Earth Magic by Dionne Brand (Kids Can Poetry, 2006), illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes of One Hen fame, is a delightful book of poems celebrating the childhood memories of acclaimed Canadian poet Dionne Brand.  Brand grew up in  Guayguayare, Trinidad.   The book was originally published in 1979 in homage to the Caribbean people whose lives Brand captures well in the poems.  In them, we meet, for example, the “Fisherman,” the “Bottleman,” and “Old Woman.”  We also meet the mystical forces of nature often personified — there’s the river of  “deep green face” in “River” or the ‘day’ coming in “on an old brown bus/with two friends” in “Morning” or the wind describing his/her actions in the first person:

I heard a song and carried it with me
on my cotton streamers,
I dropped it on an ocean and lifted up a wave
with my bare hands

Fernandes does a wonderful job of illustrating these personifications with her colorful signature imagery and style.   Check out some of the images from this book in PaperTigers Illustrator’s Gallery.   The combination of Fernandes’ art with Brand’s poetry makes for compelling reading and viewing.

Poetry Friday this week is hosted by Jama at Jama’s Alphabet Soup.

Posted by: Sally | This entry was posted on Friday, June 8th, 2012 at 1:00 am and is filed under Canada, Caribbean, Poetry Books, Poetry Friday. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Tags: Dionne Brand, Earth Magic, Eugenie Fernandes, Jama Rattigan, Jama's Alphabet Soup, Just One Hen, Kids Can Poetry, PaperTigers Illustrator's Gallery, Poetry Friday