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To Go Singing Through the World: The Childhood of Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda grew up in the rough and wild frontier town of Temuco, Chile. His father was a railroad man and not inclined to draw out the introspective boy. However, his stepmother, descended from the Mapuche people, was gentle and nurturing and told him stories of Chile's native people. But in her husband's presence, she was as silent as Pablo. So the child found refuge in nature and in books. And secretly he wrote down his thoughts. With the encouragement of Gabriela Mistral, an award-winning poet, teacher, and friend, Neruda's writing grew resonant and powerful. At age sixteen he left Temuco for the university in Santiago and went on to become the "people's poet" and to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Blending her telling of Neruda's childhood with excerpts from his own poetry and prose, Ms. Ray captures the people and places that inspired him in her rich watercolor illustrations.
Blending her telling of Neruda's childhood with excerpts from his own poetry and prose, Ms. Ray captures the people and places that inspired him in her rich watercolor illustrations.
40 pages, Hardcover
First published October 31, 2006
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90 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
September 10, 2018
"Anyone who hasn't been in the Chilean forest doesn't know this planet.
I have come out of that landscape, that mud, that silence, to roam, to go through singing through the world."--Neruda
Pablo Neruda was the greatest poet in any language on the planet in the twentieth century. His Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair would make a fine thing to share with a lover, or future lover. But Neruda could also write out of anger for unjust social conditions, such as for coal miners; he was a senator of Chile and exiled after a speech he made criticizing the government for ignoring the needs of the poor.
This lovely, lyrical picture book biography focuses--since the primary audience is/may be children--
on the childhood of Neruda in Chile, inspired by the poet and his teacher Gabriela Mistral (so it's also a book for librarians and parents and teachers who should be inspired to inspire young people to create.
I also really liked this also beautiful picture book biography of Neruda, Pablo Neruda: Poet of the People by Monica Brown and Julie Paschkis, which I took out of the library with Ray's book, thinking they might be contrasting in some ways, but they complement each other, really. Both are lovely. My only critique of Brown's book is that it didn't get any of Neruda's actual poetry in it, which Ray--I am gratified to report--really does as much as possible.
Poetry
Pablo Neruda
And it was at that age . . . Poetry arrived
in search of me. I don't know, I don't know where
it came from, from winter or a river.
I don't know how or when,
no they were not voices, they were not
words, nor silence,
but from a street I was summoned,
from the branches of night,
abruptly from the others,
among violent fires
or returning alone,
there I was without a face
and it touched me.
I did not know what to say, my mouth
had no way
with names,
my eyes were blind,
and something started in my soul,
fever or forgotten wings,
and I made my own way,
deciphering
that fire,
and I wrote the first faint line,
faint, without substance, pure
nonsense,
pure wisdom
of someone who knows nothing,
and suddenly I saw
the heavens
unfastened
and open,
planets,
palpitating plantations,
shadow perforated,
riddled
with arrows, fire and flowers,
the winding night, the universe.
And I, infinitesimal being,
drunk with the great starry
void,
likeness, image of
mystery,
felt myself a pure part
of the abyss,
I wheeled with the stars,
my heart broke loose on the wind.
I have come out of that landscape, that mud, that silence, to roam, to go through singing through the world."--Neruda
Pablo Neruda was the greatest poet in any language on the planet in the twentieth century. His Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair would make a fine thing to share with a lover, or future lover. But Neruda could also write out of anger for unjust social conditions, such as for coal miners; he was a senator of Chile and exiled after a speech he made criticizing the government for ignoring the needs of the poor.
This lovely, lyrical picture book biography focuses--since the primary audience is/may be children--
on the childhood of Neruda in Chile, inspired by the poet and his teacher Gabriela Mistral (so it's also a book for librarians and parents and teachers who should be inspired to inspire young people to create.
I also really liked this also beautiful picture book biography of Neruda, Pablo Neruda: Poet of the People by Monica Brown and Julie Paschkis, which I took out of the library with Ray's book, thinking they might be contrasting in some ways, but they complement each other, really. Both are lovely. My only critique of Brown's book is that it didn't get any of Neruda's actual poetry in it, which Ray--I am gratified to report--really does as much as possible.
Poetry
Pablo Neruda
And it was at that age . . . Poetry arrived
in search of me. I don't know, I don't know where
it came from, from winter or a river.
I don't know how or when,
no they were not voices, they were not
words, nor silence,
but from a street I was summoned,
from the branches of night,
abruptly from the others,
among violent fires
or returning alone,
there I was without a face
and it touched me.
I did not know what to say, my mouth
had no way
with names,
my eyes were blind,
and something started in my soul,
fever or forgotten wings,
and I made my own way,
deciphering
that fire,
and I wrote the first faint line,
faint, without substance, pure
nonsense,
pure wisdom
of someone who knows nothing,
and suddenly I saw
the heavens
unfastened
and open,
planets,
palpitating plantations,
shadow perforated,
riddled
with arrows, fire and flowers,
the winding night, the universe.
And I, infinitesimal being,
drunk with the great starry
void,
likeness, image of
mystery,
felt myself a pure part
of the abyss,
I wheeled with the stars,
my heart broke loose on the wind.
October 13, 2021
To Go Singing Through the World: The Childhood of Pablo Neruda is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Deborah Kogan Ray. It describes the childhood of Pablo Neruda and his fateful meeting with Gabriela Mistral that would change his life.
Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto, better known by his pen name and later his legal name Pablo Neruda, was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971.
Ray's text is rather simplistic, straightforward, and informative. Ray deepens her account by judiciously interspersing her warm text with pointed excerpts from Neruda's own autobiographical prose and gorgeous, highly personal poetry. Backmatter includes the poem "Poetry" in both English and Spanish, author's note, biographical information on Neruda and Mistral, and a timeline. Ray's gentle paintings capture Neruda's times and world, which are beautifully rendered.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. Chile's national poet and hero grew up in a small town to which the railroad brought settlers, commerce and possibilities. The newly bustling town, his loving stepmother's fascinating stories and his sensitivity to the glories of the surrounding rain forest opened up a magical world of language for the shy, solitary stutterer and shaped and defined his gifted voice.
As a teenager, he met renowned poet and Nobel Literature Prize winner Gabriela Mistral, who recognized his talent and encouraged him to read widely, who would eventually win a Nobel Prize for Literature himself.
All in all, To Go Singing Through the World: The Childhood of Pablo Neruda is a wonderful biography of the childhood of Chile’s national poet and hero.
Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto, better known by his pen name and later his legal name Pablo Neruda, was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971.
Ray's text is rather simplistic, straightforward, and informative. Ray deepens her account by judiciously interspersing her warm text with pointed excerpts from Neruda's own autobiographical prose and gorgeous, highly personal poetry. Backmatter includes the poem "Poetry" in both English and Spanish, author's note, biographical information on Neruda and Mistral, and a timeline. Ray's gentle paintings capture Neruda's times and world, which are beautifully rendered.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. Chile's national poet and hero grew up in a small town to which the railroad brought settlers, commerce and possibilities. The newly bustling town, his loving stepmother's fascinating stories and his sensitivity to the glories of the surrounding rain forest opened up a magical world of language for the shy, solitary stutterer and shaped and defined his gifted voice.
As a teenager, he met renowned poet and Nobel Literature Prize winner Gabriela Mistral, who recognized his talent and encouraged him to read widely, who would eventually win a Nobel Prize for Literature himself.
All in all, To Go Singing Through the World: The Childhood of Pablo Neruda is a wonderful biography of the childhood of Chile’s national poet and hero.
July 23, 2010
Ha! Writing poems in his math notebook. I think many children will identify.
This is a lovingly created book about Pablo Neruda, mostly covering the first sixteen years of his life.
This poetic book is a biography about Neruda, and a significant amount of the story uses his own poetry and prose writings. It was a smart and lovely choice to write this book using Neruda’s own words. He was a shy child, who stuttered and at times had elective mutism, who was both afraid of nature (the nearby volcano) and enjoyed time in nature. He was a prolific poet from an early age.
The illustrations are wonderful! They capture the atmosphere of the time and place very well. There’s an included illustrated map of Chile and a pictorial representation of the area of Chile where Neruda grew up.
At the end of the book, there is an author’s note that gives information about Neruda’s adult life, which is really needed given how much of a contribution he made to Chile and the world when he was an adult. There’s a blurb about the life of Gabriela Mistral, a teacher who first championed Neruda and his poetry writing, and who also became his friend. There’s also a chronology of Pablo Neruda from birth (1904) to death (1973), including some pertinent details of what was going on in Chile during this period.
This is a text heavy picture book written for older children. I suspect this book will interest children in finding and reading (or rereading) Neruda’s poetry.
I love how this story shows that giving a child nurturing and mentoring can make all the difference in a child’s life, and how a child’s natural talent and inclinations should be respected and celebrated.
This is a lovingly created book about Pablo Neruda, mostly covering the first sixteen years of his life.
This poetic book is a biography about Neruda, and a significant amount of the story uses his own poetry and prose writings. It was a smart and lovely choice to write this book using Neruda’s own words. He was a shy child, who stuttered and at times had elective mutism, who was both afraid of nature (the nearby volcano) and enjoyed time in nature. He was a prolific poet from an early age.
The illustrations are wonderful! They capture the atmosphere of the time and place very well. There’s an included illustrated map of Chile and a pictorial representation of the area of Chile where Neruda grew up.
At the end of the book, there is an author’s note that gives information about Neruda’s adult life, which is really needed given how much of a contribution he made to Chile and the world when he was an adult. There’s a blurb about the life of Gabriela Mistral, a teacher who first championed Neruda and his poetry writing, and who also became his friend. There’s also a chronology of Pablo Neruda from birth (1904) to death (1973), including some pertinent details of what was going on in Chile during this period.
This is a text heavy picture book written for older children. I suspect this book will interest children in finding and reading (or rereading) Neruda’s poetry.
I love how this story shows that giving a child nurturing and mentoring can make all the difference in a child’s life, and how a child’s natural talent and inclinations should be respected and celebrated.
February 14, 2018
Lyrical, lush, illuminating, this picture needs to be part of every Latinx picture book collection. That I had to buy it from Ebay is a tragedy.
July 14, 2010
Oh, WOW! This is SUCH a great book! I am really, really happy I took a chance and bought a copy used and I'm sad to see there are only seven reviews of this gem here on GoodReads. It deserves to be better known!
This is the story of Pablo Neruda's boyhood up to the time he left for college at the age of sixteen. Deborah Kogan Ray has done a remarkable job, not only of beautifully weaving her own words, but of weaving excerpts of Neruda's poetry and prose in with her narrative in a seamless fashion. We learn of a boy, deeply sensitive, deeply in tune with the natural world and the people around him--yet incredibly shy, sealing himself away, rarely speaking. Thanks to the gentle love and understanding of his step-mother, and the friendship and encouragement of his school's principal (Gabriela Mistral, who became the first Latin American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature), Pablo began to share the poetry that had always lived inside him, "to go singing through the world."
The story concludes by reprinting Neruda's poem titled "Poetry" in both English and Spanish.
An author's note includes a timeline of Neruda's life detailing some of his political activism and his later literary successes.
I love Neruda's poetry, and my husband was born in Chile, so this book is extra-special to me. But, I would highly recommend it to anyone seeking an outstanding picture book about a shy, sensitive boy who became a brave champion of the human spirit. (Note it is long for a picture book, with some complex words, so better for the upper picture book age group.)
This is the story of Pablo Neruda's boyhood up to the time he left for college at the age of sixteen. Deborah Kogan Ray has done a remarkable job, not only of beautifully weaving her own words, but of weaving excerpts of Neruda's poetry and prose in with her narrative in a seamless fashion. We learn of a boy, deeply sensitive, deeply in tune with the natural world and the people around him--yet incredibly shy, sealing himself away, rarely speaking. Thanks to the gentle love and understanding of his step-mother, and the friendship and encouragement of his school's principal (Gabriela Mistral, who became the first Latin American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature), Pablo began to share the poetry that had always lived inside him, "to go singing through the world."
The story concludes by reprinting Neruda's poem titled "Poetry" in both English and Spanish.
An author's note includes a timeline of Neruda's life detailing some of his political activism and his later literary successes.
I love Neruda's poetry, and my husband was born in Chile, so this book is extra-special to me. But, I would highly recommend it to anyone seeking an outstanding picture book about a shy, sensitive boy who became a brave champion of the human spirit. (Note it is long for a picture book, with some complex words, so better for the upper picture book age group.)
May 28, 2019
Pairing selections from the poet's autobiographical writing with her own narrative, Deborah Kogan Ray - whose other biographical picture-books include such titles as
Wanda Gág: The Girl Who Lived to Draw
and
Down the Colorado: John Wesley Powell, the One-Armed Explorer
- tells the story of Pablo Neruda's youth in To Go Singing Through the World. Chronicling the shy young boy's childhood in the Chilean frontier-town of Temuco, his loving relationship with his step-mother, who introduced him to the stories of Chile's indigenous people (she was Mapuche herself), it also highlights the early years of his life-long friendship with fellow poet Gabriela Mistral, who was the principal of the girls' division of his school, and who became his mentor.
I enjoyed both the dual-strand narrative and the artwork in this book, and was struck by how all three combine flawlessly to capture the intensity of a young Neruda's feelings, and his inward-drawn early life. How interesting that such a phenomenally gifted poet, someone known for his strong voice (even if only his literary voice), was so quiet and withdrawn, as a child. Ray's book makes you feel that it is this very solitude that created the poet - an idea I find rather appealing. After all, before one can truly communicate, one must understand, and listening and observation play such an important part in building understanding. In any case, this is just an immensely engaging biography of an important figure in world literature, and is a book I would recommend to all young poets, and fans of Pablo Neruda.
I enjoyed both the dual-strand narrative and the artwork in this book, and was struck by how all three combine flawlessly to capture the intensity of a young Neruda's feelings, and his inward-drawn early life. How interesting that such a phenomenally gifted poet, someone known for his strong voice (even if only his literary voice), was so quiet and withdrawn, as a child. Ray's book makes you feel that it is this very solitude that created the poet - an idea I find rather appealing. After all, before one can truly communicate, one must understand, and listening and observation play such an important part in building understanding. In any case, this is just an immensely engaging biography of an important figure in world literature, and is a book I would recommend to all young poets, and fans of Pablo Neruda.
February 13, 2017
Pablo Neruda has long been among my favorite poets. Deborah Kogan Ray uses colorful images, poetic prose, and Neruda's own words to tell the story of his childhood in a small Chilean town in the mountains. Though Neruda was painfully shy to the point of being mute at times, and uncomfortable around strangers, he found an outlet for his words in writing poetry. I think it was more than coincidence that Gabriela Mistral, a Nobel Prize winning poet, came to his small town, out of all the places in Chile, to teach and eventually mentor him. Reading this book made me want to take out my books of his poetry and to read more about his life. Beautiful!
October 12, 2023
Breathtaking.
Note: more of a children's book for adult children than a children's book for children children.
"Shyness is a kink in the soul, a special category, a dimension that opens out into solitude."
"I grew up in this town, my poetry was born between the hill and the river, it took its voice from the rain, and like the timber, it steeped itself in the forests. And that sharp chirp of the cricket raising its plaint in the unyielding solitude turns into my song, my own song."
"Anyone who hasn't been in the Chilean forest doesn't know this planet.
I have come out of that landscape, that mud, that silence, to roam, to go singing through the world."
Next dream destination: Araucania, Chile
Note: more of a children's book for adult children than a children's book for children children.
"Shyness is a kink in the soul, a special category, a dimension that opens out into solitude."
"I grew up in this town, my poetry was born between the hill and the river, it took its voice from the rain, and like the timber, it steeped itself in the forests. And that sharp chirp of the cricket raising its plaint in the unyielding solitude turns into my song, my own song."
"Anyone who hasn't been in the Chilean forest doesn't know this planet.
I have come out of that landscape, that mud, that silence, to roam, to go singing through the world."
Next dream destination: Araucania, Chile
October 18, 2020
It was too long for a single read with my girls, but I kept reading. It was a beautiful tale about Chile and its people and its Poet.
March 5, 2021
This book was my reward to myself when I completed my goal of memorizing a certain number of poems. What a treat!!! I learned so much ...and my appetite is whetted to learn more about quite a number of things. I first learned about the book because of the illustrator whose art I thoroughly enjoyed.
April 16, 2009
Loved this book! I randomly picked it up while looking at biographies in the children section. Pablo Neruda has been one of my favorite poets since college, when I fell in love with his love poems after seeing the film "Il Postino." I didn't know anything about his childhood, so this book was very intriguing. His father worked for the Chilean railroad and his stepmother who raised him, Dona Trinidad, was a native Indian of the region. I love the way the author interspersed Neruda's thoughts and poetry throughout the book, to make it more real and a better biography. He was fascinated by the rain forest and some of his earliest poems were about it. The costumes of the native people are gorgeous. Considering how open and beautiful his love poems are, it's amazing that he was such as shy and quiet child. Gabriela Mistral, the headmistress of the girl's school and a published poet herself encourages Pablo's reading and writing, and got him a scholarship to study at the university in Santiago. I like that it features one of his poems in the back, in English and Spanish. The author's note in the back, mini-biography, and chronology help draw the picture of this wonderful man. The illustrations are beautiful too.
March 21, 2012
This is the second biography of Pablo Neruda I have read today -- both for children. While this is also a "picture book" biography, it is suited to older children. It contains more information and much more sophisticated language. The title comes from a line of Neruda's poetry, "I have come out of that landscape, that mud, that silence, to roam, to go singing through the world." And did you know that Gabriela Mistral was Neruda's school principal?
November 20, 2008
GREAT book. I really liked it. It had a basic enough story line that PB liked it, but I loved it. I loved how she told the story using quotes from Neruda's writings. Fabulous book. One of Neruda's poems is printed on the last pages in both Spanish and English-more beautiful in Spanish. It did take us two days to get through it with PB and Mei Mei though.
March 10, 2009
We were inspired by the story of Pablo Neruda. The challenges he had, the people placed in his path to help him through. This book not only tells his story, but also includes his words and poems plus more biographical information at the back of the book. It was also interesting to learn about turn of the century Chile.
July 3, 2016
There were several different biographies of Pablo Neruda on the shelf, so I thought I'd compare them and I'm glad I did. This one is even better than the first one (which I also liked); the illustrations are just gorgeous, and sections of Neruda's poetry and prose are blended into the narrative text. It's lovely.
May 29, 2016
An absolutely beautiful book that tells the story of Pablo Neruda's childhood and the places and people that/who inspired him to be a poet. I love that excerpts of his poetry are included in the text. I wouldn't mind a continuing tale in this format. That would be cool- a nonfiction picture book series of one person.
April 26, 2013
This children's biography introduced me to the life of Pablo Neruda, probably the most famous poet from Chile. It was well written, with good illustrations. I read it with some students for National Poetry Month, pairing the bio with some of Pablo's poems.
October 28, 2009
An exceptional juvenile biography of Pablo Neruda's childhood. The pictures were lovely as were the words. I especially enjoyed the excerpts from Neruda's memoirs and poems. Two thumbs, way up.
July 5, 2009
I applaud this book for bringing attention to a great Latin American poet many children in the US may not already know about. Lyrically written.
November 23, 2011
Read this to Ruby over the course of a few nights.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews