Go Singing through the World: The Childhood of Pablo Neruda (Biography)

Go Singing through the World: The Childhood of Pablo Neruda

Written and illustrated by Deborah Kogan Ray
(Biography/Primary-Intermediate reader)

Go Singing through the World is the story of the now famous poet Pablo Neruda’s early life growing up in the town of Temuco in Chile. Always curious with an adventuresome spirit, Pablo observed the world and loved stories and words. With the help of a teacher, Pablo finds his true voice through poetry.

Biographies tell narrative stories about a person’s life and can range from fictional to factual (Galda, 2010, p. 285). Go Singing through the World is an example of an episodic biography, focusing on Pablo Neruda’s childhood. The book combines biographical information from Neruda’s early life and excerpts from his writing, particularly his memoirs and autobiographical poetry, set in italics, to paint an authentic portrait of his experiences (Ray, 2006).

Key characteristics of the biography genre include accuracy, setting and plot, portrayal of subject, style, themes, and illustrations (Galda, 2010). The author drew from several sources to create this book. She includes condensed biographical information for Pablo Neruda and Gabriela Mistral, Neruda’s influential teacher and mentor, in the end pages. Ray also includes a chronology of important events in Neruda’s life and acknowledgments that credit her sources for the writings and poetry of Neruda woven into the book. All of these notes help ground her story in fact, though the overall tone of her writing is fluidly narrative-based and not a stark account of facts or dates. The book clearly gives the reader an understanding of Neruda’s origins, his family, his struggles as a child (including a stutter) and how his eventual identity as a writer was shaped by this. These are the physical and social details of Neruda’s life, the setting and plot, that contribute to a fully developed picture of Neruda.

Ray’s portrayal of Neruda is complex. His character is not overwhelmed by the legend of the man he becomes, but is rooted in being a child: when his father leaves to work on the railway, Neruda worries about him; Neruda finds comfort in his stepmother, the only mother he remembers; he plays in the nearby rainforest; he knows what it’s like to feel like an outsider at school. Themes include growing up, finding one’s voice, loneliness, nature, and art.

Ray’s stylistic choice to incorporate Neruda’s writing into the book infuses the story with the subject’s own voice. The author chooses this material carefully, making sure it enhances and illustrates the story instead of distracting from it. Neruda's writings enter her narrative seamlessly. An illuminating section written by Neruda about his father effectively offers the reader Neruda’s unique perspective of one man who was hugely influential in his life. “It’s my father. The centurions of the road surround him: railway men wrapped in wet ponchos, steam and rain cloak the house with them, the dining room was filled with hoarse stories, glasses were drained” (Ray, 2006).

This is a picturebook and the illustrations help place the reader in Neruda’s world. Maps of Chile and Temuco in 1906 decorate the front and back endpages and pastdowns to give the reader a sense of Neruda’s environment. Throughout the book, Ray’s use of color in her paintings differentiate between the natural landscape of Neruda’s town and the people and life within it. Representational scenes with rough texture help set the story in the past.

ACTIVITIES:

1. This book contains samples of Neruda’s meditations on nature and his environment. Have students write a short free-verse poem about their town, neighborhood, or home.

2.  Use the study of Pablo Neruda to learn more about Chile’s culture and landscape. Create a poster with the class drawing information about Chile from the text and additional information from other resources. Compare and contrast the Chile/Temuco of Neruda’s childhood (early 1900s) with today.

READER RESONSE QUESTIONS:

1. Why do you think Pablo liked spending time outside in the rainforest so much? Do you have a special place you like to be?

2. Pablo has an influential teacher and mentor in Gabriela Mistral. What makes her so important to him and to this story? What adult or teacher has made a positive impact on your life?

3. What did you learn about Pablo from his trip to the villages in Araucania?

The illustrations and language in this book work together to create a beautiful, fluid depiction of young Pablo Neruda. This book is also an example of multicultural literature in that is offers readers a glimpse of life in another country and culture, presenting this diversity of life experience respectfully and positively. Be sure to note Neruda's poem, “Poetry” printed in its entirety after the story in the original Spanish and the English translation.

Resources

Galda, L., Cullinan, B. E., & Sipe, L. R. (2010). Literature and the child (7th ed.). Belmont, CA:

            Wadsworths, Inc

Ray, D. K. (2006). To go singing through the world: the childhood of Pablo Neruda. New York:

Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Images from http://www.dkray.com/books/neruda.html