Serious Poetry
Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart
by Vera B. Williams
Bibliography
Williams, Vera. 2001. Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart. New York: Greenwillow Books.
ISBN: 006029461
Book Review
The sad and pathetic lives of Amber and Essie are poignantly summarized through a collection of twenty-eight poems written and illustrated by Vera Williams. Each poem describes the day to day struggles of two innocent little girls who try to maintain a decent life while their mother works all day long, and their father spends time in jail. Although young in age, incessant experience from this way of life has forced them to grow and mature much faster than young girls should. Every poem delivers a strong dose of realism that sadly many children face in today’s society, and this is eloquently accomplished by Williams’ poetic style. Above all, these tender free verse poems tell of the undying sisterly love between Amber and Essie, and how they look out for each other when they spend their days all alone, with hardly a bite to eat.
Williams further displays a lovely collection of simple black charcoal sketches to offer appealing visuals to readers. However, readers are first greeted with colorfully sketched pastel pictures of Amber and Essie in beautiful eye catching colors. Williams offers a surprise at the end as she includes a photo album presented with the same colorful pastels of the characters mentioned throughout each of these poems in the book. A picture of Amber’s braids falling to her feet, or the ever popular Sunday “girls only” routine titled, “Beauty Parlor Time,” are added to complete a happy ending to this book.
“Best Sandwich,” is one poem from this collection that shows the love and affection these two young sisters give each other when they spend many evenings all alone. Included in this special sandwich, is the beloved stuffed animal named, Wilson The Bear.
Best Sandwich
“Best sandwich” they called it
with Amber on one side
and Essie on the other
with one fat pillow close by Essie’s cheek
and one fat pillow by Amber’s
while Wilson The Bear
lay right in the middle
up against them both
“Best sandwich” they called it
and it filled them up
when peanut butter wouldn’t
and jelly couldn’t
(only crackers were on the shelf anyway)
when their Mama was at her job
and their Daddy was far away
and the house felt dark
When they did “Best Sandwich”
it turned the room friendly from strange
and they could breathe each other’s breath
in and out and in and out
till they heard at last
their mother’s key in the big front door
Extensions
After reading and sharing the poem, “Best Sandwich,” display this poem on large butcher paper or through a projector so children can read and view Williams’ poetic style firsthand. During different readings of this poem, draw attention to the absence of punctuation used throughout the poem. Mention how this is a writing technique commonly found within some poems. But, also notice that even with the absence of punctuation, this poem still flows and delivers a special meaning.
After reading and enjoying this poem, children can create a biopoem on either Amber or Essie by listing character traits gathered from this poem. As an alternative, children may also enjoy writing a biopoem about themselves describing a time they were brave or smart.
Image Source: HarperCollins Publishers