This is one of those books that's really beautiful, but does not feel like it was written for children so much as librarians and English teachers. Told from the perspective of Emily Dickinson's six-year-old nephew, it illuminates some of her poetry and a few details of her life. But mostly it's about a little boy's love for his aunt.

Probably too difficult for anyone younger than 10. ( )

This sweet book is about a boy who's aunt is Emily Dickinson, a famous poet. In this book the main character takes a poem their uncle (aunt) Emily wrote and was embarrassed, he got into argument with a boy who said mean things about the poem. His uncle Emily inspired him with a poem to tell his family the truth about what happened that day in school. This book has classic illustrations and poetry that is difficult to read as the boy can attest. This book takes the life of Emily Dickinson while also teaching a lesson about doing what is honest and right. ( )

In high school I read many poems by Emily Dickinson, she truly had a gift for writing. When a reader takes the time to break down one of her poems, they can always learn something new. I enjoyed how the book broke down one of Dickinson’s poems. It used a story to simplify the poem and make it understandable for children. “Tell all the Truth” is one of the poems I read in high school and I remember being confused because I was not sure what she meant by “tell all the truth but tell it slant”. In the book it breaks it down, Gib reads the poem and responds with “do you mean that I should tell the story…”, “The whole story with a certain care, so that the tale comes around to the truth at last”, Emily responded. In that dialogue the author explained the poem. She did not need to look at it with a magnifying glass or dissect it piece by piece. She used a story of a child to break down the poem and get the point across, I thought that was amazing. ( )

An interesting way to introduce the poetry and person of Emily Dickenson to children. ( )

Gib, a young boy, had an "uncle like no other," says this book. His uncle was actually his aunt, Emily Dickenson. She wrote many poems as he grew up, and they adored each other. She once had him bring with him to school a poem she wrote about bees. It is documented that two years later, Gib died, and Emily wrote about him once more. This book nor the authors note write about why Emily's nieces and nephews referred to her as Uncle rather than Aunt, but this is a very interesting story. ( )