Mary Oliver is among the most beloved of poets in America, and throughout the English-speaking world.
Countless lines from Oliver's poems are recognizable, quotable, remembered without being actively memorized.
Example:
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?”
― Mary Oliver
BEACHLANE BOOK, 2025
Yes, THAT Mary Oliver is the subject of an appealing new picture book biography. WOODS & WORDS: The Story of Mary Oliver is written by Sara Holly Ackerman and illustrated by Naoko Stoop. Her troubled early life is stated as fact without elaboration, providing an effective connection to many readers who will, on their own terms, imagine their troubles as hers and find her example offers paths to solace.
Mary escaped her pain in the woods, in the wild, from early on. Childhood patterns continued throughout her life- carrying a small notebook in a back pocket, stashing a bundle of pencils in small tree cavities along her regular paths. Always noticing, always identifying with and learning from the natural world.
The ensuing years as an adult reflect her ongoing bond with nature, with quiet, with reflection and observation. This is a well-paced non-fiction account of her life, yet it offers readers of any age a roadmap to inner pursuits and validation, of taking ourselves to our own places of peace.
The narrative provides specific details of her locations, of her natural observations, of her personal and professional pursuits. it also offers side text, strings of words related to the things she notices, the kinds of thoughts and words she inserted in her notebooks that later became building blocks for poems. Her writing, despite winning international awards, was not always seen as "good enough" by traditional editors. But Mary persisted, following her inner compass. She insisted that poetry and the natural world were necessary partners. She found fans who soon tucked her poems into pockets and squirreled away favorite lines.
A brief author note provides added details of her life and awards, but the treasure in this book is the main text and illustrations. Natural tones, fluid statements, combining as naturally as ocean and beach, without artifice. Readers will not only learn information about Mary Oliver but will sense a kindred spirit in a poet whose life and words fit like a familiar glove.
Schwartz & Wade, 2019
Another biography of a poet is a favorite picturebook of mine, although not a recent release. It sprang to mind as soon as I read WOODS & WORDS.
16 WORDS: William Carlos Williams & "The Red Wheelbarrow" is written by Lisa Rogers and illustrated by Chuck Groenink.
This award-winning book profiles William Carlos Williams, another poet who noticed the world. But his was the everyday world of his home and community that captured his vision, corralled his thoughts. Williams was the local doctor, serving a small community of people who were his neighbors in the best sense of the word. Through the window of his home0-based practice or during walks to and from home visits, details called to him. Things like the red wheelbarrow, the plums in a dish in the fridge, cats, trees, people. Williams chose his words as carefully as he chose prescriptions or treatments, making sure each was the perfect fit. Like Mary, he often scratched down words and ideas as they occurred, returning to them later to develop a poem of even a few lines, one that captured everything he had seen and felt in the moment.
Both books use soft-edged illustration styles, in natural tones and media, with views from varied perspectives, any of which a reader might have similarly experienced. Each engages with brief narrative that is not so much poetic as it is lyrical and direct. Both made me want to go back to the bodies of work and reread, reconsider every poem, every line.
Both are books i highly recommend, as well as the works of the poets.
