A Night In The Woods

Let's go camping!  When those three words are uttered, regardless of your age, a thrill builds within you.  Past memories or visions of possibilities fill your mind.  Basements, attics and garages are searched for the essential equipment.  Proper preparation and packing are vital.  There's nothing worse than being in the middle of the woods and realizing you've forgotten the bug spray, matches or toilet paper.

Four years ago readers were entertained by brother Sam and sister Lucy when they spent a day with their dad in Gone Fishing: A Novel in Verse (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, March 5, 2013), debut title by author Tamera Will Wissinger with illustrations by Matthew Cordell.  Gone Camping: A Novel in Verse (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, March 28, 2017), a companion volume, is as full of family fun as the first poetic excursion.  So grab your duffel bag, bring your gear and be of good cheer; never fear, wild wonders are near.

A night of packing, making a list and checking it thrice, and dreaming of daytime fun keep Sam and Lucy busy as can be.  As Lucy drifts off to dreamland, she does worry about things, noisy, creepy things, which might invade their canvas chamber.  Bright and early on the following sunrise, Lucy and Sam get a huge surprise.  Mom and Dad are not going!  Grandpa is taking their place.  Dad is sick, sick, sick.

Grandpa races to make it on time.  He's not mom and dad but he has plenty of pluses.  Before long a car laden with laughter and bundles passes under a welcoming arch in the woods by a lake.  Stuff moves from vehicle to a cleverly, carefully pitched tent.  Lucy is still skeptical about safety from crawling critters but she has her own special spell.

Before nightfall hikes are hiked and bugs, worms and slugs are nabbed in bottles.  (There will be fishing in the morning.)  A bonfire lights the night and camping goodies are gobbled up.  The spooky trek down the trail to the bathrooms is made single file with lots of hands held.  Wait! What was that?

A noisy chorus sounds; Grandpa snores in rhythm with the frogs, crickets, branches and waves.  Sweet dreams are in store for the tucked-in trio.  Look who's up with the sun.  Nighttime jitters zero, Lucy one.  It's an early morning shoreline cast and reel for scrumptious breakfast fare.  Swim, swim, swim, pack, pack, pack...when are we coming back?

You'll be a part of this family as soon as the first of forty-four poems rolls off your tongue.  

Sam

PROVISIONING

Tercet Variation

Late night.

House bright.

Everybody packs tonight.

Summer:  Here.

Trip:  Near.

Mom and Lucy check our gear.

Map out.

Plan our route.

Dad named me chief camp scout.

One more.

Final chore.

Duffel mountain near the door.

Next day.

No delay.

Campsite:  We are on our way!

Can't you feel the rhythmic beat filled with excitement?  This is the gift Tamera Will Wissinger brings to her poems as she tells the story of this newest family adventure.  Whether the form is a list poem, a dramatic poem for two or three, a lament, a cinquain, a counting poem, couplets or another style, she uses language like a master tying them together in a flawless flow.  Each one is as spirited as the family member(s) giving voice to their thoughts. Here's another poem for you to enjoy.

Lucy

GOODBYE, LAST NIGHT

Aubade

Little light, a little lighter.

Bit of bright, now burning brighter.

Dark is shifting---drifting away.

Goodbye, last night.  Hello, today.

Did it rain?  The forest is glimmering.

Leaves and pine needles are shimmering.

How lucky to see the sun's first ray.

Goodbye, last night.  Hello, today.

When you open the dust jacket and look on the left the dotted trail of a firefly zigs and zags from the spine to the far left.  A red fox leaps from the spine, an eye on the unsuspecting chipmunk watching the trio pitch their tent.  You can see from their smiling faces, this is going to be a wonderful two days in the woods.  Using the sun for the letter O is the kind of detail, Matthew Cordell works into his illustrations.  Foliage spans the spine from top to bottom.  Dark green covers the book case and a rich midnight blue is the canvas for the opening and closing endpapers.

Black and white images rendered in pen and ink with watercolor heighten the light and spirited story on every page.  Matthew adds a crescent moon and stars to the dedication page and a flashlight, candy wrapper and bonfire to the contents page.  Each poem has a single page visual or one which extends from one page into another as when Lucy is thinking of Nighttime Critters beneath the text on the right with her thoughts featured in a picture on the left.

The expressions on Sam's, Lucy's and Grandpa's faces add a great deal of humor to the narrative.  You will probably laugh out loud more than once especially at the Song Of The Beanie Weenie Barbecue, By Lantern Light, Tent Mates or Beware.  If necessary to the poem we may zoom into a particular scene (Lucy imagining the creepy crawlies) or be given a bird's eye view (the trio hiking on a winding trail). Take a few moments to notice the little details like the license plate on Grandpa's car.

One of my favorite of many illustrations is when Grandpa, Sam and Lucy are traveling down the road to the campground.  On the right a forest of trees reaches out with birds flying overhead.  At the bottom of the page a fox races along the roadside.  On the left is the car with a load of gear roped to the top.  Sam and Grandpa are chatting in the front seat.  Lucy is looking out the back window, wide-eyed and a tad bit worried about the night ahead.

I really enjoyed this book, Gone Camping: A Novel in Verse written by Tamera Will Wissinger with illustrations by Matthew Cordell, the first time I read it but every time I read it, I love it more.  The poems are wonderful when read aloud and the illustrations pair with them perfectly.  At the back of the book Tamera talks about rhyme, rhythm and poetry techniques like alliteration, hyperbole, imagery and simile (to name a few).  She also explains forty-four different types of poetic forms and stanza patterns.  Make sure you have the first book to pair with this one and have fun during National Poetry Month in April.  This title would work splendidly.  

To better acquaint you with Tamera Will Wissinger and Matthew Cordell and their other work please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  Matthew Cordell also has a blog.

A Day On The Lake

Tucked away in a shoebox are years of memories in shades of yellow, red, white, black and silver.  In looking at them the clock turns back; I am a young girl getting ready to spend a morning or evening fishing with her Dad.  Our two heads are bent over his open tackle box as we debate the merits of one lure over the other; deciding whether to use bobbers or not.

How fortunate I am to still have those lures, bobbers, and flies, tangible reminders of wonderful hours spent in the company of my Dad fishing.  Debut author Tamera Will Wissinger and illustrator Matthew Cordell, no stranger to starred reviews and placement on year's best lists (linked here are my reviews of Another Brother and hello! hello!), pair to present this poetic piece, Gone Fishing: A novel in verse (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, March 5, 2013).  It does not matter whether you are a fisherman or fisherwoman now, in the past or perhaps, ever, this story of Sam, Lucy and their Dad will conjure up a vision of a day well spent.


In the darkness of night, Sam and his Dad collect worms for the big fishing trip the next day.  Later Sam dreams of spending time alone with his Dad but his little sister, Lucy, has other ideas.  Not only has she invaded the sanctity of his tackle box replacing his treasured compass, map, lucky fishing cap and stringer with her princess doll, and assorted paraphernalia, but the next morning she asks to go along.  And his Dad says yes. What?!

After waiting for Lucy to pack all her goodies, traveling down the road, arriving at the lake (Eureka!), launching the boat, and loading all the gear on board, they are finally speeding across the lake to the Lucky Fishing Spot.  Unfortunately not once but twice the good part of lucky seems to allude Sam and shine on Lucy instead.  It seems impossible that someone who makes so much noise, forms an attachment to a worm and sings heeere fishy, fishy, fishy could catch not one, not two, not three...but eight fish!

While Sam is rethinking his choice in sports a surprise strikes.  Too soon the day is done but all hearts are happy as the triumphant trio heads home to dinner and the telling of tales.  Twenty-four hours of near blissful perfection, minus a few unexpected glitches, shift an older brother's assessment of his pesky younger sister.


Listed in the contents are forty-one original, lively poems easily able to individually gleam but blended together they form a familial adventure glowing with a brilliance that can only come from a winning weaver of words.  Tamera Will Wissinger has written using a variety of poetic forms, (acrostic poem, cinquain, concrete poem, couplet, curse poem, free verse poem, haiku, limerick and ode, to name some) employing such techniques as alliteration, hyperbole, imagery, onomatopoeia and simile to give voice to Sam, Lucy and their Dad as the narrative unfolds.  It's the choice of words by Wissinger which gives these poems their rhythm and rhyme like the beat of an unforgettable tune beckoning readers to join in the fun.
Here are the first three verses in the first poem spoken by Sam; a Tercet Variation titled Night Crawlers.

Dark night.
Flashlight.
Dad and I hunt worms tonight.

Grass slick.
Worms thick.
Tiptoe near and grab them quick.

Hold firm.
They squirm.
Tug-o-war with earth and worm.


As soon as you see the cover you can't help but smile in anticipation of the possibilities this fishing trip will bring.  Take note of the fish scales on the spine, Lucy running in from the left, the use of twigs for the title lettering and the fishing line to form the words in the book's sub-title.  These are the detailed, distinctive artwork of illustrator Matthew Cordell created using pen and ink with watercolor.

His black and white images throughout the book enhance, elevate, animate and surround the text.  You wonder if perhaps Cordell might have a younger sister himself as he convincingly portrays all the emotions the siblings feel on their facial expressions in addition to the upbeat, caring attitude of the Dad.  Again, as we did on the cover, we see the thematic details; the words GO FISH on the license plates of the truck, the fish weathervane on top of the snack shack at the lake, and the fish picture on the wall of the family kitchen.  Some of his illustrations are one page, some extend from one page into the other and several are edge to edge on both pages, contributing to the overall pacing of each particular poem and the book as a whole.  Two of my favorites are the three peering over the edge of the boat quietly waiting for a fish to bite, eyes wide open and at the end when all three are home in the bathroom, the two children on stools on either side of their Dad, looking in the mirror as he shaves, pretending to do the same.


Gone Fishing: A novel in verse written by Tamera Will Wissinger with illustrations by Matthew Cordell is a high energy, humorous and endearing depiction of a family outing.  I predict as a read aloud listeners will beg for its non-stop continuation.  As an individual read it will be finished and promptly started over again.

At the close of the book, Wissinger gives a brief author's note before defining at length poetic techniques and forms.  She mentions which of her poems in this title demonstrate each.  Please follow the links embedded in Tamera Will Wissinger's and Matthew Cordell's names to their official web sites.