Richie’s Picks: DEAR ACORN (LOVE, OAK): LETTER POEMS TO FRIENDS
Richie Partington
Richie’s Picks: DEAR ACORN (LOVE, OAK): LETTER POEMS TO FRIENDS by Joyce Sidman and Melissa Sweet, ill., HarperCollins/Clarion, September 2025, 40p., ISBN: 978-0-35-833476-7
“Happiness runs in a circular motion
Thought is like a little boat upon the sea
Everybody is a part of everything anyway
You can have everything if you let yourself be”
– Donovan, ‘Happiness Runs’ (1969)
“DEAR RIVER,
I’ve jittered and danced
in your silvery arms,
tumbled asleep
to your burbling song,
chattered and rolled as you scoured me smooth
and dropped me to rest
in a small, still pool.
Now I gleam in the sand
like an awestruck eye,
watch the moon
grow
round
in its river of sky.
Quietly yours,
Pebble”
“TO PEBBLE:
From
high,
craggy
places,
I pour
myself
down
from hillside
to valley, through
forest and town.
I trickle, I gurgle,
I gallop and gush.
I surge toward
the sea in an endless
rush. but tonight, as
the moon drops its
shimmering dew, all I want is
to curl in the shallows with you.
Marsh grass trailing. A night bird’s trill.
just for a moment, I want to be still.
From River”
Beginning with a pair of letter poems exchanged between a mature oak, and an acorn that’s hanging high in its branches, DEAR ACORN (LOVE, OAK) features connected pairs of one relatively small and one relatively large thing. The pair of objects exchange letter poems with one another. These are poems that delight with their varying perspectives. There’s a coat and a button; a floating bubble (that a kid has blown) and the sky; baby sea turtles and the ocean; a schoolhouse and one of the bricks in its facade; and a child and their toes.
Within this format, Joyce Sidman’s poetry coupled with Melissa Sweet’s immediately-recognizable palette and style (consisting of watercolor, collage, vintage papers, and mixed media). means that two of my generation’s much-heralded children’s book creators have gotten together and crafted a stellar collection of illustrated poetry that will put a grin on readers’ faces. Between its wonderfully illustrated and poetic qualities, DEAR ACORN (LOVE, OAK): LETTER POEMS TO FRIENDS is a must-have, and a title to watch when January’s awards time approaches.
It was particularly exciting to discover that the backmatter includes a page of instructions for readers to interact with the book by developing their own similar pair of letter poems. The process begins with choosing a subject, studying it closely, thinking why it’s important, and then drafting a pair of letter poems between your two chosen objects. We are instructed to,
“Start with a complement or two…; ask a question or two…; and end with a wish or two. Then write a reply.”
Having had so much fun consuming Joyce’s and Melissa’s letter poems, I had to give it a try. Here’s my first pair of letter poems:
Dear Red Grape,
Hanging with all your buddies in a bunch,
Like a flock of wrens in my tree,
You all fit in so well, together,
Close, smooth, and merry as can be.
How do you stay so sweet
Without an inch of room to spare?
Do you ever covet some alone time?
Or do you just not really care?
I hope you never abandon
Your agreeable disposition
And end up a sourpuss
Like a lug in my position.
Hugs,
Red Grapefruit
Dear Red Grapefruit,
Try to be patient
My behemoth and sour friend!
Hang out in the sun some more, and–
I assure you–your bitterness will begin to end.
Don’t let your neighbors rub you the wrong way
Your thick skin can serve you well.
Believe me–avoiding songbirds, squirrels, and foxes,
Without the cluster to protect me,
Would be a living hell.
Relief, when they choose a different bunch to munch,
Can be short-lived, and a chore.
For once they discover our neighbors’ sweetness,
they always come back for more.
You’re so majestic and yellow
Like a tiny world, apart.
Be patient and, I betcha, one day,
You’ll ripen into a perfect sweet-tart.
Hugs backatcha,
Red Grape
Richie Partington, MLIS
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