Embark on a beautiful journey of paintings and poetry at your Yorktown Public Library.

I am fighting the overwhelming urge to start this blog with “Dearest Gentle Reader”, because this post focusing on poetry and painting is definitely giving Bridgerton vibes! 

Imagine a couple lazing on the grassy high ground of a lavender-covered field, sharing strawberries and reciting poetry while in the distance an artist captures the moment on canvas--the perfect wedding present for the lovely couple.  Ah, yes…the romance of paintings and poetry!

Along with the romantic notion of paintings and poetry, these art forms also offer:

• Emotional healing and self-awareness
• Improved language skills and cognitive enhancement  
• An outlet for expressing complex feelings
• The fostering of empathy by connecting readers to others' experiences
• Exposure to enhanced vocabulary and critical thinking

Paintings and poetry also serve as a pathway to understand the world, gain new perspectives, and connect with cultural experiences and past wisdom.  Read on to learn more about the materials available at your Yorktown Public Library.

IN THE CHILDREN’S COLLECTION:

Haiku by Valerie Bodden

This book is an introduction to the poetic form known as haiku, from its origins in ancient Japan to today. Example poems and analysis explore such elements as simplicity and imagery.

Who Was Frida Kahlo by Sarah Fabiny

You can always recognize a painting by Kahlo because she is in nearly all of them--with her black braided hair and colorful Mexican outfits. A brave woman who transformed herself into a living work of art. As famous for her self-portraits and haunting imagery as she was for her marriage to another famous artist, Diego Rivera, this strong and courageous painter was inspired by the ancient culture and history of her beloved homeland, Mexico. Her paintings continue to inform and inspire popular culture around the world.

Lumpito and the Painter from Spain by Monica Kulling

Lump the dachshund is content living with David in Italy. But he is not happy living with Big Dog, who hounds him day and night. Lump needs a holiday. When David announces that he's off to the south of France to photograph a famous painter, Lump positively scrambles at the chance to ride along. At the villa, Pablo Picasso greets them and is enchanted with the little dog he calls Lumpito. The feeling is mutual; from that moment on, the two become soul mates. Lump loves David. But how can he show his master, and Picasso, that he is home at last?

Little Poems for Tiny Ears: Poems by Lin Oliver

For babies and toddlers, each moment is full of wonder and discovery. This delightful collection of original poems celebrates the everyday things that enthrall little ones, such as playing peekaboo, banging pots and pans, splashing at bath time, and cuddling at bedtime. Full of contagious rhythm and rhyme, this inviting picture book introduces young children to the sound of poetry, and beloved illustrator Tomie dePaola's engaging children are the perfect match for Lin Oliver's lighthearted poems. Together they've created a book to be treasured that captures the magic and fun of being new in the world.

Poetry Speaks to Children Edited by Elise Paschen

In the tradition of Poetry Speaks, this New York Times Bestseller anthology reaches into the world of poetry and pulls out the elements children love: rhyme, rhythm, fun and, every once in a while, a little mischief.  More than 90 poems, for children ages six and up, celebrate the written word and feature a star-studded lineup of beloved poets, including: Roald Dahl; J. R. R. Tolkien; Robert Frost; Gwendolyn Brooks; Ogden Nash; John Ciardi; Langston Hughes; Sonia Sanchez; Seamus Heaney; Canada's best-loved children's poet, Dennis Lee; Rita Dove; Billy Collins; Nikki Giovanni and X. J. Kennedy.

IN THE ADULT COLLECTION: 

Impressionists Painters by Guy Jennings

The glorious paintings of the Impressionists continue to excite wide interest among new generations, well over one hundred years after the first Impressionist exhibition of 1874. "Impressionist Painters" presents 21 lively and informative biographies, arranged alphabetically by the artists’ surnames for easy reference. Each describes artistic life in France in the 1860s, and focuses on the long-running confrontations between the Establishment and the mold-breaking Impressionist movement.

Journeys to Abstraction:  100 Contemporary Paintings and their Secrets Revealed by Sue St. John

We don't have to know what a painting is if we know how it makes us feel. A fun, fascinating survey of abstract art, Journeys to Abstraction offers a behind-the-scenes look at how contemporary artists break free from literal depiction to rejoice in the pure expressive power of color, line and texture. This book covers a wide variety of traditional and non-traditional media and techniques, including watercolor, collage, acrylics, ink and more.  Discover how artists paint, pour, scrape, spray, carve, stamp, collage and otherwise build complex layers of texture and meaning.

The Poems of Williams Shakespeare by William Shakespeare

Shakespeare's greatest achievement in nondramatic verse was his collection of 154 magnificent sonnets that portray a tumultuous world of love, rivalry, and conflict among a poet, an aristocratic young man, a rival poet, and a mysterious "dark lady." More profound than other Elizabethan sonnet sequences and never surpassed as archetypes of the form, these poems explore almost every imaginable emotional complexity related to love and friendship. Some poems are dark, bitter, and self-hating, others express idealism with unmatched eloquence-and all are of quintessential beauty, part of the world's great literary heritage.

The Treasury of American Poetry

This book is an anthology of almost 800 poems written by 115 American poets.

The Poetry of Pablo Neruda by Pablo Neruda

"In his work a continent awakens to consciousness." So wrote the Swedish Academy in awarding the Nobel Prize to Pablo Neruda, the author of more than thirty-five books of poetry and one of Latin America's most revered writers, lionized during his lifetime as "the people's poet."  This selection of Neruda's poetry, the most comprehensive single volume available in English, presents nearly six hundred poems, scores of them in new and sometimes multiple translations, and many accompanied by the Spanish original.

Com­plete ­Work­s of Os­car Wilde: S­to­ries, ­Plays, Po­em­s & Es­says by Oscar Wilde

With an introduction by Vyvyan Holland, Oscar Wilde's son, here are the author's complete stories, plays, and poems, and a substantial number of his essays and letters, all in their most authoritative texts.  Playwright, poet, essayist, flamboyant man-about-town, Oscar Wilde packed an astonishing amount of work, genius, and controversy into two short decades, producing masterworks in every literary genre. This comprehensive one-volume edition of his writings includes his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray. Also included is Wilde's original four-act version of his most popular play, The Importance of Being Earnest, "De Profundis," his moving and tragic letter to Lord Alfred Douglas, composed during Wilde's time in prison and much more.  

ON THE LIBBY APP:

The Floren­tine Pain­ter­s of the Re­nais­sance: With an In­dex to Their Works by Bernard Berenson (eBook)

This is a comprehensive book written by Bernhard Berenson, an art historian and connoisseur of Italian Renaissance art. The book provides a detailed account of the lives and works of the most significant painters from Florence during the Renaissance period, including Giotto, Fra Angelico, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Berenson's writing style is engaging and informative, and he provides insightful analysis of each artist's style, technique, and impact on the art world. The book is illustrated with high-quality reproductions of the artists' works, making it an excellent resource for art lovers, students, and scholars alike.

Fra Angelico by Stephan Beissel (eBook)

Secluded within cloister walls, a painter and a monk, and brother of the order of the Dominicans, Angelico devoted his life to religious paintings.  He became an example of two personalities in one man: he was all in all a painter, but also a devout monk; his subjects were always religious ones and represented in a deeply religious spirit, yet his devotion as a monk was no greater than his absorption as an artist. Consequently, though his life was secluded within the walls of the monastery, he kept in touch with the art movements of his time and continually developed as a painter.

Poetry Magazine

For more than 110 years, Poetry Magazine has been a monthly gathering space for poets and readers. The magazine publishes contemporary poetry and prose, primarily in English, and translations from contributors all over the world and has been published in Chicago since its founding in 1912.

The Complete Poetry by Maya Angelou (eBook)

Timeless and prescient, this definitive compendium will warm the hearts of Maya Angelou's most ardent admirers as it introduces new readers to the legendary poet, activist, and teacher--a phenomenal woman for the ages.  This collection also includes the never-before-published poem "Amazement Awaits," commissioned for the 2008 Olympic Games and her inaugural poem "On the Pulse of Morning".

Modern British Poetry by Louis Untemeyer (eBook)

This anthology is a companion volume to "Modern American Poetry," covering the same period, from about 1870 to 1920. This variety has been chosen from eighty representative British poets, as prominent and dissimilar as Henley, Robert Louis Stevenson, Hardy, Oscar Wilde, Francis Thompson, Rudyard Kipling, Arthur Symons, A.E. Housman, Yeats, Noyes, de la Mare, Gibson, Chesterton, Masefield, Sassoon, Rupert Brooke and Drinkwater, D.H. Lawrence and many, many more.

The Book of American Negro Poetry by James Weldon Johnson (eBook)

The work of James Weldon Johnson (1871 - 1938) inspired and encouraged the artists of the Harlem Renaissance, a movement in which he himself was an important figure. Johnson was active in almost every aspect of American civil life and became one of the first African-American professors at New York University. He is best remembered for his writing, which questions, celebrates and commemorates his experience as an African-American.

Leonardo da Vinci said:

Start with one of the above-mentioned books and proceed from there.  Take your time.  This is your journey, be patient.  Explore the collection at your Yorktown Public Library and discover what speaks to you.