This delightful story presents a fictionalized Miss Emily Dickinson and her young neighbors in fun adventures in her garden and about in the evening. The story is written in free verse with short lines gracing the pages rather than structured format of rhyming poems or paragraph prose. This is a nice introduction (albeit fictionalized) to Miss Emily Dickinson, favorite poet of America. It is also a good introduction to reading free verse with a storyline similar to what it would be were it written in regular paragraph form.

A whimsical Miss Emily is portrayed in this story as the instigator and conspirator of adventures. The bibliography at the end is an asset as is the section of historical notes including the identity of the people actually in the story: "Mac" is MacGregor (Mac) Jenkins who lived across the street from the Dickinson mansion during his childhood. He became an author and wrote Emily Dickinson, Friend and Neighbor in 1930. And "Ned" is Edward (Ned) Dickinson who was Miss Emily's nephew living next door to his aunt.

The story..... It is an invitation to adventure issued by Miss Emily to the four children to meet her at night to go see the traveling circus and all it's glory. While out and about, one of the children is hurt. But all does not end there. They adventure continues.

Soft black and white sketches bring life to the story and each illustration has the identifying line of text beneath it. The book is abundantly illustrated but not a true "picture book." Matt Phelan's illustrations have a charm that speaks well to the story and to the time frame in which the story happened.

An engaging read, while it might involve some struggle for some readers to grasp the style. It is still a great introduction to fictionalizing a real person (and people), an opportunity to read a "story" in a different style, and to have a fun time whilst doing it all.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher to facilitate a review. Opinions are my own and I was not compensated. ( )

This book was fantastic. Written in lyrical prose, it tells a story of Emily Dickinson, or Miss Emily, and her adventure with a group of young children. The group, pretending to by gypsies, sneak out of their houses and wait for a midnight circus train to arrive. This was a beautiful book. ( )

Miss Emily, about the poet Emily Dickinson leading a band of children on an adventure to greet a circus train at night, will hit the mark for parents and teachers who are looking for a sweet, innocent story for their kids to read. It has enough mischief and adventure to appeal to child readers, but is told with charm and is accompanied by lovely, expressive illustrations. It doesn't reveal much about the biography of Emily Dickinson, but is a nice introduction to her life, and shows a side of her that I'm sure is less familiar to readers. I'm guessing that the author's choice to write the book in verse is a tip of the hat to Dickinson's poetry, but I found that the random line breaks never allow the reader to fall into a rhythm, so I feel like it would've been better left in prose. Otherwise, a nice length and a good tale for children who are graduating from picture books to longer stories.

A story told in verse from the life of Emily Dickenson. I was happy to add it to my collection! ( )

Free verse story about the adventures of Miss Emily Dickenson and children. She may have withdrawn from society but she still loved children. Leading the children to the train depot, after the children should be asleep, allows them to watch the arrival of the circus train. This escapade provides a short biographical glimpse into the reclusive poet's life. Phelan's pencil drawing show the same style as his graphic novels and is perfect for showing Miss Emily in a different light. (LibraryThing Review copy) Grades 3-5. ( )