Ballad of the Rag Man
ISBN: 9781933918426
Author: Cynthia Gustavson
Publication Date: 9/1/2009
Format: Casebound
Illustrations: 36 Color
Trim Size: 8.50 x 11
Suggested Retail: $18.95
Category: Juvenile Fiction
In The Ballad of the Rag Man, written entirely in verse, the Rag Man, clothed in beautiful rags, collects cast-off items that others don’t find valuable, and he collects them in heaps outside his home, walking through the streets of his little town with a cart. Nothing escapes his attention. To him, nothing is junk. A little girl watches the Rag Man from a distance, as he takes her old, cast-off teddy bear, and she follows him to his mysterious shop, and wonders what would happen with her well-worn toy. Much to her surprise, the Rag Man repaired her teddy bear, and brought it back to her…
The colorful, deep and remarkable artwork in this collection is both real and imaginative – children will step into another world, but still root themselves firmly on the ground. They will, themselves, like the little girl, be watching the Rag Man. And they will learn an important lesson about judging others before they get to know them.
This book supports the Rag Man Project. The Rag Man Project brings college students and young adults into bookstores, libraries, schools, and hospitals among other places, to teach children about those in society that might be different, whether with disabilities, without homes, or simply those that don’t act like everyone else.
Title: Please Use This For Children, Not For War and Guns
Subtitle:
Author(s): Cynthia Blomquist Gustavson
ISBN-10: 1-933918-50-0
ISBN-13: 978-1-933918-50-1
Format: Paperback
Trim Size: 6x9
Page Count: 125pp
Suggested Retail Price: $14.95
Illustrations (Number & type): 40 b/w line drawings
Release Date (date in CPG warehouse): February 2010
Publication Date (in-store date): March 2010
Category: Poetry
In Please Use This For Children, Not For War and Guns, Gustavson pulls together the complex reality of an aging parent, an eroding democracy, family tragedy, and wraps these fears and troubles in her blanket of wildflowers, berries, and bare-footed worldview.
This is a masterful collection of midwestern poetry. Not Robert Bly, and not Mary Oliver. Not Carl Sandburg, and not Billy Collins, these are poems that viscerally and spiritually eviscerate Gustavson, with tenderness of a mother and a wife, and anger of a partner, an advocate for children, and a citizen.
Gustavson returns to the ghosts of the sand hills, and to the haunts of politics and family tragedy. These are true poems from Minnesota's black-footed daughter.
ENDORSEMENTS/REVIEWS:
"Cynthia Blomquist Gustavson's authentic, engaging, and inquisitive voice breathes life into this collection. Her cadences resonate with the rhythms of speech, as her familial narratives do with the larger sweep of history. Compassion and a great ear are the keys to her success as a poet."
-John Elder, Author of Imagining the Earth
“What if you met someone who told the truth—in church, at the door when a stranger comes, or somewhere along the road. Would that not be precious, and you wish you had that truth written down so you could be changed again and again by the power of a few direct words? With this book, Cynthia Blomquist Gustavson has given you your chance to see past appearances into the true tough sacred lives around you. Read this book and live with new courage.”
-Kim Stafford, author of The Muses Among Us:
Eloquent Listening and Other Pleasures of the Writer’s Craft
“These poems [are] both haunting and comforting…”
-Midwest Book Review
“These poems explore a contemplative consideration of life that is at once impactful and readable. Gustavson's successful joining of feeling and contemplation make for poems that teach me the grace of attention. Reading these poems will help me live with greater heart.”
-John Fox, Author of Poetic Medicine: The Healing Art of Poem-making
AUTHOR BIO AND RESIDENCE: Tulsa, OK
Cynthia Blomquist Gustavson was born in rural Minnesota to a jazz musician and a waitress in 1947. She grew up in Afton and later lived with her husband in Marine on St. Croix and Stillwater.
She is the author of five poetry collections, several poetry workbooks for therapists, has published in numerous journals, and is on the editorial board of Nimrod, an award winning international literary journal. She also produces a monthly podcast that is available from her website, www.cynthiagustavson.com.
Gustavson was educated at Gustavus Adolphus College, Boston University, Louisiana State University, United Seminary of the Twin Cities, and Oklahoma State University. She has taught at Northeastern State University in Tallequah, Oklahoma, and Louisiana State University in Shreveport, Louisiana, and has been an invited lecturer around the country.
In her 29 years as a therapist she has worked in drug prevention, practiced individual and group therapy, worked extensively with caregivers of the chronically ill and developmentally disabled.
A much acclaimed poet and author, the winner of a New Millennium Writings Award in 2002 and finalist for the Rita Dove Poetry Award from the Salem College Center for Women Writers in 2004, Gustavson lives and works in Tulsa, Oklahoma with her husband of 40 years.