105 Ways to Give a Book

Poetry Friday: Bella & Bean

Today I have a picture book about poetry, which counts for Poetry Friday, I believe.

Bella & Bean
by Rebecca Dotlich, illustrated by Aileen Leijten

Bella & BeanBella writes poetry every day “at a small desk, beneath a small window, shaded by a canopy the color of plums.” When her friend Bean comes by to show off her new hat and to invite Bella for a walk to the pond, Bella stays in to write. While Bean does things, Bella writes things, until she realizes that she’s missing out on sharing these moments with her best friend. Her revelation leads to a better balance of action and friendship. The illustrations are lovely — lots of teal green backgrounds to reflect this year’s hot color — and a general prettiness to the characters and scenes. Overall, it’s a great story of friendship and balance, but also a view into the writing and poetry process. As an example, here’s a section from where Bella puts together things from her talk with Bean and things that she observes as Bean walks away:
She wrote words that reminded her of the river:
bend, flow, gurgle, and rush.
She wrote words that remind her of the moon:
white, round, silver, and bright.
She wiggled just right in her chair and added:
flower, bonnet, sun and breeze

Then Bella wrote this poem:

The river gurgles ’round the bend.
It rushes like the breeze.
The sun is a silver bonnet.
The stones are its flowers.
You’ll have to keep reading the book to find where the moon words fit in. Poetry Friday round-up is hosted today at Carol’s Corner.

Links to material on Amazon.com contained within this post may be affiliate links for the Amazon Associates program, for which this site may receive a referral fee.

3 comments:

Ms. Yingling said...

Wow. Did you redesign your blog? It looks great. Man. I need to redesign MY blog now!

Peaceful Reader said...

I love Bella and Bean-what a great choice for Poetry Friday.

Andromeda Jazmon said...

What a delightful book! I will have to look for it.

I love your blog design too. Cute graffiti scribbles!