21. A Story Is To Share

A Story Is To Share: How Ruth Krauss Found Another Way to Tell a Tale. Carter Higgins. Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault. 2022. 40 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Born
a baby
late at night
There's
no parade
just crashing
rain
Soon
the girl
twirls upside-up
and rides her bike
down down the hall
But sickness sticks around a lot
and steals her voice away--
so she wiggle-wiggles little fingers
that's how she says hi
Like this
She listens listens
writes and draws
stitches pages
sews a book
She finds another way
to tell a tale

Premise/plot: This picture book biography is written in verse. It is a biography of children's book author Ruth Krauss. 

My thoughts: I was expecting to like this one. While Ruth Krauss is not my absolute favorite and best author. I do remember reading several of her books growing up. Still, any picture book biography about a children's author/writer is going to be on my radar. I'm going to want to read it and try to get a behind the scenes glimpse of the magic.

I definitely was pleasantly surprised by this one. I really LOVED the narrative style. It is not perfectly perfect. I personally need punctuation. I do. I like periods at the end of sentences. (All punctuation has a role to play in text.) But the beauty of the rhythm works for me. 

I would recommend this one. I do think young readers would probably benefit most if this biography is read alongside some of Ruth Krauss's picture books.

 

© 2023 Becky Laney of Young Readers