We can't get enough of this author/illustrator duo. They discover the most interesting individuals and masterfully shape the telling by relating familiar, present-day experiences with their characters' experiences, enabling details to stick. In this telling, William Carlos Williams faces the difficulty of balancing the need to earn a living with pursuing his artistic endeavors. He manages to establish a thriving medical practice that informed the poetry he created after hours. At his death he was remembered both as a successful physician and an honored, Pulitzer prize-winning poet. The illustrator's note explains her media-choice rounding out an already-rich experience. A picture book biography of William Carlos Williams traces childhood events that lead him to become a doctor and a poet.

2009 Caldecott Honor Book

An ALA Notable Book

A New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book

A Charlotte Zolotow Honor Book

NCTE Notable Children’s Book

When he wrote poems, he felt as free as the Passaic River as it rushed to the falls. Willie’s notebooks filled up, one after another. Willie’s words gave him freedom and peace, but he also knew he needed to earn a living. So he went off to medical school and became a doctor -- one of the busiest men in town! Yet he never stopped writing poetry. In this picture book biography of William Carlos Williams, Jen Bryant’s engaging prose and Melissa Sweet’s stunning mixed-media illustrations celebrate the amazing man who found a way to earn a living and to honor his calling to be a poet.