The idea is to copy a sentence or two from a book you are reading and “tease” other readers into reading the same book. My book this Tuesday is one that was donated to my Little Free Library, The Mouse of Amherst by Elizabeth Spires and illustrated by Claire A. Nivola. It tells of a mouse who lives in Emily Dickinson’s house and “helps” her write her poetry.
“I am a mouse, a white mouse. My name is Emmaline. Before I met Emily, the great poet of Amherst, I was nothing more than a cheese nibbler, a mouse-of-little-purpose. There was an emptiness in my life that nothing seemed to fill.”
This may be classified as a children’s book (recommended by a local private school for ages 9+), but its delightful text and special illustrations make it a must for a lit major like me. One of the poems “inspired” by Emmaline when Emily introduces herself starts like this:
“I’m Nobody! Who are you?
Are you–nobody–too?
Then there’s a pair of us!
Don’t tell! they’d banish us you know!
How dreary–to be–Somebody!
How public–like a Frog–
To tell your name–the livelong June–
To an admiring Bog!”
Emily Dickinson
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