“There are, always, so many things to wonder about.”

A Pocket of Time: The Poetic Childhood of Elizabeth Bishop by author Rita Wilson and illustrator Emma FitzGerald is about a little girl who lived with her Gammie and Pai in Great Village, Nova Scotia. This is where Elizabeth Bishop grew up to become a famous poet. There she had first gone to school at the age of five and it was there when her mother left and never returned. A Pocket of Time explores the poetic childhood of Elizabeth Bishop and looks into her childhood days. With excerpts of Bishop’s poetry and other famous poems, the book is a lyrical masterpiece.

The illustrations in this book are so cute and make the reading experience so much more exciting. I would describe the art as a mix of modern and fashion illustration art that creates a sense of comfort and warmth! It invites the reader to engage more with the book through the beautiful hues and vibrant colors. The illustrator Emma FitzGerald’s art style has now become one of my favourites sit is so delicate and elegant. She was also really able to wonderfully capture the scenic beauty of Nova Scotia and I was able to connect Bishop’s roots with Great Village.
The flow of the book A Pocket of Time includes fragments of Bishop’s poetry along with the rhythmic lines of Rita Wilson’s narrative the book combines to create its music throughout the book making it feel like being part of a musical. A very easy-to-read book with amazing composition and a unique structure of contents in the book. The writing made me connect back to the memories of my childhood and I received the comfort of my family and remembered footprints of nostalgic memories. Wilson’s writing is unique, but it continues to honour Bishop’s legacy through her poetry and her writing is also another component of originality in the book. I found it amazing how Wilson was able to create such a beautiful balance between biography writing and poetry, a different experience it was for me.
Even though A Pocket of Time is a children’s book, it carries deep and emotional meaning. Some words that I read were just echoing with complex feelings such as:

“At the end of the hall and right next to Elizabeth is Gertrude, her mother’s room…
My ears would listen listen…
Often nothing could be heard
There was a time when her mother came and went, to and from Great Village. Then she was gone.
Now the front bedroom is empty.”
But there would be quotes of Bishop’s desires and positivity that would be like surprises of joy for me:
“I was so taken with the pull-down maps that I wanted to…touch all the countries and provinces with my own hands.”
Overall, I rate this book five out of five stars just for how unique and artistic it was and just the journey of reading the book was so exciting and fulfilling. I recommend not just for kids to read this book, but for everyone to read it because I know that person is going to have a different connection with this book, as mine was filled with comfort and warmth.