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Old Home Day
An award-winning poet and a Caldecott Medalist collaborate in a memorable picture book that celebrates the cycles of growth and change in a fictional New England town. Donald Hall and Emily Arnold McCully's evocative history of this small town mirrors the decline and renewal of small towns everywhere. Full color.
26 pages, Library Binding
First published October 1, 1996
About the author
Donald Hall
192 books208 followersDonald Hall was considered one of the major American poets of his generation.
His poetry explores the longing for a more bucolic past and reflects the poet’s abiding reverence for nature. Although Hall gained early success with his first collection, Exiles and Marriages (1955), his later poetry is generally regarded as the best of his career. Often compared favorably with such writers as James Dickey, Robert Bly, and James Wright, Hall used simple, direct language to evoke surrealistic imagery. In addition to his poetry, Hall built a respected body of prose that includes essays, short fiction, plays, and children’s books. Hall, who lived on the New Hampshire farm he visited in summers as a boy, was also noted for the anthologies he has edited and is a popular teacher, speaker, and reader of his own poems.
Born in 1928, Hall grew up in Hamden, Connecticut. The Hall household was marked by a volatile father and a mother who was “steadier, maybe with more access to depths because there was less continual surface,” as Hall explained in an essay for Contemporary Authors Autobiography Series (CAAS). “To her I owe my fires, to my father my tears. I owe them both for their reading.” By age twelve, Hall had discovered the poet and short story writer Edgar Allan Poe: “I read Poe and my life changed,” he remarked in CAAS. Another strong influence in Hall’s early years was his maternal great-grandfather’s farm in New Hampshire, where he spent many summers. Decades later, he bought the same farm and settled there as a full-time writer and poet.
Hall attended Philips Exeter Academy and had his first poem published at age 16. He was a participant at the prestigious Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference, where he met Robert Frost, that same year. From Exeter, Hall went to Harvard University, attending class alongside Adrienne Rich, Robert Bly, Frank O’Hara, and John Ashbery; he also studied for a year with Archibald MacLeish. Hall earned a BLitt from Oxford University and won the Newdigate contest for his poem “Exile,” one of the few Americans ever to win the prize. Returning to the United States, Hall spent a year at Stanford, studying under the poet-critic Yvor Winters, before returning to Harvard to join the prestigious Society of Fellows. It was there that Hall assembled Exiles and Marriages, a tightly-structured collection crafted in rigid rhyme and meter. In 1953, Hall also became the poetry editor of the Paris Review, a position he held until 1961. In 1957 he took a position as assistant professor of English at the University of Michigan, where he remained until 1975. While at Michigan, Hall met the young Jane Kenyon. They later married and, when Hall’s grandmother, who owned Eagle Pond Farm, passed away, bought the farm, left teaching, and moved there together. The collections Kicking the Leaves (1978) and The Happy Man (1986) reflect Hall’s happiness at his return to the family farm, a place rich with memories and links to his past. Many of the poems explore and celebrate the continuity between generations. The Happy Man won the Lenore Marshall/Nation Prize. Hall’s next book, The One Day (1988), won the National Book Critics Circle Award. A long poem that meditates on the on-set of old age, The One Day, like much of Hall’s early work, takes shape under formal pressure: composed of 110 stanzas, split over three sections, its final sections are written in blank verse. The critic Frederick Pollack praised the book as possibly “the last masterpiece of American Modernism. Any poet who seeks to surpass this genre should study it; any reader who has lost interest in contemporary poetry should read it.” Old and New Poems (1990) contains several traditional poems from earlier collections, as well as more innovative verses not previously published. “Baseball,” included in The Museum of Clear Ideas (1993), is the poet’s ode to the great American pastime and is structured around t
His poetry explores the longing for a more bucolic past and reflects the poet’s abiding reverence for nature. Although Hall gained early success with his first collection, Exiles and Marriages (1955), his later poetry is generally regarded as the best of his career. Often compared favorably with such writers as James Dickey, Robert Bly, and James Wright, Hall used simple, direct language to evoke surrealistic imagery. In addition to his poetry, Hall built a respected body of prose that includes essays, short fiction, plays, and children’s books. Hall, who lived on the New Hampshire farm he visited in summers as a boy, was also noted for the anthologies he has edited and is a popular teacher, speaker, and reader of his own poems.
Born in 1928, Hall grew up in Hamden, Connecticut. The Hall household was marked by a volatile father and a mother who was “steadier, maybe with more access to depths because there was less continual surface,” as Hall explained in an essay for Contemporary Authors Autobiography Series (CAAS). “To her I owe my fires, to my father my tears. I owe them both for their reading.” By age twelve, Hall had discovered the poet and short story writer Edgar Allan Poe: “I read Poe and my life changed,” he remarked in CAAS. Another strong influence in Hall’s early years was his maternal great-grandfather’s farm in New Hampshire, where he spent many summers. Decades later, he bought the same farm and settled there as a full-time writer and poet.
Hall attended Philips Exeter Academy and had his first poem published at age 16. He was a participant at the prestigious Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference, where he met Robert Frost, that same year. From Exeter, Hall went to Harvard University, attending class alongside Adrienne Rich, Robert Bly, Frank O’Hara, and John Ashbery; he also studied for a year with Archibald MacLeish. Hall earned a BLitt from Oxford University and won the Newdigate contest for his poem “Exile,” one of the few Americans ever to win the prize. Returning to the United States, Hall spent a year at Stanford, studying under the poet-critic Yvor Winters, before returning to Harvard to join the prestigious Society of Fellows. It was there that Hall assembled Exiles and Marriages, a tightly-structured collection crafted in rigid rhyme and meter. In 1953, Hall also became the poetry editor of the Paris Review, a position he held until 1961. In 1957 he took a position as assistant professor of English at the University of Michigan, where he remained until 1975. While at Michigan, Hall met the young Jane Kenyon. They later married and, when Hall’s grandmother, who owned Eagle Pond Farm, passed away, bought the farm, left teaching, and moved there together. The collections Kicking the Leaves (1978) and The Happy Man (1986) reflect Hall’s happiness at his return to the family farm, a place rich with memories and links to his past. Many of the poems explore and celebrate the continuity between generations. The Happy Man won the Lenore Marshall/Nation Prize. Hall’s next book, The One Day (1988), won the National Book Critics Circle Award. A long poem that meditates on the on-set of old age, The One Day, like much of Hall’s early work, takes shape under formal pressure: composed of 110 stanzas, split over three sections, its final sections are written in blank verse. The critic Frederick Pollack praised the book as possibly “the last masterpiece of American Modernism. Any poet who seeks to surpass this genre should study it; any reader who has lost interest in contemporary poetry should read it.” Old and New Poems (1990) contains several traditional poems from earlier collections, as well as more innovative verses not previously published. “Baseball,” included in The Museum of Clear Ideas (1993), is the poet’s ode to the great American pastime and is structured around t
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 30, 2017
A lovely picture book about the history of a place (Blackwater Pond) in what is now the state of New Hampshire, from the retreat of the glaciers to the coming of Native American settlers and on into Colonial times, the American Civil War, the turn of the century (1900), up to the present day (1996, when the book was published), and the people and families who made a home there, lived and died there, or moved on to other places. It is a story of place--a sense of place--the importance of place, of honoring and returning to one's ancestral roots (in this case, the annual Old Home Day), the ebb and flow of community over time, and our place in the great chain of being. It is a deep story, told with simplicity, elegance and wisdom from an "old master."
Unfortunately, not enough people are listening. We are too distracted and busy racing toward oblivion.
Unfortunately, not enough people are listening. We are too distracted and busy racing toward oblivion.
April 19, 2021
Genre: Historical Realistic Fiction
Grade Level: 4th
This is a nice little story about a village which is formed and a house built before everyone slowly leaves over the course of many decades, and takes place over a few centuries. It is sweet and shows the potential strength of a town. The town, although it was once filled with people, became one of few residents but still persevered and survived long enough to repopulate with descendants of its previous residents.
Grade Level: 4th
This is a nice little story about a village which is formed and a house built before everyone slowly leaves over the course of many decades, and takes place over a few centuries. It is sweet and shows the potential strength of a town. The town, although it was once filled with people, became one of few residents but still persevered and survived long enough to repopulate with descendants of its previous residents.
Want to Read
June 25, 2024May be hard to find at public libraries. Donald Hall, U.S. poet laureate 2006, and Emily Arnold McCully Caldecott award winner ( for book "Mirette on the High Wire" ).
Read
December 7, 2014Old Home Day is a historical fiction book following the story of one town through history. This town is Blackwater Pond, New Hampshire. It starts the history thousands of years ago, and then jumps to the time of the Native America settlements. It continues with the town through the pioneers and later on through American history. As the years went on, the town developed; trees came down, rail way came in. It also followed specific families through history, specifically through the Bosells. The book ends with a parade to celebrate the town’s history.
The pictures seemed to be done with water colors. They have a lighter color scheme to show the joy from the town. The illustrations did a really good job of showing this fictional town through the different time periods. They were very colorful and incredibly detailed. An interesting element of the book was the author’s note that told the readers the inspiration of the book. It is always interesting to learn about the back-story of the book. Overall, this book is an excellent resource for children to understand the customs of certain time periods, with good illustrations to accompany.
The pictures seemed to be done with water colors. They have a lighter color scheme to show the joy from the town. The illustrations did a really good job of showing this fictional town through the different time periods. They were very colorful and incredibly detailed. An interesting element of the book was the author’s note that told the readers the inspiration of the book. It is always interesting to learn about the back-story of the book. Overall, this book is an excellent resource for children to understand the customs of certain time periods, with good illustrations to accompany.
Read
December 13, 2007Written by Donald Hall, illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully, published by Browndeer Press, copyright year 1996.
Summary: A fictional account of the New Hampshire town of Blackwater. Traces the town’s history from the ice age to the present day.
Response: I liked this concept of tracing a town’s history in an approachable way for children. The author’s note at the end gives some historical context. The illustrations are very colorful and beautiful.
Possible Units: US History.
Summary: A fictional account of the New Hampshire town of Blackwater. Traces the town’s history from the ice age to the present day.
Response: I liked this concept of tracing a town’s history in an approachable way for children. The author’s note at the end gives some historical context. The illustrations are very colorful and beautiful.
Possible Units: US History.
April 27, 2013
This book about Blackwater Pond's history covers everything back to its origins, but focuses mostly on the farming community that sprung up in the last two centuries around it. The holiday Old Home Day that was born from a desire to bring people back once a year from wherever they moved over the decades.
June 28, 2016
Although I am not sure this picture book would resonate with young readers, to this reader it was a glorious glimpse into my memory of Old Home Day in western New Hampshire as a child. The watercolor illustrations by Emily Arnold McCully are serene and capture the essence of any rural NH farm town. It was interesting to learn the history of this tradition.
August 16, 2009
lots and lots of detail about a small town's establishment, population rise and fall in NH...my five year old asks for this one again and again, it's a long one too
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews