One cold morning in early spring, a plastic bag blows out of a landfill. Where do the wind and chance take it?
BAG IN THE WIND
Ted Kooser
Illustrated by Barry Root
Candlewick Press
www.candlewick.com
$17.99 Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-7636-3001-0
On sale February 2010
Children’s picture book by Nebraska poet Ted Kooser
Printed on paper containing 100 percent recycled post-consumer waste
In his singular first children’s book, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Ted Kooser, a former U.S. Poet Laureate, follows a plastic bag on its capricious journey from a landfill into a series of townspeople’s lives. Beautiful illustrations by Barry Root evoke the gusty, damp days of early springtime.
“It’s wonderful to be writing for young people. I am reinventing myself at age 70.” — Ted Kooser
“The exquisitely observed narrative renders the American landscape’s dubious symbiosis—nominally natural, persistently industrial—worthy of a child’s attention. . . . Wonderful.”—Kirkus (STARRED REVIEW)
“The reflective message about waste (there’s an endnote about recycling plastic bags) is gently balanced against the meditation on the quiet beauty and nobility of objects—and people—that aren’t often given a second thought or glance.” – Publishers Weekly
About this book, Ted says, “My wife Kathleen and I are dedicated recyclers, but plastic bags present a challenge. Lately, I’ve found that thrift shops like them, so I’ve been taking them there. But foryears I had bags of plastic bags that nobody wanted. Writers and artists make use of things that others may not value, so I thought I’d turn my bags into a story, and here it is.”
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MBA BOOKSELLER INFORMATION
Booksellers — Earn up to $100 in rebates from MBA for promoting BAG IN THE WIND!
Midwest Connections rebate form for BAG IN THE WIND (PDF) – available now!
BAG IN THE WIND ($17.99 Hardcover, ISBN: 978-0-7636-3001-0) is available from Candlewick Press, your Abraham Associates rep, or from your preferred wholesaler. Be sure to contact the publisher for more information about this title.
Ted Kooser lives in eastern Nebraska. He is available on only an extremely limited basis for events at bookstores. If you would like to inquire about his availability, however, please contact Laura Rivas, Assistant Director of Marketing, Publicity, and Events at Candlewick Press, 617-588-4445, laura.rivas@candlewick.com .
MBA and Walker & Company would love to have your comments and reviews for this beautiful and thoughtful picture book. Please send them to us so we can share your endorsements with your fellow MBA booksellers and with your customers!
DOWNLOADS
- Full-color sign/flyer (PDF)
- Full-color shelf-talker (PDF)
- Q&A with Ted Kooser (PDF)
- Author photo (JPG)
- Book cover photo (JPG)
- Midwest Connections rebate form for BAG IN THE WIND (PDF)
– available now! - Midwest Connections Generic Display Materials
ABOUT THE BOOK
One cold morning in early spring, a bulldozer pushes a pile of garbage around a landfill and uncovers an empty plastic bag — a perfectly good bag, the color of the skin of a yellow onion, with two holes for handles — that someone has thrown away. Just then, a puff of wind lifts the rolling, flapping bag over a chain-link fence and into the lives of several townsfolk — a can-collecting girl, a homeless man, a store owner — not that all of them notice. Renowned poet Ted Kooser fashions an understated yet compassionate world full of happenstance and connection, neglect and care, all perfectly expressed in Barry Root’s tender illustrations.
About BAG IN THE WIND, Barry Root says, ” The day I started sketching, I glanced out of my studio and saw a plastic bag caught on a weed stalk. I grabbed a sketchbook and sat down to draw. As I finished, the bag unhooked itself and blew away. It isn’t always easy to get such as good model.”
True to the book’s earth-friendly spirit, it is printed on paper containing 100 percent recycled post-consumer waste and includes an author’s note on recycling plastic bags.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR
Ted Kooser lives in rural Garland, Nebraska, with his wife, Kathleen, and three dogs. He is one of America’s most noted poets, having served two terms as U. S. Poet Laureate and, during the second term, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his collection, DELIGHTS & SHADOWS. He is a retired life insurance executive who now teaches part-time at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. The school board in Lincoln, Nebraska, recently opened Ted Kooser Elementary School, which Ted says is his greatest honor, among many awards and distinctions. He has published twelve collections of poetry and several nonfiction books. The latter include two books on writing, THE POETRY HOME REPAIR MANUAL and WRITING BRAVE AND FREE, the book of essays LOCAL COLOR, and a memoir, LIGHTS ON A GROUND OF DARKNESS (all from University of Nebraska Press.) BAG IN THE WIND from Candlewick is his first children’s book, with which he is delighted.
Barry Root has illustrated many books for children, including THE CAT WHO LIKED POTATO SOUP by Terry Farish and THE BIRTHDAY TREE by Paul Fleischman. He lives in Quarryville, Pennsylvania.
