Climbing Shadows: Poems for Children

Bramer’s poems, created as she got to know a group of kindergartners, explore an evocative range of emotional states, metaphors, and ideas. Understated, dreamlike paintings with offsetting white space accompany the poems. In one of the lighter poems, Bramer writes: “I’m not afraid of skeletons/ Are you afraid of skeletons?/ Skeletons are bones in the shape of a body/ Are you afraid of bones in the shape of a body?” The skeletons appear treelike, with green, spindly limbs. Elsewhere, a small child sits on a wide expanse of frozen water, gazing at a lone red flower: “My hands are cold—/ I lost my mittens/ And I love my family.” The works carry notes of wistfulness and wonder, astute observations, and poignant reflections on one’s place in the world. Ages 6–up.[em] (Mar.) [/em]