Ivy in Bloom is a children's picture book written by Vanita Oelschlager and illustrated by Kristin Blackwood. The publisher (Vanita Books) establishes the young readers advised age as 4-8. Yet, I don’t believe a four or five-year-old would enjoy everything this book offers. I imagine children 7 to 9 years old appreciating it more. And adults too, for this book obvious beauty and originality.

This book greatest merit is that it introduces poetry to children. And not any poetry: we are talking about Whitman, Dickinson, Longfellow, Browning, Wordsworth, Frost and others. It can look daunting to think of a small child reading long and even difficult passages of these poets but the author is smarter than that: Vanita Oelschlager combines her own poetry with single, short lines of classic poetry, creating an accessible, attractive, light text, in harmony with the beautiful, full page illustrations.

In the back of the book, the poet’s texts are presented in full, showing readers how the opening section, written by Vanita, transitions to them. The borrowed excerpts are highlighted in green.

The unifying theme is the season’s transition. Ivy (just like me) is tired of long, sad Winters and wishes for Spring. Kristin Blackwood’s illustrations reflect well the progressive changing tone of the story. Depressing shades of gray (The world’s a smudge/Of brown and gray. The buds won’t budge. The sun stays away.) give way to vibrant joyful colors as Spring blossoms.

This clever book is a fun way to introduce classic poetry to children and show them that they can express feelings through words.

Was not able to read this book as the formatting was not compatible with my Kindle Fire.

Ivy in Bloom starts out in the dark of winter yearning for warmer weather, greener pastures, and spring. The watercolor illustrations evolve in color throughout the book from dingy shadows and gray to warmer more vibrant colors, greenery and more. What a pleasant surprise at the finding of the compilation of famous poems towards the end of the book that match with the individual illustrations. How clever! This format lends itself to home schooling about poetry, as well as for public libraries, and school libraries. NOTE at end of book: .All net profits from this book will be donated to charitable organizations, with a preference towards MS. touched my heart, as my nephew, and a few of my friends suffer from this.

This is a perfect book for children with illustrations and poems that they will enoy and find iteresting.

I personally loved the art work more than the actual poems, maybe because I am older and this was not my cup of tea.

Regadless it was a fast and eye pleasing read so no regrets. ^.^

A lovely short read for kids and adults alike who can't wait for spring to arrive. I loved the style of the illustrations and the overall design of the book. The bibliography at the end of the few pages is a great touch, as is the donation of all net profits. This one definitely makes a great gift.

I love the idea behind this. I have a few books I read with my children that introduce them to more 'classical' things - Shakespeare for children, a musical book about Vivaldi's Seasons..that sort of thing. I love that I don't just have to read stories about underpants with them. However, I wish this was executed better. The poems and pictures while separately were great, they didn't really 'flow' well.

This was a cute book. I loved the illustrations in it. My favorite part is the explanation in the back on who wrote what piece. It is a great introduction to poetry for children.

I recieved a copy of this book for review from Book Galley.

The author chose some favorite lines of poetry from past great authors and incorporated these with her own words. I think we all wish we could do something like that when we read some amazing literary work. I really love this idea (at least in this case) because Oelschlager does a great job with it. Great book for little kids as well as for some us adults. The illustrations are beautiful and according to the theme of the book which is waiting for sprig.

This was such an adorable book! Definitely the perfect book for a pick-me-up

I very much enjoyed this little poetry book and how it incorporated famous poems from many authors together to form a poem about Spring coming. The illustrations were amazing and I feel that this book is a very unique way to get younger children reading and learning about poetry earlier in their life. I am so glad I got to read this book and would recommend it to everyone.

3.5/5 stars

I loved the drawings in this one, the inky blackness of the lines, combined with the watercolour colours was really pretty and impressive. They also matched the poetry lines brilliantly, and made the whole thing into a story, instead of just selected sentences from poems.

I liked the bibliography in the back, and how it was build up, although I'm inclined to say it would've been nice if the authors were identified on the page with the line and the drawing.

The only thing I didn't like about this whole book was the couple of instances where the quotes were reassembled (as in leaving part of the original line out e.g. in the book 'Give me sunbeams dazzling', original line by W. Whitman: 'Give me the splendid silent sun with all his bams full-dazzling.')

All in all, a really cute book.

Little Ivy is eagerly awaiting the arrival of spring and with it all the colors and scents that drive off the cold winter days. Through his eyes and the lines of some compositions, more or less known, great and little ones are waiting to wait with her. The illustrations made by Kristin Blackwood are really cute and evocative, hard not to fall in love! A volume that is appreciated by both readers and adults; A way to bring them to what the splendid world of poetry is for me.

Loved it and thought it was a well done combination of kid friendly illustrations and text while still teaching them a little history of poetry along side subtle ways of dealing with your feelings. Ivy in Bloom by Vanita Oelschlager is what could be considered a perfectly done childrens books on poetry. I think it is a book that should be in every preschool/kindergarten classroom, home library and therapists/guidance counselors office, across the board.

I've always been a fan of poetry. What I love about this book is that Vanita took lines from great poets and made it her own. The illustrations are beautiful, really bringing you in. This is a book I would use to introduce my kids to the beautiful world of poetry, and I think you should too.

It was a nice read. Might recommend it to friends.

From my 7 yr old daughter: This book was easy and fast to read. I liked that Ivy waited for Spring and the poems at the end.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Both the story and the illustrations were wonderful! I will absolutely put this on my list of books to gift to my friends and family with children.

Loved the illustrations. Loved the wording. And absolutely loved the way poems by famous poets were quoted at the end. Highly recommended!

~Disclaimer~
I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.
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First of all I love this cover. It was what drew me to the book.
Ivy Van Allsberg is waiting for spring. She plays in the snow, picks icicles, and jumps in mud. As the story progresses the season slowly changes from winter to spring. I love that as the season begins to change colour is introduced into the illustrations. Going from brown, black and grey to full bright colours. In the back of the book you can find the original poems that Vanita took bits and pieces from. Some of the authors included are Charles Dickens, E.E. Cummings, and Robert Browning. This book is a good way to introduce poetry to young children. I loved this book so much that I plan on buying myself a hardcover copy.

5/5 ⭐