Apr9

dipped in words and art.

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a beautiful, beautiful book

 what is a poem, really, and what exactly is its use?

Every once in a while, you stumble upon something so lovely, so unpretentiously beautiful and quietly profound, that you feel like the lungs of your soul have been pumped with a mighty gasp of Alpine air. This is a Poem That Heals Fish  is one such vitalizing gasp of loveliness — a lyrical picture-book that offers a playful and penetrating answer to the question of what a poem is and what it does. And as it does that, it shines a sidewise gleam on the larger question of what we most hunger for in life and how we give shape to those deepest longings.

Written by the French poet, novelist, and dramatist Jean-Pierre Simeón, translated into English by Enchabnted Lion Books founder Claudia Zoe Bedrick (the feat of translation which the Nobel-winning Polish poet Wislawa Syymborska had in mind when she spoke of “that rare miracle when a translation stops being a translation and becomes … a second original”), and illustrated by the inimitable Olivier Tallec, this poetic and philosophical tale follows young Arthur as he tries to salve his beloved red fish Leon’s affliction of boredom.

i read the above review by maria popova, and simply had to find it

i read it three times and looked closely at the details

i so agree with her.

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in honor of national poetry month

and every day of every month

read a poem. 

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“great children’s books are wisdom dipped in words and art.”

-peter h. reynolds

 

 

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credits: maria popova, marginalian, enchanted lion books

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75 responses »

  2. I just watched a video of this being read in conjunction with the book pages being turned. Such wonderful illustrations, and magical words. I am going to send a link to Jennie Fitzkee.

    Best wishes, Pete.

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  15. Quite recently I was talking with my son, trying to decide what a poem is. Is it just prose, broken into short lines? Does it have to have rhyme and/or meter? I once wrote a short blog entry and just for looks broke it into short lines. And everyone who commented spoke of my poem. A lot of modern poetry seems to have no rhyme or meter. So is it really poetry? I still, now, could’t say what the difference is.

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  23. My goodness, what a beautiful book with a wide breadth of meanings. Poetry does that. I just finished a post (tomorrow) with poetry and how I see things. I will definitely look for this wonderful book!

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