Poetry Friday

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Wild Rose Reader.

My selection is "Amber was brave, Essie was smart: the story of Amber and Essie told here in poems and pictures" by Vera B. Williams.

Amber and Essie don't have an easy life. 

Daddy is in prison. 

Mom works long hours and sometimes there isn't enough to eat. 

Despite the hardships, these two sisters find strength in each other and joy in simple triumphs.  

                 

                    "Essie could thread a needle

                     cook toasted cheese sandwiches 

                     make cocoa . . .

                     Amber was brave

                     She could get the grocery man

                     to trust them for a container of milk

                     though their mother

                     couldn't pay him till payday . . ."

Williams' free-verse poems tell a story of these two young girls that is realistic and hopeful without being sentimental.  Color portraits of the girls and their family open and close the book.  Simple black and white pencil sketches in the text keep the focus on Williams' inspired use of language.