This is a Poem that Heals Fish

by Jean-Pierre Simeon, Olivier Tallec (Illustrator)

Overview

Follows young Arthur as he ventures into his neighborhood to find out what a poem is.

"Exuding magic and unbridled creativity on every page, this is a book with the potential to heal more than just fish."—Publishers Weekly

"An enchantingly abstract invitation to ponder poetry."—Kirkus Reviews

"A great book for any age! At this very moment, it feels like one of the best books I've ever bought!"—A Year of Reading blog

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781592700677
Publisher:	Enchanted Lion
Publication date:	03/01/2007
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	470,390
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.45(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jean-Pierre Siméon is a poet, novelist and dramatist. He is a professor of modern languages and literature who has worked prodigiously in the field of poetry. He has published regularly since 1984 and has received the Antonin Artaud Prize (1984), the Guillaime Apollinaire Prize (1994)and the Max Jacob Prize (2006). Olivier Tallec was born in Brittany in 1970. After graduating from the Ecole Supérieure d'Art graphique in Paris he worked in advertising as a graphic designer, after which he devoted himself to illustration. Since then he has done numerous illustrations for newspapers and magazines and has illustrated over 50 books for children.

Editorial Reviews

"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 (public library) 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."—Maria Popova, Brain Pickings

"This Is A Poem That Heals Fish is a rare little miracle of a book. It manages the brilliant trick of explaining the abstract concept of a 'poem' to a child through the simple but effective art of demonstration. The book itself is a perfectly constructed poem."— posterband.com

"Exuding magic and unbridled creativity on every page, this is a book with the potential to heal more than just fish." - Publishers Weekly

"An enchantingly abstract invitation to ponder poetry."— Kirkus Reviews

"A great book for any age! At this very moment, it feels like one of the best books I’ve ever bought!” – A Year of Reading

"A wonderfully sensitive seek-and-find experience for all of us." —Vermont Country Sampler

From the Publisher

French poet Siméon doesn't explain what poetry is: he portrays a poem in the making. Arthur's fish, Leon, languishes in his bowl. "Hurry," his mother says, sailing off to her tuba lesson, "give him a poem!" But Arthur doesn't know what a poem is, so he asks a charming collection of eccentric neighbors, each painted by Tallec in delicate pencil lines and wet strokes of vibrant color. "A poem, Arthur, is when you are in love and have the sky in your mouth," says Lolo, the bicycle repairman. Mahmoud, who "comes from the desert," says, "A poem is when you hear the heartbeat of a stone." "A poem," says Arthur's grandmother, "turns words around, upside down, and-suddenly!-the world is new." Tallec paints what Arthur sees as he listens: Lolo flying through the clouds with his girlfriend, Mahmoud kneeling close to a rock under the desert sun, a giant whale swimming upside-down through an inverted city street. When Arthur returns to Leon and strings together the answers he's received-"A poem is when you have the sky in your mouth"-they make, children will perceive, a perfectly beautiful poem. Exuding magic and unbridled creativity on every page, this is a book with the potential to heal more than just fish. Ages 4-8. (Apr.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Publishers Weekly

K-Gr 2
A young boy is convinced that his pet fish will die of boredom, so his mother suggests that he give it a poem as she departs for her tuba lesson. This improbable premise leads into an equally improbable search for what exactly a poem is. The bright paintings do not relieve a dull book that is pitched above its audience. "A poem!? But what is a poem? Arthur goes to look in the kitchen cabinet.-Is there a poem in there?-Nooo po-eeeem, the noodles sigh in reply." The boy asks a neighbor, who says, "A poem is when you hear the heartbeat of a stone." The child asks his pet bird; it responds, "A poem is when words beat their wings. It is a song sung in a cage." The best way for children to understand what a poem is is to hear wonderful poetry. Skip this book and buy another copy of Caroline Kennedy's A Family of Poems (Hyperion, 2005).
—Kathleen WhalinCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

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