Award-winning author Jen Bryant and Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator Melissa Sweet team for a stunning portrait of poet William Carlos Williams.
When William Carlos William wrote poems, he felt as free as the Passaic River as it rushed to the falls. Willie’s notebooks filled up, one after another. His words gave him freedom and peace. But he also knew he needed to earn a living, so Willie went off to medical school and became a doctor – one of the busiest men in town!
Yet he never stopped writing poetry.
In this dynamic picture book biography, Jen Bryant’s engaging prose and Melissa Sweet’s stunning mixed-media illustrations come together to celebrate an amazing man who found a way to both earn a living and to honor his calling to be a poet.
Features an extensive timeline, author’s and illustrator’s notes, recommendations for further reading, and a selection of Williams’ poems. A River of Words is part of Eerdmans’ Incredible Lives for Young Readers series.
Jen Bryant has written numerous books for young readers,including Georgia's Bones and A River ofWords, winner of the Charlotte Zolotow Honor Award.Her book A Splash of Red (Knopf)received the Schneider Family Book Award and theNCTE Orbis Pictus Award for nonfiction. She lives inPennsylvania.
Melissa Sweet (www.melissasweet.net) hasillustrated many award winning books, including ARiver of Words (Eerdmans), a 2009 Caldecott Honorbook, and A Splash of Red (Knopf), an NCTEOrbis Pictus Award winner and a Sibert Honor book. Shealso wrote and illustrated Balloons OverBroadway (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), winner of the2012 Sibert Medal and the NCTE Orbis Pictus Award.Melissa lives in Maine.