoes too, seeing and reading poetry (inaway) that was new." Di Giacomo's capricious collages create a lively interplay between pictures and words, and visual motifs such as birds and elephants intermingle with samples of Cummings's work. Burgess delivers a thorough and lovingly crafted homage to a writer whose poems "were alive with experimentation and surprise!" Ages 4-8. (Apr.)
Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.School Library Journal
Gr 3 Up--This enchanting picture book biography introduces children to the life and work of e.e. cummings, one of America's most innovative poets. With a tree house in the city and a cabin by the woods in the country each summer, cummings grew up surrounded by family and nature, and his imagination soared. He began writing poetry from the age of three, which his mother recorded. Written in verse, the text is accessible and lends itself well to read-alouds. The book itself is a work of art, full of thick pages of whimsical, full-spread illustrations in a palette of grays, blues, browns, and greens. Burgess chronicles the poet's childhood and early adulthood, beginning and ending in the Greenwich Village studio where he would spend nearly 40 years of his life. Several child-friendly poems, including "who are you, little i" and "in Just-," are interwoven into the text (and appended). Pair with Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet's Caldecott Honor title A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams (Eerdmans, 2008) for a unit on poetry. VERDICT A unique and inspiring introduction.--Barbara Auerbach, New York City Public Schools
Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
A Boston Globe Best Book of 2015
A Huffington Post Best Picture Book in Biography for 2015 A 2016 Notable Children's Books in the English Language Arts Selected by the Great Lakes Great Books Award committee, a program of the Michigan Reading Association, for the 2016-2017 state-wide literature program ★"An eminently friendly introduction to both the poet and his spirit—deceptively simple, just like its subject." —STARRED review, Kirkus Reviews "an uncommonly delightful picture-book celebration of Cummings' life" —Maria Popova, Brain Pickings ★"An eminently friendly introduction to both the poet and his spirit—deceptively simple, just like its subject." —STARRED review, Kirkus Reviews "The title of this book (Enormous Smallness) is perfect. Many of us think of poems as small things, but as much as anyone, E. E. Cummings showed us that even the smallest stanza could hold enormous meaning. Lovingly written (Burgess is himself a poet) and ingeniously illustrated, this book is a treasure for both fans of Cummings, as well as those discovering his poetry for the first time." —The Huffington Post "Di Giacomo's capricious collages create a lively interplay between pictures and words, and visual motifs such as birds and elephants intermingle with samples of Cummings's work. Burgess delivers a thorough and lovingly crafted homage to a writer whose poems 'were alive with experimentation and surprise.'" —Publishers Weekly "WOW. Dare I saw I was carried away by the awesomeness of enormous SMALLNESS? It has been a while since I have seen such a perfect pairing of story and art. It will give me great pleasure to put it into the hands of small (and tall) and introduce another generation to the genius of e. e. cummings." —Mona, Jabberwocky Book Store, Fredericksburg, VA "It's important to get your kid to sleep, but a good bedtime reading does a lot more—it can inspire them in ways that will serve them well later on. That's the message of Enormous Smallness, a new picture book biography of the poet E.E. Cummings." —Fatherly "A fabulous biographical picture book, this book is a great introduction to E.E. Cummings and his work." —Waking Brain Cells "The author includes major life events and poems, always circling back to a playfulness born in the poet's childhood and carried through his entire life, nurtured by parents and teachers. What makes this such a successful children's book is the author and artist's focus on Cummings's ability to channel and hold onto the inventiveness of childhood." —Jennifer M. Brown, Children's Editor, Shelf Awareness "Plus it's beautiful. Each page is a collage of words and visual elements that work in the manner of a Cummings poem. Letters fall from his mouth during graduation, and the more he writes, the more letters make up parts of the background colors of the pages." —Unshelved "My second graders, with no prompting, absolutely LOVED Enormous Smallness, a perfect picture book biography of the great e.e. cummings by Matthew Burgess. (Without invitation, they applauded!) They were silent and receptive the whole way through (that means they were with me. It was as though they realized they can be poets! At least that's what I hope.)"—Bri Johnson, New York City Librarian "It's a book that will be hugely encouraging to young children who want to write, be poets, or just do things a little differently from the norm." —Whitney Morton Woodcock, Portland Book Review "This is a remarkable book that gives an example of one kid who did everything differently—and came out OK. In fact, he became one of our greatest poets. The book is fun, informative, and It sends a valuable message with wit, creativity and beauty; it tells kids its OK to "color outside the lines" and to have an inner life not driven by others' expectations." —Enormous smallness: A Story of E.E. Cummings is a KBACH/Changing Hands Bookstore Book of the Month Pick "This is a book that will satisfy both the adults who read it to children, and the children who are lucky enough to hear it." —The San Francisco Book Review "This is a lovely little poem of a book; appropriate enough, since it details the life and poetry of E.E. Cummings . . . a book that will be hugely encouraging to young children who want to write, be poets, or just do things a little differently from the norm." —The Portland Book ReviewPoets, American
Cummings, E. E
