What's even better than a poem by Mary Oliver about the mutually beneficial relationships between goldfinches and thistles? An illustrated version of that same poem, brought to life by Melissa Sweet.
This bright and buoyant volume is sure to capture the hearts of not only children but of anyone who appreciates Oliver's poetry or, indeed, beauty itself. Melissa Sweet allows us into her world and her process: Right inside the cover she shares her palette with colors from the poem like reddish fire, brass heat, buttery gold, silvery down, pale-blue egg, and silver baskets. The title page then offers a keyed drawing showing various aspects of goldfinch habitat and a map helping children locate Provincetown, Massachusetts, where Oliver spent most of her adult life with her partner, photographer Molly Malone Cook.
The lines of the poem then emerge in a collage showing the world of the goldfinches themselves, the world of Mary Oliver exploring their habitat, and Sweet's own desk and tools, with her sketchbook, binoculars, cup, pencils, and glass of thistles. While the main focus remains on the goldfinches and thistles — and Mary Oliver's wonder-struck observation of them — we also see Sweet's inserts with drawings of thistle seeds, nesting materials, spider silk, and other elements of this magically interwoven goldfinch world. When Oliver writes about the goldfinches gathering the silvery down of thistles and carrying it "as though their minds were on fire," Sweet shows us five observers along with Oliver and her dog watching, their minds equally engaged.
At the end, Sweet leaves us with the entire text of the poem on a single page, a 1991 bird list in Mary Oliver's handwriting, a year-round chart of thistle-and-goldfinch interactions, and a marvelous note about Oliver's poetic process and Sweet's own way of engaging in the natural world with her through art. The whole effect is such that, when you reach or return to the poem's final line -- "Have you ever been so happy in your life?" -- shivers go down your spine and you realize, no, this is it, now.
Mary Oliver (1935-2019) received numerous awards in her more than five-decade career, including the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1984. She led workshops and held residencies at various colleges and universities, including Bennington College, where she held the Catharine Osgood Foster Chair for Distinguished Teaching.
Melissa Sweet is a celebrated author and illustrator. She is a three-time recipient of the New York Times best illustrated children's book, as well as a two-time Caldecott Honoree. She is an avid birder and Maine Master Naturalist living in Portland, Maine. Her exquisite research for books like Goldfinches gives her a deep appreciation for the material she illustrates.
