Why read Ode to an Onion?

Book cover of Ode to an Onion: Pablo Neruda & His Muse

Book description

A poetic, beautifully illustrated picture book inspired by Ode to the Onion by Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (1904-1973). Pablo has a lunch date with his friend Matilde, who shows the moody poet her garden. Where Pablo sees conflict and sadness, Matilde sees love and hope. The story is less a…

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Poetry

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Why read it?

1 author picked Ode to an Onion as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Caroline McAlister

Author

This biography focuses on one moment, one lunch, and one poem in Neruda’s long and prolific career. And yet it captures so much! Giardino manages to suggest all of the paradoxes in Neruda’s life and work—the sadness and the joy, the grand themes of labor and oppression, and the ordinary sensuous details of daily life. The story arc begins with gloom and the solitary work of writing, but ends with a celebration and a shared meal. The end pages are papery onion skin that the child reader will want to touch. Neruda’s poem, “Ode to an Onion,” is printed in…

From Caroline's list on The best picture books about writers and the strange and magical things that inspired them.