Reinventing Robert Frost: A Picture Book Rewrites Robert Frost's Poetry

 

Stopping By the Jungle on a Snowy Evening 

by Richard T. Morris

Illustrated by Julie Rowan-Zoch

A Caitlain Dlouhy Book

Atheneum Books for Young Readers 

2025

40 pages

ISBN: 9781482478021

This clever redux of Robert Frost's "Stopping By the Woods on a Snowy Evening" is witty, irreverent, and entertaining. 

Frost's famous poem is set in a snowy wood on the "darkest evening of the year."  In the poem, the narrator describes the setting as having "easy wind" and "downy flake" and the "woods are lovely, dark and deep." He halts his horse to watch the snow fall, enjoying the silence and darkness. 

A young boy reimagines the poem. He sees the woods, but his ride is a hippopotamus with a jingle bell collar. Robert Frost appears at a window, correcting  the  boy, telling him it's not a hippo, it is in fact supposed to be a horse. The boy, not convinced, asks the man who he is. Frost defends his poem, "I wrote this poem." The boy says he only sees his hippo, no horse at all, and changes Frost's work to a jungle setting. Frost disagrees, saying it does not snow in the jungle. As Frost continues to pontificate, the boy says it's boring, so boring that the hippo has fallen asleep. The boy continues to add fun to the poem with a giant snake, a hippo that does karate, an incoming meteor, a tidal wave, and an alien invasion. 

The surprise ending uses lines from another Frost poem and ties the new poem and its exciting story together. The Frost character ends up loving the redux and riding off with the boy atop the blue hippo.

At the beginning of the book, you can almost hear the disdain in Frost's voice as he points his finger and "schools" the young boy. When he says he wrote the poem, the word "wrote" is in bold font, directing the reader to give more emphasis, or inflection, to this word. Frost carries a notebook and pen, further showing him as a man of learning. He pulls out a podium to recite the last stanza of his poem, emphasizing the fact he is a writer/poet who recites his poems in the public. He's soon interrupted when the aliens show up and he must hop on the rhino with the boy as the boy shouts, "Run for your lives!" 

This fun interpretation includes the original poem after the story. For younger kids, read the poem after the story. For older children, read the poem first so that they have a starting point. The humor will make much more sense if they are familiar with the poem. This is a great conversation opener for a unit on modern poetry (by modern, I am including the twentieth century to the present). 

Highly, highly recommended ages 3 and up. It would be a fun creative writing lesson to have students choose a famous poem and rewrite it to "jazz it up a bit." Who knows? Maybe their outcome becomes a picture book! 

Picture Book Pick: Freedom Braids

 

Freedom Braids 

by Monique Duncan

Illustrations by Oboh Moses

Lantana Publishing

Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. 

first published in the U.K. 

2024

32 pages

ISBN: 9781915244802

Freedom Braids is the story of a young girl named Nemy who lived in Columbia on a plantation that harvested sugar cane. The author's note explains her story is based on people who were taken from Africa and enslaved in North and South America. In Nemy's case, she escapes with a group of women led by one known as  "Big Mother," a slave who leads them to freedom. 

The braids the women wove in their hair represented paths to freedom, and even where Spanish troops were encamped.  A style called "El Undihito" was used for women who hid gold and seeds in their braids, These seeds were transported and used to plant crops when they arrived on free soil. The people fled to the mountains where they could hide in the dense forests in freedom. They built "palenques," or communities, and often would help others escape to join them. 

Beautiful art by Oboh Moses captures the women braiding each other's hair by the light of a fire. In one spread, the darkness of the forest at night is stunning in black and colors of dark blue. As the page turns, it is sunrise as Nemy looks to the mountains, the back of her head dominant to highlight her braids that zigzag like the river in front of her. The dark blues and black are replaced by hues of purple, pink and green with a blue river winding down the mountain. Nemy and the women reach freedom, "And in the light of a new dawn, she found a way home." 

It is a rare experience to encounter such a powerful picture book. Its beauty is only eclipsed by the amazing story told by a master storyteller, Monique Duncan. The end pages feature each of the braided hairstyles. 

Freedom Braids is a MUST HAVE, MUST READ for everyone of all ages. Libraries should plan on purchasing multiple copies as this will be a popular check-out. 

The most highly of recommended! Ages 3 and up. 

Picture Book Pick: Who's Writing This Story?

Who's Writing This Story?

by Robin Newman

Illustrated by Deborah Zemke 

Creston Books, LLC

2024

32 pages

ISBN: 9781954354296

A brilliant take on "The Three Little Pigs" features an author who is writing the story and the characters, the three little pigs, who step in and take over! What happens to a writer when the characters steer the ship? 

Comic-book like illustrations by Deborah Zemke will enthrall as young readers laugh their way through the pages as the silly antics of the three little pigs unfold. Even the Big Bad Wolf has his own "take" on the story. He's tired of being the bad guy and wants to be the good guy, the protagonist. He wants friends. As each character steps up, the writer changes the setting and the story, but she takes a stand on the five elements of a story: plot, setting, characters, conflict and resolution. The pigs and the wolf disagree and, "...wrote the writer right out of their story." 

Creative and funny, Who's Writing This Story is a standout among all other picture books. It's likely both the author and illustrator will earn awards for this one. Anyone teaching any writing class or English class needs this book. Every writer needs this book to remind them of the basics while entertaining them with a new twist to an old story.  Never as "The Three Little Pigs" been both winsome, necessary and funny. 

Highly, highly recommended. You NEED this book for every collection and writer's desk. A fantastic gift for any budding writer; furthermore, even a seasoned author like David Baldacci or Stephen King will enjoy the storytelling. 

Ages 7 and up and recommended as a gift for everyone who is writing. 

Picture Book Pick: Still My Tessa

 

Awards:

Award Winner, CBC Kids Reads, 2024

Commended, Best Books for Kids and Teens, Canadian Children's Book Centrre, 2024

Nominated, OLA Blue Spruce Award, 2025

My Review: 

Still My Tessa

by Sylv Chiang

Illustrated by Mathias Ball 

North Winds Press

Scholastic Canada Ltd. 

2024

32 pages 

9781443196239

Younger sister Evelyn misses her older sister Tessa, but Tessa doesn't want to play or talk. She stays in her room or wears her headphones everywhere. When Tessa confronts her older sis, Tessa tells her that she is not her sister anymore. Tessa instructs Evelyn to refer to her as her sibling, not sister nor brother. 

Tessa explains that pronouns are important, and she uses "they" or "them." It takes about a week, but Evelyn learns the correct pronouns, and Tessa seems happier. When the family goes on a bike ride and gets ice cream, their parents warn the siblings that it's not necessary to tell everyone Tessa's gender. Evelyn disagrees, knowing it is important. Later, Mom uses "non-binary" as she refers to Tessa and Tessa smiles. Readers see the personal growth of the entire family of four: Tessa is much happier when people use her pronouns and understand that she is neither a boy nor a girl, Evelyn becomes her sibling's ally and instructs others about how important pronouns are, the parents use the correct pronouns and introduce Tesssa as "non-binary." 

Included in the book are pages defining the terms: non-binary, ally and pronouns as it refers to gender and tips to become a "pronoun ally." 

Still My Tessa is a powerful story about a family learning to use pronouns and understand how important being an ally is for any person, young or old. 

This picture book is a must-have for all library collections. Ages 3 and up. 

Middle Grade Pick: Camp Twisted Pine

 Camp Twisted Pine 

by Ciera Burch

Margaret K. McElderry Books

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division

2024

256 pages

ISBN: 9781665930574

Camp Twisted Pine is a spooky middle grade read with just the right amount of the elements kids love about summer camp. The author dedicates the book to, "...all the kids who wanted to go to summer camp but weren't allowed to...," and those readers will visit Camp Twisted pine through the eyes of eleven-year old Naomi. 

Although she doesn't want to go to camp, she finds out that she and her twin younger brothers are being shipped off for the summer while her parents sort out their separation and impending divorce. While Naomi was ready to hate camp, once she's there, it's not so bad. The counselors are okay, the cabin is decent and she gets along with the other campers and becomes friends with Jackie. Jackie is hard of hearing and teaches Naomi ASL (American Sign Language) as the girls become closer. 

There's something amiss in the woods, and the scary stories told at the campfire has Naomi on edge. When a kid goes missing, Naomi convinces Jackie that they better solve the mystery of just what is out there in the woods. Could the Jersey Devil be real? 

Readers will cheer for Naomi as she unravels the mystery: she's fearless, smart and driven. For all those readers who have never been to camp, Camp Twisted Pine is the answer. 

Recommended grades 5 and up. A little spooky, but no gore.