In a yellow house surrounded by a tall hedge in Amherst, Massachusetts, lives a woman who hasn’t left its grounds in nearly twenty years. Even when she invites visitors, she stays out of sight. people call her the Myth. But the young girl who lives across the street knows something more about this secretive woman. One day the girl’s mother goes to play the piano at the yellow house, and the girl goes along. When no one is looking, she slips upstairs and sees the reclusive poet Emily Dickinson. Their unexpected meeting results in an exchange of very special gifts.

This book captivated me from the first time I opened its pages. The illustrations by Barbara Cooney are wonderful, and Michael Bedard’s way with words made me fall in love with it. Here is my now favorite piece out of any picture book –

“What is poetry?” I asked.
He laid the wilted petals in his palm. “Listen to Mother play. She practices and practices a piece, and sometimes a magic happens and it seems the music starts to breathe. It sends a shiver through you. you can’t explain it, really; it’s a mystery. Well, when words do that, we call it poetry.”

It doesn’t get any better than that, does it? ~ Nancy