Review by Booklist Review
As a young child in the mid-1800s, Celia was the lighthouse keeper's daughter on a rocky island off the coast of Maine. Each spring, she planted a garden and enjoyed its colorful flowers. In winter, cold winds destroyed her garden, but each spring, she replanted. When she was 12, her family moved to a larger island, where her father built a hotel. She tended a larger garden there, when not greeting guests or making beds. Eventually, she married, becoming Celia Thaxter, and moved inland. While raising a family, she wrote poems and painted pictures, often inspired by her memories of the flowers, the ocean, and the islands. Eventually, she returned there to stay. The quiet, precise text tells of a person who brought beauty to a barren place, while within the illustrations, hand-lettered lines from Thaxter's poems and other writings add her voice as well. Sweet's vivid, beautifully crafted illustrations capture the story's period setting and quiet, reflective subject. This handsome picture-book biography will resonate with those who love flower gardens and long for the sea.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Vivid nature writing infuses this picture book biography of New England artist and poet Celia Thaxter (1835--1894). The story opens with Thaxter's rugged childhood at a lighthouse on White Island and her teen years on Appledore Island, where she installed a garden near her family's hotel. After marriage takes Thaxter to the mainland, a longing (for "the tumbled shores of her island home, and the rising and falling tides, and the crash of the waves on the rocks") inspires poetry and annual visits to Appledore for gardening. In mixed media, Sweet showcases florals on every page, weaving in quotes from Thaxter's own writing. Largely eliding her artistic and writerly accomplishments, Root and Schmidt's simplified portrait predominantly emphasizes the vibrant flowers Thaxter cultivated wherever she went. Back matter includes an author's note, extensive timeline, and bibliography. Ages 5--9. (May)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 2--4--Island life in the northeastern United States can be colorless, as grays and whites cover not only the sky and sea but the animals, as well. Celia Thaxter grew up on just such an island, lamenting the limited color palette that surrounded her even while embracing the beauty and tumult of the sea. In response, Thaxter decided to craft a garden filled with vibrant and colorful flowers of many types to enhance the appearance of the island. And as her life took her to new places, she discovered ways to bring the beauty of her garden to paper through words and paint. This narrative biography introduces readers to a woman who was a renowned poet in her time. Rich paragraphs of text are used to tell her story, and these blocks often use repetition of color alongside specific references to myriad natural creatures. Snippets of Thaxter's poetry are placed alongside several of the images to enhance the text, and these words stand out dramatically from the others in both size and presentation. Paired with the softness of watercolor and pencil lines within each image, the words and illustrations together create a visual tapestry that connects readers to her colorful world. An author's note and time line of Thaxter's life help to round out the overall text and provide additional information for readers to peruse. VERDICT Elementary school-aged readers will enjoy learning about a colorful and creative woman through this work.--Mary R. Lanni
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Review by Horn Book Review
Largely forgotten today, American writer Celia Laighton Thaxter enjoyed a significant literary career in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Both her life and her writing revolved around Maine's Appledore Island, and it is here that this picture-book biography takes root. Thaxter comes alive as a gardener from her earliest years (when the family lived on White Island), coaxing blooms to life amid the rocks, with vivid colors punctuating Root and Schmidt's narrative: "Pink morning glories opened to the sun, and Celia found green moss and purple starfish in rocky pools." Sweet's illustrations follow the text's lead, depicting the main character ankle-deep in a tide pool surrounded by bright, stylized flowers in purples, pinks, oranges, and reds. Both Celia and the island backdrop are dressed in muted gray-greens, causing the colors to pop all the more. Readers learn that Celia's lighthouse-keeper father moved the family to Appledore Island and built a hotel where "artists and writers [came] to stay"; after she married and moved to the mainland, that network facilitated her career. Hand-lettered excerpts of Thaxter's writings -- both poetry and prose -- frequently appear in the margins, artfully commenting on the narrative. The telling is elliptical; readers who wonder at the abrupt disappearance of Thaxter's husband must comb through the two-page timeline, printed in a tiny font, to learn of their estrangement. But Thaxter's devotion to her titular garden shines bright. Also appended are a biographical note and a bibliography. Vicky Smith May/June 2022 p.167(c) Copyright 2022. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Celia Laighton Thaxter loved the beauty of birds, flowers, and the ever changing sea. Born in 1835, she grew up on two islands off the shores of Maine and New Hampshire. As a young child, she planted marigolds to brighten the gray and white landscape of rocks, waves, and clouds on White Island, where her father was the lightkeeper. When Celia was 12 years old, her family moved to Appledore Island, where her father opened a hotel that catered to artists and writers. There, Celia planted a new, bigger garden with flowers of many varieties. Married life brought her to the mainland, where she and her husband raised their family. Homesick, Celia painted pictures and wrote poems that captured her memories of island life, becoming a well-known, celebrated poet in her time. Every spring, year after year, she returned to Appledore Island to tend to her glorious garden. Using third-person narration, Root and Schmidt describe Celia's seasonal activities with great admiration, carefully naming the flower and bird species to which she felt so deeply connected. Sweet's lush, detailed watercolor, gouache, and mixed-media illustrations greatly enhance the text. Readers will be delighted to realize that the stylized handwritten words appearing in sidebars are Celia's own lovely, heartfelt poems. All characters present White. Additional fascinating information about Laighton Thaxter is provided in the backmatter. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A splendid introduction to a lesser-known nature poet and the landscapes that inspired her. (additional facts, timeline, bibliography) (Picture-book biography. 5-9) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
